China detains professor who criticised Xi Jinping over his handling of Coronavirus

China has reportedly detained a critic of its government who published essays targeting President Xi Jinping’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the consolidation of power through controversial legislation. Xu Zhangrun, a law professor residing in suburban Beijing, was reportedly taken away from his home by over 20 people.

The 57-year-old legal scholar has been an outspoken critic of Xi’s authoritarian regime and has blamed China’s culture of censorship for the widespread coronavirus outbreak. In one of his essays published in February, Xu predicted that he will be subjected to new punishments. Last month, he accused the Chinese Communist Party of “fascist aesthetics” to stifle independent ideas after an artist’s village was demolished.

“At the time of writing, the sound of destruction is still booming, the epidemic continues to spread and the south of the country is flooded. The country is suffering from internal and external difficulties and has reached into a dead end. The official media are blind, still singing praises and songs,” he wrote in his stinging essay.

In July 2018, Xu published an essay in a rare expression of public dissent criticising CCP's decision to abolish term limits and restore the cult of personality. According to media reports, police told Xu’s wife that the constitutional expert has been arrested for allegedly soliciting prostitution in the southwestern city of Chengdu. 

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Declining press freedom

China has been ranked 177 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The 2020 report said that China has used the coronavirus pandemic to further tighten the grip on media by banning the publication of any reports that question how it has been managed. 

“Of the 100-plus journalists and bloggers now in prison, some held in life-threatening conditions, at least three journalists and three political commentators have been arrested in connection with the pandemic,” said RSF in its analysis.

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(With agency inputs | Image: AP)