Xi Jinping, the head of the Chinese Communist Party, at a hospital in Wuhan, China, on March 10, 2020 (Xie Huanchi / Xinhua via Reuters)

One of the China experts I have long relied on is Sarah Cook of Freedom House. She is informed, principled, and clear. Pretty much ideal. Naturally, I wanted to talk to her this week, and I have, here. That is a link to my latest Q&A podcast.

We spend most of the time on the coronavirus, of course. There are noble and heroic Chinese, especially in the medical field. Some of them have died trying to fight this plague. Then there is the Communist leadership, which has been atrocious. First, they stifled news about the plague, then they tried to pin the disaster on the United States.


The Chinese Communist Party faces two crises: the crisis of the coronavirus, and a crisis of its own legitimacy. After Tiananmen Square, says Ms. Cook, there was an implied social contract, offered by the CCP to the people (who were not in a great position to refuse): “You don’t get any political rights or civil liberties — we’re in total charge — but we’ll keep you safe and prosperous.”

Many Chinese are now saying, “If you can’t do that, at least give us freedom of speech.”

In our podcast, Sarah Cook and I also talk about Hong Kong, Xinjiang Province — where more than a million Uyghurs have been tossed into a gulag, and where the CCP has perfected an Orwellian surveillance state — and other pressing matters. At the end, I ask her whether there is anything in particular she wishes the public could know.


Her answer goes something like this: “Don’t assume that what happens in China is separate from what happens in the United States and other democracies. The coronavirus is now Exhibit A. Don’t assume that what the CCP does to the Chinese people is not our problem, only theirs. This modern world is interconnected, like it or not.”


Again, to listen to a bona fide expert on urgently important matters, go here.