Xu Zhangrun, a law professor at Beijing’s Tsinghua University who has penned a series of essays critical of policies of the Chinese Communist Party and of its current leader, Xi Jinping, was banned from teaching, relieved of his academic duties, and put under investigation. While Xu has not been fired, many fear this week’s actions may be a prelude to more severe moves to silence a witty and prominent political critic and further chill an already wintry environment for scholarship and free expression in China.

(Comment: A 10,000-character essay article by Xu Zhangrun that resonated across China and sparked wide interest inside China and among observers abroad was published by the liberal economic think tank Unirule (天则) in Beijing on July 24, 2018)