Yaqiu Wang 王亚秋
@yaqiu.bsky.social
Human rights and democracy researcher | Fellow at the Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations at @Upenn.edu | https://www.wangyaqiu.com/ | 勇气是最珍贵的品质
In my testimony, I argued that the U.S. govt needs to change course: 1) resume its global promotion of human rights and democracy, and 2) end egregious human rights violations at home so it can regain credibility when criticizing the CCP. democrats-selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
September 17, 2026 at 2:56 PM
In my testimony, I argued that the U.S. govt needs to change course: 1) resume its global promotion of human rights and democracy, and 2) end egregious human rights violations at home so it can regain credibility when criticizing the CCP. democrats-selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
Reading the obituaries and stories about Steinem right now, I’m struck by how America-centric many of them are. I actually first learned about Steinem on the Chinese internet. She was a global icon who inspired women around the world. Anyone writing about her legacy should remember that.
September 3, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Reading the obituaries and stories about Steinem right now, I’m struck by how America-centric many of them are. I actually first learned about Steinem on the Chinese internet. She was a global icon who inspired women around the world. Anyone writing about her legacy should remember that.
The precarious fate of China’s uber-rich and powerful:
Left: Hui Ka Yan attending a session of the CCP’s rubber-stamp legislature in 2012.
Right: Hui in a Chinese courtroom today, being sentenced to life in prison.
Left: Hui Ka Yan attending a session of the CCP’s rubber-stamp legislature in 2012.
Right: Hui in a Chinese courtroom today, being sentenced to life in prison.
August 20, 2026 at 11:39 AM
The precarious fate of China’s uber-rich and powerful:
Left: Hui Ka Yan attending a session of the CCP’s rubber-stamp legislature in 2012.
Right: Hui in a Chinese courtroom today, being sentenced to life in prison.
Left: Hui Ka Yan attending a session of the CCP’s rubber-stamp legislature in 2012.
Right: Hui in a Chinese courtroom today, being sentenced to life in prison.
It is incredibly disappointing that the China Select Committee, which began with bipartisan consensus and produced good work, has descended into this. Seriously, what? Giving preference to applicants from China over American students?
August 11, 2026 at 4:49 PM
It is incredibly disappointing that the China Select Committee, which began with bipartisan consensus and produced good work, has descended into this. Seriously, what? Giving preference to applicants from China over American students?
In @foreignpolicy.com, I argue that Chinese authoritarianism can deliver order and convenience, but it cannot deliver human warmth or social trust. And for that reason, many Chinese elites still to want to leave. foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/07/c...
August 9, 2026 at 1:34 PM
In @foreignpolicy.com, I argue that Chinese authoritarianism can deliver order and convenience, but it cannot deliver human warmth or social trust. And for that reason, many Chinese elites still to want to leave. foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/07/c...
In our San Francisco Chronicle article, Audrye Wong and I argue that countering CCP influence in the United States is essential to protecting the Chinese diaspora’s freedom and American democracy.
August 8, 2026 at 1:21 PM
In our San Francisco Chronicle article, Audrye Wong and I argue that countering CCP influence in the United States is essential to protecting the Chinese diaspora’s freedom and American democracy.
My new piece in @wpr.bsky.social argues that the spread of Chinese AI models is not just about censorship of obviously sensitive topics such as Tiananmen and Xinjiang, but also about the subtler ways these models may shape how we understand the world. www.worldpoliticsreview.com/china-ai-mod...
August 1, 2026 at 2:00 PM
My new piece in @wpr.bsky.social argues that the spread of Chinese AI models is not just about censorship of obviously sensitive topics such as Tiananmen and Xinjiang, but also about the subtler ways these models may shape how we understand the world. www.worldpoliticsreview.com/china-ai-mod...
Kimi K3’s success could carry the CCP’s information control beyond China 👇
July 20, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Kimi K3’s success could carry the CCP’s information control beyond China 👇
A summer solicitation from me👇
July 14, 2026 at 7:52 PM
A summer solicitation from me👇
America has inspired me, and America has disappointed me. But through it all, I carry an enduring gratitude — for the freedom this country gave me, and for the promise still worth believing in.
Happy 250th birthday, America!
Happy 250th birthday, America!
July 4, 2026 at 2:36 PM
America has inspired me, and America has disappointed me. But through it all, I carry an enduring gratitude — for the freedom this country gave me, and for the promise still worth believing in.
Happy 250th birthday, America!
Happy 250th birthday, America!
Your annual reminder of what the Chinese people aspire to and what the Chinese Communist Party is capable of. 勿忘六四.
June 4, 2026 at 11:17 AM
Your annual reminder of what the Chinese people aspire to and what the Chinese Communist Party is capable of. 勿忘六四.
I choose to challenge the CCP is never because I think I could actually challenge the CCP, but because I want to say what I think and how I feel. And I think I am entitled to do that simply by virtue of being a human being. I want to do the same in the U.S. now.
June 1, 2026 at 1:21 PM
I choose to challenge the CCP is never because I think I could actually challenge the CCP, but because I want to say what I think and how I feel. And I think I am entitled to do that simply by virtue of being a human being. I want to do the same in the U.S. now.
These is a cost to pleading with Trump on human rights.
May 14, 2026 at 11:44 AM
These is a cost to pleading with Trump on human rights.
Reading the flurry of articles on the upcoming Trump-Xi summit, it pains me to see the absence of human rights -- although it would be comical for Trump to raise the issue. What a sign of the times we are in.
May 11, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Reading the flurry of articles on the upcoming Trump-Xi summit, it pains me to see the absence of human rights -- although it would be comical for Trump to raise the issue. What a sign of the times we are in.
The U.S.-Iran war only adds to the reasons the China human rights movement needs to move away from reliance on the support from the U.S. govt, who is increasingly a human rights violator both domestically and internationally. (My conversation with @asiasociety.org's Hai editor @goldkorn.bsky.social)
May 5, 2026 at 9:53 PM
The U.S.-Iran war only adds to the reasons the China human rights movement needs to move away from reliance on the support from the U.S. govt, who is increasingly a human rights violator both domestically and internationally. (My conversation with @asiasociety.org's Hai editor @goldkorn.bsky.social)
Local reporting now suggests that China pressured the cancelation of @rightscon.org. If true, this is the latest example of the CCP successfully exporting censorship far beyond its borders. 1/4
April 30, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Local reporting now suggests that China pressured the cancelation of @rightscon.org. If true, this is the latest example of the CCP successfully exporting censorship far beyond its borders. 1/4
I periodically receive trolling emails, most of them are virulent misogyny (you realize CCP-paid trolls hate me more because I am a woman than I am a CCP critic). But this one really looks like AI hallucination. Hello, CCP, I think you need to "drink tea" with your AI.
April 14, 2026 at 1:16 PM
I periodically receive trolling emails, most of them are virulent misogyny (you realize CCP-paid trolls hate me more because I am a woman than I am a CCP critic). But this one really looks like AI hallucination. Hello, CCP, I think you need to "drink tea" with your AI.
Of course, Falun Gong media gossip is no comparison to CCP propaganda. But principled CCP critics should speak out against Falun Gong media's rumor-mongering, because it makes the broader anti-CCP camp look less credible.
April 13, 2026 at 6:57 PM
Of course, Falun Gong media gossip is no comparison to CCP propaganda. But principled CCP critics should speak out against Falun Gong media's rumor-mongering, because it makes the broader anti-CCP camp look less credible.
The China discourse on social media: on the one hand, you have the "useful idiots" on the left denying mass atrocities in Xinjiang; one the other hand, you have Falun Gong media on the right peddling rumors about political infighting in Zhongnanhai every other day. SIGH.
April 13, 2026 at 11:58 AM
The China discourse on social media: on the one hand, you have the "useful idiots" on the left denying mass atrocities in Xinjiang; one the other hand, you have Falun Gong media on the right peddling rumors about political infighting in Zhongnanhai every other day. SIGH.
As we hear more and more about China, we are actually understanding less and less about the country.
April 11, 2026 at 6:06 PM
As we hear more and more about China, we are actually understanding less and less about the country.
Nothing irks me more than people living with freedom and privilege telling me that I no longer understand "submissive" Chinese/Asian values because I’ve somehow morphed into a “Westerner.”
April 7, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Nothing irks me more than people living with freedom and privilege telling me that I no longer understand "submissive" Chinese/Asian values because I’ve somehow morphed into a “Westerner.”
The fact that the unhinged U.S. president is getting more unhinged is depressing. But Americans should still be grateful for the fact that you can say so without fear, and you need to fight to preserve that freedom, as I told @jaynordlinger.bsky.social www.jaynordlinger.com/p/freedom-on...
April 6, 2026 at 12:47 PM
The fact that the unhinged U.S. president is getting more unhinged is depressing. But Americans should still be grateful for the fact that you can say so without fear, and you need to fight to preserve that freedom, as I told @jaynordlinger.bsky.social www.jaynordlinger.com/p/freedom-on...
Thanks to @chinafile.bsky.social for doing the interview with me. One dilemma many of us CCP critics are grappling with these days is how to keep our criticism of the CCP from being weaponized by the wrong people for their own agenda.
March 25, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Thanks to @chinafile.bsky.social for doing the interview with me. One dilemma many of us CCP critics are grappling with these days is how to keep our criticism of the CCP from being weaponized by the wrong people for their own agenda.
It's disappointing to see how discussions of Chinese AI are so centered on national security, rather than how it affects the lives of people living in the country.
March 24, 2026 at 12:50 PM
It's disappointing to see how discussions of Chinese AI are so centered on national security, rather than how it affects the lives of people living in the country.
Great news! The separation of powers has prevailed. As a beneficiary of VOA News for more than two decades—beginning as a teenager in China behind the Great Firewall—I am with the three courageous journalists that, going forward, VOA must produce news, not propaganda. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/u...
March 18, 2026 at 1:49 PM
Great news! The separation of powers has prevailed. As a beneficiary of VOA News for more than two decades—beginning as a teenager in China behind the Great Firewall—I am with the three courageous journalists that, going forward, VOA must produce news, not propaganda. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/u...