Despite popular perceptions that China is a black box, creative new research methods are shining a light in.
Illustration by Sam Ward
It’s a Friday morning in early January when Adrian Zenz gets up from the desk in the corner of his bedroom to turn up the heat. It’s 17 degrees below zero outside, and his quiet neighborhood in Minnesota’s Twin Cities has been blanketed in a thin layer of snow.
Dressed in a button-down shirt with rectangular glasses and cupping a warm mug of coffee, Zenz doesn’t look like much of a rabble rouser. A German evangelical Christian, his plans for the weekend include taking his "pandemic-puppy," a Shih Tzu named Rosie, for a hike by a nearby river and eating dinner with his family.
But thanks to Google and his desktop computer, the 47-year-old researcher has uncovered information about human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in China's northwest region of Xinjiang, which in turn has made him a frequent target of China’s ire. Last year, for instance, he was sanctioned by the Chinese government and sued in a Xinjiang court for "fabricating 'forced labor' rumors."
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.
A decade ago, China arrived on the global art scene with deep pockets and an abundance of swagger. Recently, however, China's economic downturn has caused a spate of museums to close and once prominent collectors to sell their collections. Can China ever achieve its dreams of "cultural self-confidence"?
The Harvard professor discusses the effects on Chinese society of the country's high-tech development, and how the pandemic may have shifted public attitudes.
The Global Intelligence Platform used by The Wire China
