Xi: The father, the son and the party
The boy was soon sent to a juvenile reeducation center. He had only summer clothes with no lining and slept directly on the freezing floor when winter arrived. He was covered in lice and was sick, later confiding that he wondered if he would survive.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
15-07-2025
- LeMonde
Xi: The father, the son and the party
In the spring of 1967, the Cultural Revolution was in full swing in China. At a reeducation center for families of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres, a denunciation session targeted "black" individuals − those labeled as "bad elements" under the Mao era. Six people were targeted that day: five adults and one teenager, the son of Xi Zhongxun (1913-2002), the former propaganda chief and vice-premier who had fallen victim to a brutal purge. The humiliating metal dunce cap he was forced to wear, since his father had been accused of disloyalty to Mao Zedong (1893-1976), was so heavy that the 13-year-old boy had to hold it up with his hands. Facing him, the assembly, fists raised, shouted "Down with Xi Jinping!" and his mother had no choice but to follow suit. The boy was soon sent to a juvenile reeducation center. He had only summer clothes with no lining and slept directly on the freezing floor when winter arrived. He was covered in lice and was sick, later confiding that he wondered if he would survive.
LeMonde
08-07-2025
- LeMonde
In China, a 'black decade' for human rights lawyers
The space for those who dared to take on sensitive cases was never wide, yet it has narrowed even further. That is the assessment of several Chinese lawyers, 10 years after the major wave of repression that redefined the boundaries the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed on the legal professionals willing to defend those who criticized the regime, or who – by standing up to injustice – were labeled as enemies. The date remains etched in memory: "7/09." On the morning of July 9, 2015, and in the days that followed, around 300 lawyers and legal assistants were targeted in a police raid on their offices in Beijing and elsewhere. All were interrogated at length; some disappeared for months. 10 of them were sentenced to prison in the months and years following their arrests. Among them was Wang Quanzhang, who was eventually sentenced in 2019 to four and a half years in prison after a lengthy process, for having defended expropriated farmers and members of the banned Falun Gong sect throughout his career. Retaliation also targeted families. Wang's family was forced to move 13 times in two months in 2023 – from rented apartments to hotel rooms – while his 12-year-old son had to repeatedly enroll in new schools due to police pressure to expel him.
France 24
04-07-2025
- France 24
'Always hiding': Haitian laborers fear Dominican deportation push
Owners of farms, construction companies and tourism businesses are also nervous -- they rely on Haitian laborers to work long days under the scorching sun. On the banana plantations in Mao, in the country's northwest, most of the workers are from Haiti, which shares an island with the Dominican Republic. It is an arduous job that few Dominicans want to do. The daily wage of 800 pesos (less than $14) "is very low," said Cheranfant, 33. And with immigration authorities breathing down undocumented workers' necks, "we're always scared, we're always hiding," he said. Relations between the Dominican Republic and Haiti are marked by resentment and mistrust. Dominican President Luis Abinader has toughened his policy on migration from the neighboring country, which is plagued by poverty and gang violence that has led thousands of Haitians to flee. Abinader ordered the construction of a wall on the border and increased raids and deportations of undocumented immigrants. In the first half of 2025 alone, more than 200,000 Haitians were sent home, even as gang violence there soars. Such "disorderly" repatriations have reduced the availability of labor in tasks that "aren't of interest to Dominicans," according to the construction workers' association, Acoprovi. In some areas, the labor supply has fallen by between 40 and 80 percent. In tourism, the labor squeeze has affected areas such as cooking, said Henri Hebrard, an economist and consultant. "This could affect the quality of service," he said. Companies demand change Business leaders are calling for a regularization plan for undocumented laborers. Acoprovi proposes issuing 87,000 temporary work permits. But the government, so far, has shown no signs of flexibility regarding the requests. Antony Florestal has a passport, alien identification card and work card that have all expired. If he is caught in a raid, he faces deportation. "I'm scared," said the 32-year-old, who has been working in agriculture since 2009. "I live here (on the farm) so I don't have to go out on the street." The Dominican Republic exports bananas to the United States, Europe and other countries in the Caribbean, with agriculture representing 5.6 percent of the country's economic output. 'Can't live in peace' At the plantation where Cheranfant works, bunches of bananas are harvested with machetes, before being placed on a steel hook and moved along a cable to another area where they are sorted and packed for sale. The best bananas are exported, in this case to Germany. The rest are sold on the local market. The country's banana industry was already in crisis due to factors including the weather, pests and rising costs. Production fell 44 percent between 2021 and 2024, according to the Dominican Association of Banana Producers. The labor shortage is yet another blow. "Here, the workforce has decreased by more than 50 percent" due to the deportations, said producer Osvaldo Pineo. Some Haitians now work "nomadically," he said. "Today, they offer you the service, but tomorrow, you don't know if you'll get it." For employers, too, there is a risk. "If you put them in a vehicle and it's checked (by the authorities), you're accused of being a trafficker of undocumented migrants," Pineo said. Cheranfant has already been deported several times but always returns -- life is a constant game of cat and mouse with immigration authorities. His wife and three children live in a town near the plantation. "Almost every day we flee, in the morning, at night, at three in the morning, at one in the morning," Cheranfant said.
