A Chinese blogger named Wu Dong became an internet star last year by tracking and reporting on the luxury watches worn by the country’s senior officials. One of the Communist Party bosses he singled out was arrested and sentenced to prison this month. But Mr. Wu himself was reported to be under arrest last week—the latest victim in a mounting crackdown by China’s new leaders on those who advocate political reform or speak out on social media.
Xi Jinping, who took over as party chief last November, has tried to bolster his popularity by waging a campaign against corruption and adopting some of the rhetoric of Maoist leftists. But as a slowdown in growth exposes deep-rooted problems with China’s economic model, the new leader increasingly is turning to repression to silence real and potential opponents. Human rights groups say more than 50 activists have been jailed since Mr. Xi assumed the presidency, including businessmen, academics and journalists.
Mr. Xi’s turn to repression has gone almost entirely unremarked upon by the Obama administration, which has concentrated on cultivating relations with the new leader. This, too, is shortsighted.
It’s in the interest of the United States that China continue on a path of stable development, and intensified repression is more likely to crack open an increasingly restless society than to contain it.
Editorial, Pages 84 on 09/22/2013