The sensitivity of political reform in China is undeniable but using it to justify inaction is indefensible: an essay from China Unofficial Archives.

By Gan Min | China Unofficial Archives

In Brief

Concepts that were once promoted by the Chinese Communist Party are now weaponized to warrant punishment. The disappearance of 27-year-old Mei Shilin from Sichuan, who unfurled three protest banners on a pedestrian overpass in southwest China’s city of Chengdu earlier this year, is a case in point.

The banners expressed the following slogans for three hours before they were removed:

“No national rejuvenation without political system reform,” “The people do not need a political party with unchecked powers,” and “China does not need anyone to point the way; democracy is the direction.”

These claims that require the most extraordinary courage to display in the public sphere of China today are not, observes this essay published by China Unofficial Archives, values that violate Chinese law. They are, in fact, concepts “acknowledged and supported by the Chinese Communist Party.” Despite their alignment with historical CCP rhetoric, the detainment of Mei (and others) exposes the Party’s criminalization of ideas it once endorsed because they represent existential threats to the regime under Xi Jinping’s authoritarian consolidation.

This essay looks at the shift from the political reform of the 1980s to the fierce crackdown on dissent under President Xi, arguing the change stems from vested interests within China’s ruling elite. The regime’s refusal to address systemic flaws—corruption, inequality, repression—has burdened ordinary citizens with those costs, as seen in Mei Shilin’s detention and broader human rights abuses. What would it take to honor silenced voices like Mei’s and uphold ideals of constitutional democracy?

Read the full essay in both Chinese and English at the publisher’s website here.

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