Emile Dirks
@emiledirks.bsky.social
Senior Research Associate @citizenlab.ca. Researching policing & authoritarianism in China and beyond.
"In the trial footage, General Xu explains that he refused the order as a matter of individual conscience and professional judgment...[S]aying that a commander who carried out martial law poorly would go down as “a sinner in history.”"
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/w...
The Secret Trial of the General Who Refused to Attack Tiananmen Square
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:15 PM
"In the trial footage, General Xu explains that he refused the order as a matter of individual conscience and professional judgment...[S]aying that a commander who carried out martial law poorly would go down as “a sinner in history.”"
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/w...
Reposted by Emile Dirks
"Mothers had to choose which of their kids to feed...Pregnant women with life-threatening anemia were so desperate for calories that they ate mud. Out of options and mortally afraid, refugees began fleeing...They said they’d rather risk being shot or dying on the perilous route than slowly starving"
NEW: Without USAID funding to help buy food for refugees, the World Food Program rushed to prioritize families based on need, determining that only half the population would get food.
Refugees learned which half they were in from a number stamped on the back of their ration card.
Refugees learned which half they were in from a number stamped on the back of their ration card.
After Trump Officials Cut Food Aid to Kenya, Children Starved to Death
“Brutal and traumatizing”: Interviews and a trove of internal documents show government officials and aid workers desperately tried to warn Trump advisers about impending disaster and death.
www.propublica.org
December 17, 2025 at 12:56 PM
"Mothers had to choose which of their kids to feed...Pregnant women with life-threatening anemia were so desperate for calories that they ate mud. Out of options and mortally afraid, refugees began fleeing...They said they’d rather risk being shot or dying on the perilous route than slowly starving"
Reposted by Emile Dirks
Today, a lawyer for DHS suggested sending Guan Heng to Uganda, a country with close ties to China that is "more likely than not" to send him back, says Mr. Guan's lawyer. Due to increased public attention to the case, he has been scheduled for a 2nd hearing on Jan 12. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/u...
He Recorded China’s Detention of Uyghurs. The U.S. Wants to Deport Him to Uganda.
www.nytimes.com
December 16, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Today, a lawyer for DHS suggested sending Guan Heng to Uganda, a country with close ties to China that is "more likely than not" to send him back, says Mr. Guan's lawyer. Due to increased public attention to the case, he has been scheduled for a 2nd hearing on Jan 12. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/u...
Reposted by Emile Dirks
In this piece, I share lessons for Americans who are struggling with whether to protest Trump. Drawing from my years working with courageous Chinese activists, I argue that while acting on one’s moral convictions can be risky, it can also feel profoundly good. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I’m a Chinese pro-democracy activist. Here’s how to find courage to oppose Trump | Yaqiu Wang
While acting on your moral convictions can be risky, it can also feel profoundly good
www.theguardian.com
December 14, 2025 at 1:53 PM
In this piece, I share lessons for Americans who are struggling with whether to protest Trump. Drawing from my years working with courageous Chinese activists, I argue that while acting on one’s moral convictions can be risky, it can also feel profoundly good. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Trump administration is threatening to deport a Chinese man who personally documented the Chinese government's massive detention system in Xinjiang. If forcibly returned to China, he faces the risk of state persecution for his invaluable & brave work.
open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Man who filmed Uyghur concentration camps now fights for his own freedom in the United States
In 2020, Guan Heng embarked on a risky mission to prove the existence of concentration camp facilities used to imprison Uyghurs. Now, he faces the threat of deportation back to China, where he would f...
open.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 3:39 PM
The Trump administration is threatening to deport a Chinese man who personally documented the Chinese government's massive detention system in Xinjiang. If forcibly returned to China, he faces the risk of state persecution for his invaluable & brave work.
open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
Reposted by Emile Dirks
📣We’re hiring! There are two exciting new job opportunities in our foreign relations and economy and industry programs:
📌Analyst/Senior Analyst/Senior Economist (m/f/d) - Economy and Industry
📌Senior/Lead Analyst (m/f/d) Foreign Relations
More info: merics.org/en/opportuni...
📌Analyst/Senior Analyst/Senior Economist (m/f/d) - Economy and Industry
📌Senior/Lead Analyst (m/f/d) Foreign Relations
More info: merics.org/en/opportuni...
December 12, 2025 at 2:52 PM
📣We’re hiring! There are two exciting new job opportunities in our foreign relations and economy and industry programs:
📌Analyst/Senior Analyst/Senior Economist (m/f/d) - Economy and Industry
📌Senior/Lead Analyst (m/f/d) Foreign Relations
More info: merics.org/en/opportuni...
📌Analyst/Senior Analyst/Senior Economist (m/f/d) - Economy and Industry
📌Senior/Lead Analyst (m/f/d) Foreign Relations
More info: merics.org/en/opportuni...
Reposted by Emile Dirks
GOP: the Chinese Communist Party is evil because they harvest all your biometric and other data to empower social control.
Also GOP:
Also GOP:
In addition to 5 years of social media history, CBP would also require tourists to provide all phone numbers used over that period, any email addresses used in the past decade, DNA and iris scans, and the names, addresses, birthdates and birthplaces of family members
Including children
Including children
December 12, 2025 at 1:14 PM
GOP: the Chinese Communist Party is evil because they harvest all your biometric and other data to empower social control.
Also GOP:
Also GOP:
Reposted by Emile Dirks
Eye scans, licence plate readers, spyware: technology used to catch criminals and terrorists is being repurposed to fulfil Trump's pledge to deport 1mn undocumented migrants this year. Critics fear it’s the thin end of the authoritarian wedge.
An #FTEdit thread on America’s new surveillance state 👇
An #FTEdit thread on America’s new surveillance state 👇
December 10, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Eye scans, licence plate readers, spyware: technology used to catch criminals and terrorists is being repurposed to fulfil Trump's pledge to deport 1mn undocumented migrants this year. Critics fear it’s the thin end of the authoritarian wedge.
An #FTEdit thread on America’s new surveillance state 👇
An #FTEdit thread on America’s new surveillance state 👇
The Trump administration that deported these Russians is the same government that this February condemned Thailand's forcible return of 40+ Uyghurs to China, where they would face the risk of "persecution, forced labor, and torture."
December 10, 2025 at 4:53 PM
The Trump administration that deported these Russians is the same government that this February condemned Thailand's forcible return of 40+ Uyghurs to China, where they would face the risk of "persecution, forced labor, and torture."
Reposted by Emile Dirks
This is the Tufts PhD student who seized by masked agents on the street and jailed for two months because she wrote an op-ed calling for the school to divest from Israel.
December 8, 2025 at 10:52 PM
This is the Tufts PhD student who seized by masked agents on the street and jailed for two months because she wrote an op-ed calling for the school to divest from Israel.
Reposted by Emile Dirks
A few thoughts on the new US national security strategy that was released today.
🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
December 5, 2025 at 9:49 AM
A few thoughts on the new US national security strategy that was released today.
🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Emile Dirks
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:49 PM
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Reposted by Emile Dirks
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Reposted by Emile Dirks
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 18, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
Reposted by Emile Dirks
Excited for the launch of @drdavidtobin.bsky.social’s International Network for Critical China Studies (INCCS)! Now more than ever there’s a need for rigorous, reflective, critically-informed research on China. INCCS’s mission to avoid clunky, knee-jerk commentary is refreshing & desperately needed
Policymakers and the media need rigorous research by independently minded scholars to make sense of Chinese politics and society.
INCCS will tackle the big and difficult questions about "China's rise".
INCCS will tackle the big and difficult questions about "China's rise".
The International Network for Critical China Studies (INCCS) has launched, bringing together researchers from around the world to share critical, policy-relevant work on China’s politics, society and global impact.
Discover more about the network here:
🔗 sites.google.com/sheffield.ac...
Discover more about the network here:
🔗 sites.google.com/sheffield.ac...
November 18, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Excited for the launch of @drdavidtobin.bsky.social’s International Network for Critical China Studies (INCCS)! Now more than ever there’s a need for rigorous, reflective, critically-informed research on China. INCCS’s mission to avoid clunky, knee-jerk commentary is refreshing & desperately needed
Reposted by Emile Dirks
worth applying to politics as well. when you're criticizing an action people take "taking the better action next time" is only one of the alternatives people will consider, and worth remembering that "not bothering at all" is another.
October 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
worth applying to politics as well. when you're criticizing an action people take "taking the better action next time" is only one of the alternatives people will consider, and worth remembering that "not bothering at all" is another.
Reposted by Emile Dirks
I legitimately think this article misses the mark, because Canadians are not avoiding travel out of some principled boycott of the USA over tariffs.
Canadians who are avoiding the USA are seeing images of masked government thugs kidnapping people and teargassing children.
Canadians who are avoiding the USA are seeing images of masked government thugs kidnapping people and teargassing children.
November 13, 2025 at 3:16 PM
I legitimately think this article misses the mark, because Canadians are not avoiding travel out of some principled boycott of the USA over tariffs.
Canadians who are avoiding the USA are seeing images of masked government thugs kidnapping people and teargassing children.
Canadians who are avoiding the USA are seeing images of masked government thugs kidnapping people and teargassing children.
Reposted by Emile Dirks
In a 2005 interview, the actor said that in his twenties, he was carrying the load of "everyone's masterpieces." He worked closely with directors including Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi. n.pr/4o3J8Xm
Tatsuya Nakadai, an icon of Japanese cinema, has died at 92
In a 2005 interview, the actor said that in his twenties, he was carrying the load of "everyone's masterpieces." He worked closely with directors including Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi.
n.pr
November 13, 2025 at 1:06 AM
In a 2005 interview, the actor said that in his twenties, he was carrying the load of "everyone's masterpieces." He worked closely with directors including Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi. n.pr/4o3J8Xm
Reposted by Emile Dirks
RIP legendary Japanese actor Tatsuya Nakadai. Star of Kurosawa's Kagemusha, Ran, many other classics. He was 92. news.yahoo.co.jp/pickup/6558551
俳優・仲代達矢さん死去 92歳 - Yahoo!ニュース
映画「人間の条件」や黒沢明監督の「影武者」などに主演し、主宰する「無名塾」で後進を育てた俳優で文化勲章受章者の仲代達矢（なかだい・たつや、本名元久＝もとひさ）さんが死去したことが11日、分かった。9
news.yahoo.co.jp
November 11, 2025 at 2:30 AM
RIP legendary Japanese actor Tatsuya Nakadai. Star of Kurosawa's Kagemusha, Ran, many other classics. He was 92. news.yahoo.co.jp/pickup/6558551
Reposted by Emile Dirks
Two things can be true: this signals impunity for TNR and that's bad and makes people less safe, and the existing levers of accountability punish on low-level folks instead of getting to the source of the problem
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump pardons former New York cop convicted of helping Beijing harass Chinese expatriate
Michael McMahon was sentenced to 18 months in prison for what a judge called ‘a campaign of transnational repression’
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Two things can be true: this signals impunity for TNR and that's bad and makes people less safe, and the existing levers of accountability punish on low-level folks instead of getting to the source of the problem
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Love poetry, human rights, & kitties? Check out Sharon Hom's Substack: substack.com/@talkingcat88
Sharon (fmr exec dir of Human Rights in China) is a brilliant mind & a wonderful soul. I've learned so much from her over the years.
Come for the poetry, stay for the updates about her cats!
Sharon (fmr exec dir of Human Rights in China) is a brilliant mind & a wonderful soul. I've learned so much from her over the years.
Come for the poetry, stay for the updates about her cats!
Sharon Hom | Substack
Hong Konger by birth, New Yorker for most of my life. “Old, but not obsolete” Retired law prof & HRts activist. Talks w/cats.
substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Love poetry, human rights, & kitties? Check out Sharon Hom's Substack: substack.com/@talkingcat88
Sharon (fmr exec dir of Human Rights in China) is a brilliant mind & a wonderful soul. I've learned so much from her over the years.
Come for the poetry, stay for the updates about her cats!
Sharon (fmr exec dir of Human Rights in China) is a brilliant mind & a wonderful soul. I've learned so much from her over the years.
Come for the poetry, stay for the updates about her cats!
Reposted by Emile Dirks
Researchers at the Citizen Lab and director @rondeibert.bsky.social sign open letter to the Canadian Minister of AI and Minister of Industry rejecting the “National Sprint” on AI strategy.
Read it here: bccla.org/policy-submi...
Read it here: bccla.org/policy-submi...
OPEN LETTER to the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation from civil society organizations and individuals opposing "National Sprint" consultation on AI strategy - BC Civil Liberti...
The Honourable Mélanie JolyMinister of IndustryHouse of CommonsOttawa, OntarioK1A 0A6 The Honourable Evan SolomonMinister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital InnovationHouse of CommonsOttawa, Ontar...
bccla.org
November 5, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Researchers at the Citizen Lab and director @rondeibert.bsky.social sign open letter to the Canadian Minister of AI and Minister of Industry rejecting the “National Sprint” on AI strategy.
Read it here: bccla.org/policy-submi...
Read it here: bccla.org/policy-submi...
Reposted by Emile Dirks
So many harms have already emerged from reckless and oppressive uses of AI, with such wide-ranging & far-reaching consequences, to so many groups of people, that it seems almost impossible to document them all. But we tried, in this open letter to Minister Solomon: bccla.org/policy-submi... (1/x)
OPEN LETTER to the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation from civil society organizations and individuals opposing "National Sprint" consultation on AI strategy - BC Civil Liberti...
The Honourable Mélanie JolyMinister of IndustryHouse of CommonsOttawa, OntarioK1A 0A6 The Honourable Evan SolomonMinister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital InnovationHouse of CommonsOttawa, Ontar...
bccla.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:25 PM
So many harms have already emerged from reckless and oppressive uses of AI, with such wide-ranging & far-reaching consequences, to so many groups of people, that it seems almost impossible to document them all. But we tried, in this open letter to Minister Solomon: bccla.org/policy-submi... (1/x)
Reposted by Emile Dirks
PEN Canada joins 43 organizations and 123 individuals in open letter opposing “National Sprint” consultation on AI strategy, which proposed a mere thirty-day window on short notice.
pencanada.ca/news/open-le...
pencanada.ca/news/open-le...
Open Letter to the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation from civil society organizations and individuals opposing “National Sprint” consultation on AI strategy - PEN Canada
pencanada.ca
November 4, 2025 at 3:44 PM
PEN Canada joins 43 organizations and 123 individuals in open letter opposing “National Sprint” consultation on AI strategy, which proposed a mere thirty-day window on short notice.
pencanada.ca/news/open-le...
pencanada.ca/news/open-le...
Reposted by Emile Dirks
Please take this for what it is. Rhetoric to delegitimize the political opposition as an existential threat to create the conditions for the Ruling Party to deny the opposition the ability to take control of Congress pursuant to genuine election outcomes in 2026.
Emmer: "Pro-terrorist, Marxist radicals are now the left's mainstream."
November 5, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Please take this for what it is. Rhetoric to delegitimize the political opposition as an existential threat to create the conditions for the Ruling Party to deny the opposition the ability to take control of Congress pursuant to genuine election outcomes in 2026.