James Griffiths

As part of a consortium of researchers and journalists, I spent the better part of a year digging into leaked documents from Chinese security company Geedge, which plays a pivotal role exporting the Great Firewall around the world: www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/15c699a...

Kenzie Elsworthy, vice-president of Psiphon, said: “We spend our days protecting people from authoritarian surveillance. This bill would compel Psiphon to help build an arbitrary surveillance system in Canada.” www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

Love to attract international investment and restore business confidence with comments like: "The evil of soft resistance lies in the fact that you may not know it is evil." hongkongfp.com/2026/09/21/s...

zheng he also went to the moon first www.scmp.com/news/china/s...

HKJA says Security Sec. Chris Tang's criticism around most recent leadership election may have driven 10% spike in membership renewals and major boost in merch sales. Similarly, when I was on ExCo, venues dropping out forced fundraising auction online, we ended up blowing through our target.

He seems rather lauding of Cheng Li-wun, while being entirely unaware of how she is controversial even within her own party, and probably unelectable, to the extent that you hear a lot of chatter within the KMT about how she may cost them 2028

China is itself curiously absent from his argument. Once again, Shuster is preoccupied with the grandeur of elite political actors. So, too, then with the KMT. Shuster never interrogates any of his KMT sources' claims, he just takes them at face value

To this extent, he speaks of the domestic impact from the death toll of a war scenario for the US and Taiwan, but never China. The CCP's current leadership could, after all, squander its historical legacy and face removal through a failed invasion

Not a single mention of the military purges and what they mean or embarassments like the Rocket Force found to have replaced fuel with water.

In a game in which all parties–the US, Taiwan, and China–seek to cover up their weaknesses and project strength, Shuster only questions the US and Taiwan, but takes everything China tells him at face value. And so China is only discussed in terms of shock and awe

"When Will the American Commentariat Give Up on Asking When Taiwan Will Give Up?" by @brianhioe.bsky.social

Chicago followers: I will be giving a talk at Northwestern later this month, details below (you can also join online if you should so please). events.humanitix.com/inside-conte...

Hi, I'm looking to hire a freelance reporter/fixer in Manila ASAP to do some work for @theglobeandmail.com. If that is you or you know of someone, please email jgriffiths@globeandmail.com. Thanks!

extremely good FOIA denial i just got

Last month I went out with Father Valan, a Catholic priest who ministers to seafarers, on his regular visits to ships in Hong Kong harbour, including one ship abandoned by its owner, whose Indonesian crew are currently fighting to recover their stolen wages and go home.

It’s also noteworthy how Tang is clearly using the phrase “mainstream media” (主流媒體) here not as it is understood internationally but as it is used in the mainland: not to describe outlets that are widely read or disseminated but those that reliably follow official thinking.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association was started in 1968 by two Australian journalists - Jack and Margaret Spackman. To see pro-Beijing media turning to xenophobia in this cartoon - demonising ‘journalists from foreign media’ - sullies the reputation of Hong Kong as a ‘Asia’s world city’.

We are honored to be shortlisted for the IJ4EU Impact Awards 2026 | @ecpmf.bsky.social, for The Great Firewall Export: China's Censorship Technology Goes Global. A cross-border investigation by eight organizations. What we found, in a thread. 🧵 #IJ4EUImpactAward

"Perhaps I just live an amazingly uncomplicated life ... but I can assure you that making reminders for myself and scheduling my calendar and like, organizing my screenshots is not the massive time suck your average AI guy on X thinks it is." www.deezlinks.com/p/the-ai-fou...

China "is becoming more willing to be seen," by tourists who will be easily impressed and won't look too hard. At same time Beijing is introducing visa-free travel for many, it's also expelling foreign journalists and heavily restricting those that remain. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

FCCC report points to growing pressure beyond China’s long-established political red lines. Almost half of respondents said new topics had become more sensitive over the past year, including the economy, demographics, trade tensions and emerging technologies. drive.google.com/file/d/1H9z8...

Wong "has been in custody since November 2020 and was previously expected to be released as early as 2027." www.scmp.com/news/hong-ko...

If you're doing research, never underestimate how incredibly helpful and generous with their time librarians and archivists are. Basically any time I've reached out to an archive with a query about their collection (that's cost-prohibitive to go check in person) they always go beyond what I expect.

RIP Victor Mair, a giant of Chinese language studies. Beyond his academic writings, his blog, Language Log, became a vital source of discussion on Chinese and other languages, and he was posting right up until the end. languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=73799

Die Zeit also pulls this crap. Surprised this behaviour has not been regulated out of existence in the EU, is clearly predatory, hoping people won't bother or will put off and forget and keep being charged.

Starmer may resign as Labour leader and therefore Prime Minister, but he cannot resign as a member of parliament, but must be sacked by appointment to the Chiltern Hundreds, per a law from 1623. www.hansardsociety.org.uk/publications...

Right, it’s terrifying to consider the possibility of kids not reporting groomers and abusers if they’re afraid THEY will get in trouble for defying age verification laws.

Rats, trench toilets, and brothers-in-arms dying beside you. The war for Ukraine has now lasted longer than the First World War. And for all that’s changed, some things about trench warfare are grimly familiar. My report from the Kharkiv region, with photos by @olgaivashchenko.bsky.social

“Mr. Xi was visibly more relaxed than when he hosted Mr. Trump. The two men shook hands and smiled warmly, and at one point Mr. Xi appeared to laugh at a comment by his guest, as Mr. Putin greeted other top Chinese officials with visible familiarity.” From our @jamestgriffiths.com

Neither did European air travellers...? www.ft.com/content/4004...

This, by @reckless.bsky.social, is superb. "Not everything is a business. Not everything is a loop! The entire human experience cannot be captured in a database. That’s the limit of software brain. That’s why people hate AI. It flattens them." www.theverge.com/podcast/9170...

Reached a point where one of the most tangible features of One Country, Two Systems will now be that as you enter Hong Kong from China, using a vape in public becomes illegal. (Smoking regular cigarettes still fine per HKSAR government.) www.scmp.com/news/hong-ko...