• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World

Scholars Call for Release of Detained Maoist in China

Staff Writer with AFP by Staff Writer with AFP
12/27/17
in World
Xi Jinping, president of China

China's President Xi Jinping gives a speech at the opening session of the Chinese Communist Party Congress, October 18, 2017. Photo: Wang Zhao, AFP, Getty Images

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Hundreds of Chinese scholars, students and journalists have signed a petition calling for a leftist intellectual to be released from police custody in a case that shows how Beijing’s crackdown on civil society extends across the political spectrum.

Zhang Yunfan, a recent graduate of China’s prestigious Peking University, was detained last month in the southern city of Guangzhou for “organising mass gatherings that disturbed social order,” the petition says.

News of the detention comes as China cracks down on all forms of “subversion,” imprisoning hundreds of activists and lawyers, typically for “rightist” behaviour such as promoting human rights or democracy.

But China’s leftist intellectuals have enjoyed relatively more space to express views that are out of step with government orthodoxy — authorities have typically been cautious about attempting to silence them for fear of creating a backlash in the Communist country.

Mr. Zhang was helming a group discussion at a local university on authorities’ response to leftist speech when local police arrived and hauled away some of the participants, the petition said.

By 5pm Tuesday (0900 GMT) the petition had collected more than 350 signatures.

The unnamed organisers of the petition said they had sent it to the local public security bureau in Guangzhou’s Panyu district which is overseeing the case.

Police in Panyu told AFP they could not discuss the case.

Two professors from two of China’s elite universities confirmed to AFP that they had signed the letter.

“If he’s been arrested for simply participating in a study session that’s not right,” said Tsinghua University professor Kuang Xinnian.

China’s outspoken leftists believe the country’s political and economic reforms have abandoned Mao’s goal of transforming the nation into a Communist utopia — citing the growing gap between the rich and poor.

The party’s official verdict on Mao — made public in 1981 — declared his rule 70 percent good and 30 percent bad, but he is still widely praised for his role as the founder of today’s Communist China.

#ZhangYunfan A recent PKU graduate was arrested & placed under "residential surveillance at a designated location" in Nov for taking part in a meeting of a college reading group in Guangzhou. 17 known personalities wrote an open letter condemning it. pic.twitter.com/eqrf4h8e4J

— Yaxue Cao (@YaxueCao) December 22, 2017

ShareTweet
Staff Writer with AFP

Staff Writer with AFP

Related Posts

Lai Ching-te attends an inaugural ceremony as president of Taiwan
Featured

China’s ‘Growing Authoritarianism’ Won’t Stop With Taiwan: Lai

by Staff Writer with AFP
August 29, 2024
A protester reacts from tear gas fired by police during a 2019 pro-democracy march in Hong Kong
Democracy at Risk

Rare Hong Kong Protest Sounds Alarm on New Security Law

by Staff Writer with AFP
February 27, 2024
Chinese President Xi Jinping listens to a speech
World

Pacific Nation Nauru Cuts Ties to Taiwan, Switches to China

by Staff Writer with AFP
January 16, 2024
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen
Democracy at Risk

Possible Scenarios for a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan

by Staff Writer
January 9, 2024
Doctors attended to quake survivors with mild injuries at the Jishishan County People's Hospital
World

China Quake Survivors Recover in Hospitals as Toll Rises to 135

by Staff Writer with AFP
December 21, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping
World

China Announces ‘Strategic Partnership’ With Syria

by Staff Writer
September 22, 2023
Next Post
Afghanistan suicide attack Shiite ISIS

Targeting Shiites, ISIS Suicide Attack Kills at Least 40 in Kabul

Yemen starvation, Saudi strategy, Muslim scholars, duplicity

UN: Yemen Civilian Casualties Mounting, 68 Killed in One Day

Recommended

An Iranian protester

Iran’s Nuclear Program: From Its Origins to Today’s Dispute

June 23, 2025
Protesters and police clash during the “No Kings” protest in Los Angeles, California on June 14, 2025.

US Appeals Court Allows Trump Control of National Guard in LA

June 20, 2025
Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors light up the sky over Beirut, Lebanon, on June 14, 2025. Iran launched multiple missiles toward Israeli targets, triggering interception attempts above several regional capitals, including Beirut.

Israel-Iran Conflict: Latest Developments

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
An Iranian walking in front of a wall painting of the Iranian flag in Tehran

How Much Damage Has Israel Inflicted on Iran’s Nuclear Program?

June 16, 2025

Opinion

Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

April 2, 2025
Bust of Deputy Rubens Paiva in the Chamber of Deputies

Democratic Brazilians Are Still Here

March 18, 2025
A woman from Guatemala

Dispatch From Central America

January 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

January 28, 2025
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post