On July 24, Unirule (天则), the liberal economic think tank in Beijing, published a 10,000-character essay by Tsinghua University legal scholar Xu Zhangrun (许章润) which has sparked wide interest inside China and among observers abroad. It was another protest against Xi Jinping's efforts to usurp all power and build a personality cult.  The article has since been republished on the website of the Hong Kong-based Initium Media.   Xu Zhangrun  ended the essay with: “I’m done talking; I leave my own life and death to destiny, the rise and fall of the nation to Heaven.”

(Comment: Xu Zhangrun is currently on an academic tour in Japan and there is no word yet on what awaits him when he returns to China. Xu Zhangrun is, according to reports, suffering from cancer.)