A top economist has joined the growing list of China’s elite to have disappeared from public life after criticizing Xi Jinping, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

Zhu Hengpeng served as deputy director of the Institute of Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) for around a decade.

CASS is a state research think tank that reports directly to China’s cabinet. Chen Daoyin, a former associate professor at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, described it as a “body to formulate party ideology to support the leadership.”

According to the Journal, the 55-year-old disappeared shortly after remarking on China’s sluggish economy and criticizing Xi’s leadership in a private group on WeChat.

  • Ferrous@lemmy.ml
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    1 month ago

    Have you… have you seen how Americans have been talking about the border? Especially this election cycle? I don’t know if would characterize either party’s constituencies as “receptive”.

    • Zorque@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      You realize there’s more to immigration than the border between Mexico and the US, right?

      I know they ignore it, but you don’t have to follow along with them.

      • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        50 million immigrants in the US, and that data is 5 years old. Germany comes in second with 13 million. It’s not even close. I don’t see how a demographic crisis could happen, even if they hypothetically cut immigration in half

      • Ferrous@lemmy.ml
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        1 month ago

        Was there supposed to be some argument or statement attached to this source, or…?

        • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          The US has the highest volume of immigrants in the world, 50x more than China. With or without a reduction of new immigrants that number will remain high.

          • Ferrous@lemmy.ml
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            1 month ago

            Sure, the US has an advantage in raw number of immigrants versus China. No one is arguing that.

            My point is that touting “our melting-pot-loving leaders” versus “their Han-supremacist demagogues” at the height of your unprecedented devolution into fascism isn’t quite the own you think it is.

            • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              Never claimed to “own” you, but I’d argue this anti-immigrant rhetoric is exceedingly precedented for the US (see Chinese exclusion act, Japanese internment, Alien Act, etc). Even with those shameful events as a part of the US’ history, the nation has been a consistent and significant net importer of immigrants. That makes me confident that the US won’t face a demographic crisis in the same way China may (barring a change in Chinese policy)

    • SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      It’s all talk. Corpos crave dirt cheap desperate immigrant workers and will make sure neither party messes this up.