Author Archives: Michael Caster

Michael Caster is a human rights advocate, researcher and civil society consultant. He is the co-founder and former associate director of the Chinese Urgent Action Working Group, a Beijing-based legal aid NGO that operated from 2009 until 2016 when it was forcibly shut down by the Chinese Government. He holds masters degrees in international law and human rights from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the University of Utrecht.

A missing Chinese property tycoon exposes how Xi Jinping governs through enforced disappearance

by Michael Caster

Ren Zhiqiang, an outspoken Chinese tycoon, who in a February essay blamed the Coronavirus outbreak on a Party culture that prioritizes propaganda, flattery toward Xi Jinping, and silences free speech, has himself been silenced. He disappeared last month, joining a growing list of recent whistle-blowers who have gone missing after speaking out. Last Tuesday, Beijing authorities announced that he has been placed under […]