Chinese economist Zhu Hengpeng disappeared after criticizing Xi Jinping, the WSJ reported. He reportedly made comments on China's sluggish economy.

A top economist has joined the growing list of China’s elite to have disappeared from public life after criticizing Xi Jinping, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

Zhu Hengpeng served as deputy director of the Institute of Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) for around a decade.

CASS is a state research think tank that reports directly to China’s cabinet. Chen Daoyin, a former associate professor at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, described it as a “body to formulate party ideology to support the leadership.”

According to the Journal, the 55-year-old disappeared shortly after remarking on China’s sluggish economy and criticizing Xi’s leadership in a private group on WeChat.

    • @jordanlund@lemmy.worldMEnglish
      2•2 months ago

      Genocide now has a very specific definition and there’s no need to put “Uyghur genocide” in quotes like you’re trying to deny it’s really a genocide. It absolutely is.

      Here’s the definition, all it takes is for any ONE of these criteria to be met for it to be considered a genocide:

      https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/genocide-conv-1948/article-2

      "In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

      (a) Killing members of the group;

      (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

      © Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

      (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

      (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."

      So break this down for China’s treatment of the Uyghur:

      a) No. Not in, say, the same way Israel is executing Palestinians.

      b) Absolutely. Forced imprisonment? Slave labor? Unquestionable.

      https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/china-xinjiang-uyghurs-muslims-repression-genocide-human-rights

      The Chinese government has imprisoned more than one million people since 2017 and subjected those not detained to intense surveillance, religious restrictions, forced labor, and forced sterilizations.

      The United States determined that China’s actions constitute genocide, while a UN report said they could amount to crimes against humanity.

      c) Yes, see above link.

      d) Yes, forced sterilizations.

      https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22311356/china-uyghur-birthrate-sterilization-genocide

      “In recent months, several Uyghur survivors have testified that the camps themselves have become sites of sterilization by injection, forced IUD implantation, and forced abortion.”

      e) Also yes.

      https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-48825090

      “China is deliberately separating Muslim children from their families, faith and language in its far western region of Xinjiang, according to new research.”

      So when you have 5 criteria for genocide, ANY of which are enough to qualify, and China’s treatment of the Uyghur hits 4/5? Yeah, that’s a genocide.

      • @bloodfart@lemmy.mlEnglish
        4•2 months ago

        Im making this reply to help you better respond to people, not to start a fight:

        Hey, just a heads up, your cfr link directly cites Adrian zenz, the person many people don’t trust to make even handed statements about China, directly twice.

        The vox link sources statements from him several times. I tried to just quickly parse what was what but I came up with seven different statements.

        The bbc article seems to reference zenz in six different claims.

        I wasn’t able to give these articles a deep read, or check if the other sources also pull from that particular controversial figure or his organizations.