Ian Johnson

Jan 25, 2024 | thinkglobalhealth.org | Ian Johnson

China has been in a post-pandemic funk, one that has presented President Xi Jinping with the most significant challenge in his eleven years in power. As the malaise now drags into a second year, one can justifiably ask whether this public health-induced crisis marks the start of a more turbulent era for China and the slow erosion of Xi's power. China's problems stem from how Xi's administration ended its zero-COVID policy, which relied primarily on draconian lockdowns to eradicate the coronavirus.

Dec 19, 2023 | almendron.com | Ian Johnson

In early 1990, one of China’s most famous dissidents sat holed up with his wife and son in the U.S. embassy in Beijing, watching their country convulse in violence. In June of the previous year, authorities had crushed student-led protests centered in Tiananmen Square, killing hundreds and sending many more into exile. Fang Lizhi had escaped to the embassy and was waiting for a deal that would allow him to leave.

Sep 25, 2023 | citylights.com | Ian Johnson

"Johnson vividly describes the work of independent documentary filmmakers, independent journalists, amateur historians, novelists, and memoirists who obsessively pursue the forbidden truths of totalitarian misrule in China." – Foreign Affairs "A brave book about inspiring people, underlining the value of freedom, independence, and courage." – Kirkus Reviews "An indelible feat of reporting and an urgent read, Ian Johnson's Sparks is alive with the voices of the countless Chinese who fiercely,...

Sep 19, 2023 | cfr.org | Ian Johnson

Sparks tells the story of how underground writers, filmmakers, and journalists are challenging one of the pillars of Communist Party rule: its control of history. In underground documentary films, samizdat magazines, and guerilla journalism, they document famines and political campaigns of years past and write about ethnic clashes and virus outbreaks of the present.

Sep 5, 2023 | substack.news-items.com | John Ellis |Ian Johnson

1. At no moment since World War II has the (U.S. Navy) faced a more urgent demand to embrace new technologies and weapons systems, given the rising threat from a now formidable Chinese military. The Navy’s top brass talks frequently about the need to innovate to address the threat presented by China. The Defense Department’s own war games show that the Navy’s big-ship platforms are increasingly vulnerable to attack.