Last December, when Alice Su touched down in Xinjiang, in northwest China, she was immediately picked off her flight by the police.
Su wasn’t exactly surprised. As the Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, she was used to having government minders harass her as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to blunt foreign reporting. Su certainly expected it in Xinjiang, where she aimed to report on the Party’s mass detention and surveillance of Uighurs, an ethnic minority. With international outrage over the situation in Xinjiang growing, Su knew her movements would be closely watched.
When she was eventually allowed to leave the airport, minders trailed her everywhere, interrupting her interviews and even manhandling her in the street.
Some level of interference has come to be commonplace for journalists in China, but the stakes for Su on this trip were higher than ever. Su is one of the few American reporters left with on-the-ground access to th
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
Why is one of Taiwan's largest media groups — Want Want China Times Media Group — spreading anti-U.S. rhetoric? Largely because its billionaire owner, Tsai Eng-meng, is known to sympathize with the Chinese Communist Party and favors unification with the mainland. Now, with Taiwan gearing up for a critical presidential election, Want Want’s efforts are picking up and helping to normalize CCP talking points.
A look at ZPMC: how it came to dominate ports around the world; its role in Chinese foreign policy; and the consequences of its links to the Chinese state.
The author and academic talks about how trade has actually changed over the last 40 years; why China's rise is linked to Asia's regionalization; and why international supply chains are efficient and resilient.
