Neysun Mahboubi
@neysunm.bsky.social
Administrative law/Chinese law. Director, Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations. Host, China Studies podcast.
https://global.upenn.edu/global-initiatives/person/neysun-mahboubi
https://global.upenn.edu/global-initiatives/person/neysun-mahboubi
Pinned
Neysun Mahboubi
@neysunm.bsky.social
· Jun 29
Exclusive | History tells us US-China ties will survive current rupture: Neysun Mahboubi
The leading academic finds grounds for ‘moderate optimism’ after leading a group of American students on a 10-day tour of China.
www.scmp.com
It was a great honor to share my thoughts at some length on how the landscape of U.S.-China relations looks to me now, especially through the prism of academic exchange, as part of the @scmpnews.bsky.social Open Questions interview series:
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
We are deeply grateful to @carnegiecorp.bsky.social for its generous renewal grant for this Project, making it possible for us to convene 3 more fellowship cohorts—comprising 45 additional fellows—in the coming years, beginning in Spring 2026.
Full announcement at:
global.upenn.edu/future-of-us...
Full announcement at:
global.upenn.edu/future-of-us...
November 12, 2025 at 4:46 PM
We are deeply grateful to @carnegiecorp.bsky.social for its generous renewal grant for this Project, making it possible for us to convene 3 more fellowship cohorts—comprising 45 additional fellows—in the coming years, beginning in Spring 2026.
Full announcement at:
global.upenn.edu/future-of-us...
Full announcement at:
global.upenn.edu/future-of-us...
💯💯💯
Once more I am begging those of you with Substacks to get an editor to look over your long, heartfelt screeds.
November 11, 2025 at 2:05 PM
💯💯💯
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
...Justice Kagan, no fan of the MQD, will hold their feet to the MQD fire and make Learning Resources their Ramos.
It'd be quite the spectacle for justices who struck down Biden’s loan-forgiveness for resting on a thin statutory reed to bless Trump’s tariffs on an even flimsier one.
It'd be quite the spectacle for justices who struck down Biden’s loan-forgiveness for resting on a thin statutory reed to bless Trump’s tariffs on an even flimsier one.
November 4, 2025 at 10:48 PM
...Justice Kagan, no fan of the MQD, will hold their feet to the MQD fire and make Learning Resources their Ramos.
It'd be quite the spectacle for justices who struck down Biden’s loan-forgiveness for resting on a thin statutory reed to bless Trump’s tariffs on an even flimsier one.
It'd be quite the spectacle for justices who struck down Biden’s loan-forgiveness for resting on a thin statutory reed to bless Trump’s tariffs on an even flimsier one.
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
I actually think the BBC version does a better job of explaining quite how utterly outrageous this whole story is: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show
Sheffield Hallam University apologises to Professor Laura Murphy for restricting her academic freedom.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 9:12 AM
I actually think the BBC version does a better job of explaining quite how utterly outrageous this whole story is: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
Note to the universe of cable news people reporting right now on Trump/Xi Jinping.
For last name of PRC leader, just say SHE. As in "he and she."
That's close enough for English speakers.
(Not "gee" or "ji" or 'zhi' or something seemingly more 'foreign' sounding.)
For last name of PRC leader, just say SHE. As in "he and she."
That's close enough for English speakers.
(Not "gee" or "ji" or 'zhi' or something seemingly more 'foreign' sounding.)
October 30, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Note to the universe of cable news people reporting right now on Trump/Xi Jinping.
For last name of PRC leader, just say SHE. As in "he and she."
That's close enough for English speakers.
(Not "gee" or "ji" or 'zhi' or something seemingly more 'foreign' sounding.)
For last name of PRC leader, just say SHE. As in "he and she."
That's close enough for English speakers.
(Not "gee" or "ji" or 'zhi' or something seemingly more 'foreign' sounding.)
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
I would be shocked if this was the case...
I just can't see how a hastily negotiated trade truce ends a decade of outright hostility and things go back to the Obama years...
Maybe a cooling in tensions. But I can't see it lasting.
I just can't see how a hastily negotiated trade truce ends a decade of outright hostility and things go back to the Obama years...
Maybe a cooling in tensions. But I can't see it lasting.
October 28, 2025 at 7:03 AM
I would be shocked if this was the case...
I just can't see how a hastily negotiated trade truce ends a decade of outright hostility and things go back to the Obama years...
Maybe a cooling in tensions. But I can't see it lasting.
I just can't see how a hastily negotiated trade truce ends a decade of outright hostility and things go back to the Obama years...
Maybe a cooling in tensions. But I can't see it lasting.
💯💯💯
Recently, some US China watchers have bemoaned that legal proceedings and Nimbyism prevent the building of grand public works and monuments by top-down decree ala Robert Moses' 拆迁.
Trump is reminding us why such procedures exist to balance rights and give all stakeholders a voice.
Trump is reminding us why such procedures exist to balance rights and give all stakeholders a voice.
October 25, 2025 at 3:16 AM
💯💯💯
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
This story is extraordinary even by 2025 standards. Marco Rubio, the nation's top diplomat, made a deal with Bukele and agreed to renege on informant agreements in a years-long DOJ investigation into MS-13, totally undercutting credibility of such agreements.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Rubio promised to betray U.S. informants to get Trump’s El Salvador prison deal
To secure U.S. access to President Nayib Bukele’s notorious CECOT prison, Rubio agreed to turn over several MS-13 leaders central to a long-running Justice Department investigation.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 19, 2025 at 2:05 PM
This story is extraordinary even by 2025 standards. Marco Rubio, the nation's top diplomat, made a deal with Bukele and agreed to renege on informant agreements in a years-long DOJ investigation into MS-13, totally undercutting credibility of such agreements.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
MIT, Brown, and now Penn have rejected Trump's nefarious - and unconstitutional - "Compact".
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/u...
Penn Becomes Latest University to Reject White House Deal
www.nytimes.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:38 PM
MIT, Brown, and now Penn have rejected Trump's nefarious - and unconstitutional - "Compact".
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/u...
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
New reporting: many apparently fired at CDC in 'error'. This is a failure by design given that the admin does not care about fulfilling agency missions. This is the kind of error that should have political consequences.
Unserious people cause real-world harm.
🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...
Unserious people cause real-world harm.
🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...
Trump Administration Will Rehire Scores of Experts Fired in Error
www.nytimes.com
October 11, 2025 at 10:35 PM
New reporting: many apparently fired at CDC in 'error'. This is a failure by design given that the admin does not care about fulfilling agency missions. This is the kind of error that should have political consequences.
Unserious people cause real-world harm.
🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...
Unserious people cause real-world harm.
🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
Here's the video of yesterday's great discussion ft @busbyj2.bsky.social, Elizabeth Donkervoort, @neilthomas123.bsky.social & Ali Wyne about the direction of U.S. policy towards China, informed by their fellowship cohort's intensive week of meetings in Washington DC: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1It3...
U.S.-China Field Notes: Perspectives from Visit to Washington
YouTube video by Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations
www.youtube.com
October 11, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Here's the video of yesterday's great discussion ft @busbyj2.bsky.social, Elizabeth Donkervoort, @neilthomas123.bsky.social & Ali Wyne about the direction of U.S. policy towards China, informed by their fellowship cohort's intensive week of meetings in Washington DC: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1It3...
Along with our Zhengfawei (soundcloud.com/user-8653541...) colleagues, I've enjoyed a fairly constant on and offline conversation with my friend @vicshih.bsky.social since February 2021, and so it was a delight to continue our chat before a terrific live audience at @fpri.bsky.social yesterday:
How Will Xi Handle the Succession Process?
YouTube video by Foreign Policy Research Institute
www.youtube.com
October 8, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Along with our Zhengfawei (soundcloud.com/user-8653541...) colleagues, I've enjoyed a fairly constant on and offline conversation with my friend @vicshih.bsky.social since February 2021, and so it was a delight to continue our chat before a terrific live audience at @fpri.bsky.social yesterday:
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
In September, our current fellows assembled in Washington DC for a week of intensive dialogues with a wide range of policymakers & other relevant actors on U.S. policy toward China. In Friday's webinar, some of those fellows will share their broad insights and general take-aways from these meetings
October 8, 2025 at 6:51 PM
In September, our current fellows assembled in Washington DC for a week of intensive dialogues with a wide range of policymakers & other relevant actors on U.S. policy toward China. In Friday's webinar, some of those fellows will share their broad insights and general take-aways from these meetings
Warmly welcome @vicshih.bsky.social to @upenn.edu today to meet with student fellows of @penn-us-china.bsky.social and share his insights about pursuing China Studies in these dramatic times
October 7, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Warmly welcome @vicshih.bsky.social to @upenn.edu today to meet with student fellows of @penn-us-china.bsky.social and share his insights about pursuing China Studies in these dramatic times
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
The question journalists need to be asking is: WHY is the government trying this?
It’s because they want to control universities in unlawful ways that courts will not allow; it’s not working; so they’re trying to get universities to sign up “voluntarily” for unlawful levels of government control.
It’s because they want to control universities in unlawful ways that courts will not allow; it’s not working; so they’re trying to get universities to sign up “voluntarily” for unlawful levels of government control.
October 3, 2025 at 8:41 PM
The question journalists need to be asking is: WHY is the government trying this?
It’s because they want to control universities in unlawful ways that courts will not allow; it’s not working; so they’re trying to get universities to sign up “voluntarily” for unlawful levels of government control.
It’s because they want to control universities in unlawful ways that courts will not allow; it’s not working; so they’re trying to get universities to sign up “voluntarily” for unlawful levels of government control.
4th term for Xi Jinping may be likely, but succession is inevitable. What can we glean from current signals & past practice about how that process might play out? I am looking forward to welcome my friend @vicshih.bsky.social to discuss these Qs @fpri.bsky.social on Tue: www.fpri.org/event/2025/h...
How Will Xi Handle the Succession Process? - FPRI Events
Xi Jinping has ruled China for well over a decade now, making him the longest serving official leader of China since Mao Zedong. As the prospect sharpens for
www.fpri.org
October 5, 2025 at 8:18 PM
4th term for Xi Jinping may be likely, but succession is inevitable. What can we glean from current signals & past practice about how that process might play out? I am looking forward to welcome my friend @vicshih.bsky.social to discuss these Qs @fpri.bsky.social on Tue: www.fpri.org/event/2025/h...
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
CHOTINER: Until what time?
RICHIE: Nearly 4 in the morning! It was absolutely wild and
CHOTINER: So not actually all night long.
RICHIE: Look, uh, artists take liberties. This is — can we stop for a sec
RICHIE: Nearly 4 in the morning! It was absolutely wild and
CHOTINER: So not actually all night long.
RICHIE: Look, uh, artists take liberties. This is — can we stop for a sec
In a new interview, Lionel Richie discusses the lessons he learned from talking to artists like Tina Turner and Marvin Gaye. “Don’t say much. Just listen. And they’ll teach you the whole navigation of this crazy world we’re living in,” he said.
How Lionel Richie Mastered the Love Song
The artist discusses touring with Tina Turner, what he learned from Marvin Gaye, and the “most important note” to hit—in music and in life.
www.newyorker.com
October 4, 2025 at 12:40 AM
CHOTINER: Until what time?
RICHIE: Nearly 4 in the morning! It was absolutely wild and
CHOTINER: So not actually all night long.
RICHIE: Look, uh, artists take liberties. This is — can we stop for a sec
RICHIE: Nearly 4 in the morning! It was absolutely wild and
CHOTINER: So not actually all night long.
RICHIE: Look, uh, artists take liberties. This is — can we stop for a sec
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
'How close are China, Russia, and North Korea, really?' This debate is at the heart of geopolitics. It's been going for years and will continue for a long time. In a new essay for @newlinesmag.bsky.social I offer the backlight of Cold War history to help us assess
newlinesmag.com/essays/beiji...
newlinesmag.com/essays/beiji...
Beijing’s Military Parade May Not Be the Show of Unity That It Seems
Similarly high-profile diplomatic events involving Russia, China and North Korea in the 1950s failed to stop Cold War solidarity collapsing into acrimony
newlinesmag.com
October 4, 2025 at 1:35 AM
'How close are China, Russia, and North Korea, really?' This debate is at the heart of geopolitics. It's been going for years and will continue for a long time. In a new essay for @newlinesmag.bsky.social I offer the backlight of Cold War history to help us assess
newlinesmag.com/essays/beiji...
newlinesmag.com/essays/beiji...
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
First and Second Circuit Courts of Appeals striking birthright citizenship on the merits on the same day.
Second US appeals court rejects Trump's order curtailing birthright citizenship reut.rs/4nCUhyO
Second US appeals court rejects Trump's order curtailing birthright citizenship
President Donald Trump's effort to curtail birthright citizenship was declared unconstitutional by a second U.S. appeals court on Friday, handing him another defeat on a core piece of his hardline immigration agenda whose ultimate fate may lay with the U.S. Supreme Court.
reut.rs
October 3, 2025 at 11:51 PM
First and Second Circuit Courts of Appeals striking birthright citizenship on the merits on the same day.
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
We are delighted to announce the selection of our second class of undergraduate student fellows, made up of ten outstanding students at the University of Pennsylvania. You can read more about them at our Project website here: global.upenn.edu/future-of-us...
October 3, 2025 at 3:19 PM
We are delighted to announce the selection of our second class of undergraduate student fellows, made up of ten outstanding students at the University of Pennsylvania. You can read more about them at our Project website here: global.upenn.edu/future-of-us...
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
No need to be scared of him. The trend is clear - everyone outside of his hard base is abandoning him.
October 1, 2025 at 10:49 PM
No need to be scared of him. The trend is clear - everyone outside of his hard base is abandoning him.
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
New: European Union leaders still want to collaborate with the United States on China policy – even as Washington’s envoys continue to slam the bloc’s digital laws.
My report on a dynamic that could get increasingly awkward
My report on a dynamic that could get increasingly awkward
Europe, US continue to seek common ground on China, despite other policy differences
Washington’s envoys insist the EU must change its green, digital and economic policies but find more alignment than expected on Beijing.
www.scmp.com
October 1, 2025 at 9:05 AM
New: European Union leaders still want to collaborate with the United States on China policy – even as Washington’s envoys continue to slam the bloc’s digital laws.
My report on a dynamic that could get increasingly awkward
My report on a dynamic that could get increasingly awkward
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
if the Trump Hegseth address had been an email www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
September 30, 2025 at 10:21 PM
if the Trump Hegseth address had been an email www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Reposted by Neysun Mahboubi
The South Korean Ministry of Defense has awarded medals of merit to 11 officers for disobeying direct orders of superiors during the martial law fiasco, orders that they deemed to be contrary to the constitution and endangerment to democracy.
www.chosun.com/english/nati...
www.chosun.com/english/nati...
National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders
National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders Honored for rejecting illegal orders during martial law, Marine death probe
www.chosun.com
September 27, 2025 at 6:44 PM
The South Korean Ministry of Defense has awarded medals of merit to 11 officers for disobeying direct orders of superiors during the martial law fiasco, orders that they deemed to be contrary to the constitution and endangerment to democracy.
www.chosun.com/english/nati...
www.chosun.com/english/nati...