Editor’s note for Thursday, May 13, 2021

My thoughts today:

Our top story today is once again about new, credible reports of human rights abuses against Uyghurs, and Western pressure on China about them.

Also today, this tweet from a Westerner who apparently lives in China:

One major obstacle in China-watching is the vast disconnect between Western experts decrying “China going backwards,” “Xi dragging China into totalitarianism,” etc. and the uncomfortable reality of — warts and all — this still probably being the best time in history to be Chinese.

Writing about China and following China news has always created a certain amount of cognitive dissonance — for me at least. But the contradictions of the People’s Republic circa 2021 have taken it to a whole new level.

Our word of the day is nurse shortage (护士短缺 hùshì duǎnquē).

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief