Rian Thum

19th century Japanese print showing a man in a kimono decorated with skeletons

China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show Sheffield Hallam University apologises to Professor Laura Murphy for restricting her academic freedom.

This is a remarkable case of Chinese authorities threatening a UK university into halting research on human rights violations, and the university acquiescing.

Thanks! I hope you enjoy it. Official release date is Nov 25 but “pre-orders” are already shipping, apparently. I might recommend skipping the introduction at first, maybe coming back to it later if you’re interested in the theory part.

Several copies of the book Islamic China

The book is out! www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...

Paris.

No storm troopers to repel here, so frog is just dancing

No Kings protest about to start in Paris. Wish I could be in the US today. There’s still plenty of time to grab your jacket and head to a protest in towns across the US!

history teacher in 50 years: So in September, that’s when the president signed an executive order criminalizing anti-fascism and saying all resistance would be crushed

student: oh so that’s when the whole country realized they were living under fascism

teacher: haha what? oh no lol not at all. no.

/6 If you are stuck in the McArdlian view "we can't think of the other side of evil" -- which I view as sociopathic -- I have to ask, is there ANYTHING they can do that will make you call it evil? Is there ANYTHING they can do that won't make you say "I should focus on finding common ground?"

In Memoriam: Paul A. Cohen (1934-2025) - Association for Asian Studies Paul A. Cohen, who died on September 15, 2025 at the age of 91, made significant contributions to both the interdisciplinary field of Chinese studies and the discipline of history. The most obvious wa...

My tribute to Paul Cohen as historian & mentor to many www.asianstudies.org/in-memoriam-... cc @lmansley.bsky.social

The Gaza family torn apart by IDF snipers from Chicago and Munich Five-month investigation reveals how four members of one family were shot and killed in a single day and highlights a pattern in which Israeli troops target unarmed civilians

IDF sniper from Chicago who says he killed Gazan teenager just for trying to retrieve his brother's corpse: “They’re thinking, ‘Oh I don’t think [I’ll get shot] because I’m wearing civilian clothes and I am not carrying a weapon' and all that, but they were wrong. That’s what you have snipers for.”

China Steals Language and Home Life From Tibetan Kids as Young as 4 Beijing is building a broad network of preschools across Tibetan areas, seeking to inculcate loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party early in life.

What’s the ideal age for the state to impose assimilation on minorities? In Tibet, it’s 4.

Gift link to new long read from me and Niharika Mandhana Beijing's building of government-run preschools across Tibetan areas to reverse generations of opposition to party rule:

www.wsj.com/world/china/...

Same racist authoritarian data collection they've been doing in Xinjiang for years. Fight it everywhere

Israel plans to occupy and flatten all of Gaza if no deal by Trump's trip Trump has effectively given Netanyahu a green light to do as he sees fit, Israeli officials say.

This is an official plan for ethnic cleansing. If you supported Israel for the past 18 months or so under the assumption that this was about the hostages you were taken for a ride.

If you still support Israel's assault on Gaza, you support ethnic cleansing. It's that simple.

Introduction to Chaghatay, Summer 2025 This is an application form for the not-for-credit summer course in introductory Chaghatay language to be held through the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the George Washington University in Summer ...

This summer, June 7-August 7, I'll be running an online course in "Introduction to Chaghatay!" 12 meetings. $280 for the whole thing. Open access textbook + videos to walk you through grammar and readings. Fees will support GW's Uyghur Studies Initiative. Apply here!

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Radio Free Asia set to furlough most US-based staff due to government funding freeze Financial support suspension pushes government-funded broadcaster toward “skeleton staff” operations.

Radio Free Asia was the 1st to reveal China's mass detention of Uyghurs & kept the world informed about the crimes against humanity there. 🇨🇳 tried silencing RFA by imprisoning families of Uyghur RFA journos; now 🇺🇸 poised to help 🇨🇳 finish that job. www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

BREAKING: DHS Detains Palestinian Student from Columbia Encampment, Advocates Say Agents told him his student visa was revoked. But he had a green card. Agents then said that was revoked too.

This is a test for Columbia and the universities in general. They must oppose this with collective loud voices and legal aid to Khalil, who is targeted for specific speech while a student.
BREAKING: DHS Detains Palestinian Student from Columbia Encampment, Advocates Say zeteo.com/p/breaking-d...

I gave a campus talk last night on Trump's first 100 days for the WUD Society & Politics group. A student asked me if I thought that, at some point, we might start to describe the US as a competitive authoritarian regime. I said that we were already there, it's just that most folks haven't noticed:

HRW urges Thailand not to forcibly repatriate 48 detained Uyghur men to China Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Thailand not to forcibly repatriating 48 Uyghur men to China on Friday. The group stated that the detainees have been imprisoned for more than 10 years and may face a hi...

🆘🆘🆘Govt of #Thailand appears to be on the brink of quadrupling-down on a decade of appalling violations of #Uyghur #refugee rights. Forcing them back to #China = forcing them back to horrific abuses. Demys need to win out over Beijing—urgently. www.jurist.org/news/2025/01...

The Dui Hua Foundation - Life Sentence for Professor Rahile Dawut Confirmed According to a source in the Chinese government, Professor Rahile Dawut (راھىلە داۋۇت, 热依拉 · 达吾提), an acclaimed Uyghur intellectual and expert on Uyghur folklore and traditions...

Difficult to write or talk about this monstrous act by the Chinese state, one of countless atrocities against Uyghurs. Absurd cruelty toward a kind, brilliant, and community-oriented anthropologist. duihua.org/life-sentenc...

The Dui Hua Foundation - Life Sentence for Professor Rahile Dawut Confirmed SAN FRANCISCO (SEPTEMBER 21, 2023) — According to a source in the Chinese government, Professor Rahile Dawut (راھىلە داۋۇت, 热依拉 · 达吾提), an acclaimed Uyghur intellectual and e...

Devastating news that scholar Rahile Dawut is serving a life sentence in China. Her crime was culture: she is an ethnographer of Uyghur folklore traditions. This is the petty fear of the supposedly mighty state of China. duihua.org/life-sentenc...