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Reposted by Linette Lim

samuelwa.de @samuelwa.de · 14d

“I tried to use purchase of a panda as a means of getting to China in 1963-4 while in Hong Kong. My wife’s uncle was chairman of the St. Louis Zoo and authorized me to spend US$25K if I could bring one back. As the NYTimes reported, the effort failed.”

Return of the Pandas! — Jerome A. Cohen | 孔傑榮（柯恩）

By Jerome A. Cohen I cannot resist commenting on today’s biggest China news, even though I am sure this is not my first mention of those potent symbols of the PRC’s good will. I tried to use purchase...

www.jeromecohen.net

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Linette Lim @linettelim.bsky.social · 23d

Had a great first APSA conference! Vancouver was a superb host city with amazing natural beauty & food. I learnt lots from all the panels I went to, made new connections, & caught up with old ones. Am particularly inspired by novel approaches to researching hard-to-study contexts

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Linette Lim @linettelim.bsky.social · 26d

In #Vancouver for #APSA today? David & I will present our paper which uses Taiwan as a case & examines the efficacy of misinformation frames there without exposing human subjects to harmful content. Ours is the Political Information & Communication in Taiwan panel, 4pm at West Level 2, West 217

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Alex Dukalskis @alexdukalskis.bsky.social · 27d

For my American comrades:

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics

Is on sale at Amazon for 22 bucks for hardcover. That’s a pretty good deal!

European release in a couple weeks.

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics [Cooley, Alexander, Dukalskis, Alexander] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics

www.amazon.com

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Linette Lim @linettelim.bsky.social · 28d

Teaching my own module this term: Media Politics under Authoritarianism. In our first class, we examined media’s role in society. Applying Hanitzsch's journalistic roles, students assessed that there aren't watchdogs and change agents in Irish media! Perhaps this is symptomatic of democracies?

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Helen Davidson @heldavidson.bsky.social · Sep 3

I reckon this from @emoontw.bsky.social on leaving Taiwan (and its media scene) is worth a read

theeastandback.substack.com/p/my-great-t...

(My) Great Taiwan Recall

One era ends, another begins.

theeastandback.substack.com

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Alex Dukalskis @alexdukalskis.bsky.social · Sep 2

Great piece today in @indexoncensorship.org by @jemimahsteinfeld.bsky.social on the "so-called" trial of Jimmy Lai with a shout-out to recent research by me & @linettelim.bsky.social in @jeas-journal.bsky.social

The so-called trial of Jimmy Lai - Index on Censorship

How the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities use linguistic trickery to undermine opponents

www.indexoncensorship.org

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Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC @caoilfhionn.bsky.social · Aug 27

I’ve lost count of how often Chinese/Hong Kong authorities or CCP State media have called me a “so-called human rights lawyer” leading a “so-called legal team.” I often play ‘propaganda bingo’ to myself when I read aggressive HKSAR statements which slam me/my clients/NGOs/other States/newspapers. 1/

The Use of ‘So-called’ as a Propaganda Device in China | Journal of East Asian Studies | Cambridge Core

The Use of ‘So-called’ as a Propaganda Device in China

www.cambridge.org

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Alex Dukalskis @alexdukalskis.bsky.social · Sep 1

Thanks so much @caoilfhionn.bsky.social for reading our @jeas-journal.bsky.social research

@linettelim.bsky.social and i were struck by the phrase “so-called” in China’s propaganda and are happy (academically) and discouraged (normatively) that our findings cohere with your experience.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC @caoilfhionn.bsky.social · Aug 27

So it was a particular pleasure to read this excellent analysis by two UCD academics on the use of the phrase ‘so-called’ as a propaganda device in China:

www.cambridge.org/core/journal... 2/

The Use of ‘So-called’ as a Propaganda Device in China | Journal of East Asian Studies | Cambridge Core

The Use of ‘So-called’ as a Propaganda Device in China

www.cambridge.org

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Linette Lim @linettelim.bsky.social · Aug 9

Happy birthday. At 60, you defy how a high HDI nation looks like, by being tropical, multi-ethnic, non-liberal, post-colonial, & lacking in resources. To paraphrase Rajaratnam, we've willed ourselves into being. & that's long before manifesting became a thing. Majulah, Singapura!

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Linette Lim @linettelim.bsky.social · Aug 7

We find that a theme of rising importance is political rivalry with the US, & that challenges to sovereignty draw consistent usage of the terms. Of course, this rhetorical strategy isn’t unique to China; history is full of parallels. I learnt a lot from the linguistic insights of Yurchak & Klemperer

Linette Lim @linettelim.bsky.social · Aug 7

My first publication is now online at @jeas-journal.bsky.social !

@alexdukalskis.bsky.social and I apply quantitative text analysis to Xinhua articles containing the terms "so-called" & "所谓" to explore the ideas the Chinese govt wishes to discredit for different audiences doi.org/10.1017/jea....

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Linette Lim @linettelim.bsky.social · Jul 29

Delighted that my paper was selected for the 2025 Best PhD Paper Award @psaautocracy.bsky.social ! Thanks to the panel @emisimison.bsky.social & @scottrw630.bsky.social, to my supervisor @alexdukalskis.bsky.social for nominating me, and to @ucdpolitics.bsky.social for being a great intellectual home

PSA Autocracy & Regime Change Specialist Group @psaautocracy.bsky.social · Jul 29

The 2025 Best PhD Paper Award for the best article/chapter written by a current PhD candidate goes to...

@linettelim.bsky.social PhD candidate at @ucddublin.bsky.social for her chapter "Foreign Bogeymen: The Use of Anti-Foreign Media Propaganda in China"

Congratulations!! 🥳

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Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · Jul 25

“…The layoffs were announced while Rubio was traveling home from that trip.

"After he used us, he fired us," one fired foreign affairs officer who focused on the South China Sea said. "It's mind-boggling."

www.npr.org/2025/07/24/n...

State Dept. cuts China experts as administration says countering Beijing top priority

The State Department has shuttered the team involved in South China Sea security, getting rid of top experts on the subject at a time when the administration says security in the region is a priority.

www.npr.org

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Linette Lim @linettelim.bsky.social · May 3

Happy polling day. Posted mine early this week. Majulah.

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China Law Translate / Jeremy Daum @chinalawtranslate.bsky.social · Apr 29

🧵Happy to see continued attention on the ways that China harasses and surveils abroad-- hard to find the bandwidth today, but it remains a real issue that impacts people's lives.

A few thoughts that I've raised elsewhere on how best to think about it and address it:

www.icij.org/investigatio...

Frequently asked questions about the China Targets investigation - ICIJ

What's transnational repression? Is China Targets based on leaked documents? What's a GONGO? These questions and more, answered.

www.icij.org

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Josh Chin @joshchin.bsky.social · Apr 4

This is such a good read, and perhaps of educational value to Americans newly wondering what life under full-blown authoritarianism is like. From one of China's sharpest writers:

A screenshot of text that reads: "It’s not worth it, it’s worthless, and devoid of a sense of achievement. And it’s exhausting. The day shift is 11 hours and the nightshift is longer—13 hours. During the breaks, most of the censors sneak away to smoke and chat in the stairwell. Liu Lipeng doesn’t smoke and has nothing in common with the others to gossip about. Bored stiff, he logs on to a VPN service to circumvent the Great Internet Firewall of China and uses Google Earth to wander streets in unfamiliar cities, fantasising about the people there and their lives.

He often logs on to the Weibo webpage, not as a censor but as an ordinary user. On Weibo, his username is ‘Ordinary Fascist’ (普通法西斯). It’s a satirical name but Liu Lipeng is unsure whom it satirises."

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Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · Apr 3

US government bans government personnel in China from romantic or sexual relations with Chinese citizens – AP: ‘the policy, which was put into effect by departing U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns in January shortly before he left China.’

US bans government personnel in China from romantic or sexual relations with Chinese citizens

The U.S. government has banned American government personnel in China, as well as family members and contractors with security clearances, from any romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citize...

apnews.com

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Patricia M. Thornton @pm-thornton.bsky.social · Mar 31

SCMP: Authorities slapped übernationalist Sima Nan,whose real name is Yu Li, with a fine of 9 million yuan (US$1.2 million) for tax evasion last week, proving that “cyber nationalism” has been a very lucrative hustle in #China for years
buff.ly/FcSBftW

When China’s cyber nationalists cross Beijing’s red line

Anti-West blogger Sima Nan’s tax scandal exposes lucrative hustle of patriotic fury that dodges political risk – until it doesn’t.

buff.ly

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Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · Mar 27

Leaked data exposes a Chinese AI censorship machine – TechCrunch: ‘133,000 examples fed into a sophisticated large language model that’s designed to automatically flag any piece of content considered sensitive by the Chinese government.’

Exclusive: Leaked data exposes a Chinese AI censorship machine

One academic who reviewed the dataset said it was "clear evidence" that China, or its affiliates, wants to use AI to improve repression.

techcrunch.com

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ChinaFile @chinafile.bsky.social · Mar 24

Confessions of a Chinese internet censor: "My impression is that they need us to know about these things to do our job properly, but…they’re afraid of us knowing too much. They’d prefer we forget everything after executing their instructions."

www.chinafile.com/re...

‘Survival Comes First’ | ChinaFile

Generation Z has now become the primary force among China’s growing ranks of China’s online content moderators, who number in the tens of thousands. Their physical stamina means they generally fare better with the intense demands of the job and can stay up late to respond quickly to issues with sensitive content. They now handle the bulk of the work for major internet

www.chinafile.com

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Yuen Chan @yuenchan.bsky.social · Mar 9

This puts the CCP's 'seven don't mentions' in the shade.
七不講？小巫見大巫

Peter Baker @peterbakernyt.bsky.social · Mar 8

Trump administration has identified words to be banned on government websites or at least be wary of using. Among them: women, race, injustice, climate science, pollution, victim, historically. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The Words Federal Agencies Are Discouraged From Using Under Trump

Federal agencies have issued guidance to employees on hundreds of terms to limit or avoid using. An analysis of government websites shows many of the same words being removed.

www.nytimes.com

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Chun Han Wong @chunhanwong.bsky.social · Feb 28

Update: The Atlantic Council has now received notification from the State Dept formally terminating several China-focused research and capacity-building projects. “We are currently assessing the impact of this loss of funding on our ability to continue this work,” Atlantic Council says.

Chun Han Wong @chunhanwong.bsky.social · Feb 27

China, the world’s second-largest economy, is already one of the most impenetrable countries. Now, the Trump administration’s move to suspend foreign aid is starting to derail nonprofit efforts to unearth data on business and social trends—which was already hard to track. www.wsj.com/world/china/...

U.S. Foreign-Aid Halt Is Making Scrutiny of China Even Harder

A funding freeze is rocking nonprofits that collected increasingly scarce information in a country that Trump has deemed a competitor.

www.wsj.com

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Chenchen Zhang 🤦🏻‍♀️ @chenchenzhang.net · Feb 27

can't make this up. when Jimmy Lai said he's not Chinese but Hong Konger, the judge asked 'are you yellow skinned'? extraordinary how biological racial nationalism that assumes phenotypic difference = race = nationality (and by extension =political loyalty) is explicitly invoked in legal proceedings

Langley @langley127.bsky.social · Feb 27

(1/3) Today’s #JimmyLai trial court transcript is absurd. Let’s break it down. Instead of upholding justice, the judge fixates on forcing #JimmyLai to accept a national identity he rejects. The judge said twice, "We are #Chinese," when Jimmy Lai said, "We are #HongKongers."

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China Law Translate / Jeremy Daum @chinalawtranslate.bsky.social · Feb 21

The article reveals both that China uses tools to summarize social media posts, launch misinformation campaigns, and that OpenAI is monitoring how its users employ AI.
So, no surprises!

The New York Times @nytimes.com · Feb 21

OpenAI said on Friday that it had uncovered evidence that a Chinese security operation had built an AI-powered surveillance tool to gather real-time reports about anti-Chinese posts on social media services in Western countries.

OpenAI Uncovers Evidence of A.I.-Powered Chinese Surveillance Tool

The company said a Chinese operation had built the tool to identify anti-Chinese posts on social media services in Western countries.

www.nytimes.com

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