The ink hasn’t dried on the new Hong Kong security “law” before the next victim of rule of law is selected by Beijing authorities
The NY Times reports that
Chinese law professor, Xu Zhangrun, had stored a few pairs of underwear and a toothbrush in a small bag, close at hand for the day when the police detained him for his unsparing criticism of the Communist Party under Xi Jinping.
That day appears to have arrived.
On Monday morning, the police showed up in force at the home of the scholar, Xu Zhangrun, in northern Beijing and took him away, according to three friends. He was detained on an accusation of consorting with prostitutes, according to Geng Xiaonan, a friend who said she had spoken to the scholar’s wife and students.
“It’s just the kind of vile slander that they use against someone they want to silence,” said Ms. Geng, a businesswoman involved in film and publishing.
“He foresaw this day,” she said. “He kept some clothes in a bag hanging inside his front door, so he wouldn’t have to go without a change when they took him away.”
Professor Xu, 57, is one of the few prominent Chinese academics who have dared to speak out against the ruling party as Mr. Xi has tightened controls on universities. He came to wider prominence after publishing an essay in 2018 that, without naming Mr. Xi, condemned his government for stifling even the narrow space for debate that the party had previously tolerated.
Now Professor Xu may join the growing list of critics of the party who have been imprisoned, unless the authorities decide that staining him with a lesser criminal charge — such as soliciting prostitution — is enough and let him go soon. The authorities have used similar charges in the past in what appeared to be attempts to discredit government critics.
Read on at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/world/asia/china-detains-xu-zhangrun-critic.html
