Hopes, Fears, and the Shadow of the CCP

I gave a talk to a student group at Cambridge University last week. Unsurprisingly, most of the attendees were graduate students from China. The organizer told me that many more Chinese students were interested, but only if the event didn’t require registration, didn’t allow photos, and was strictly off the record. Real or imagined, the fear is palpable—so deep that even in a university thousands of miles from China, students hesitate to attend a talk by someone not sanctioned by the CCP. That alone speaks volumes.

No one should want to live in a world led by the CCP.

One key takeaway from the event: as China’s economy slows and its sociopolitical climate deteriorates, many Chinese students feel stuck. Going back doesn’t seem like a good option, but they also feel increasingly unwelcome in the West.

Overall, I sensed that most of them still haven’t given up hope on a CCP-led China. It will likely take a deeper decline to shatter that hope.