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Ben

@benjaminqiu.bsky.social
410 followers 166 following 992 posts

Lawyer, author; co-chair, Asian Affairs Comm, NYC Bar; former board member, Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club; youth basketball and track coach

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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 49m
What sets the US apart, is the 1st Amendment. In Texas v Johnson, re burning US flag, SCOTUS reasoned that govt cannot take sides, eg permit worshipping the flag but ban the humiliation of it. Even most western countries are yet to reach that level of jurisprudence. www.economist.com/united-state...
economist.com
The coming fight over free speech
The Supreme Court must decide whether to limit the First Amendment or executive power
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 2h
"Tired of winning"
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Hereby coin the term “coffee wash.” www.ft.com/content/352e...
ft.com
Starbucks opens first cafés in China’s Xinjiang
US coffee giant enters region where Beijing is accused of widespread abuses
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Tariff war with Canada going well. "Canadian auto imports from Japan, China jump, as tariffs erode U.S.-made vehicle sales" www.autonews.com/manufacturin...
autonews.com
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Well that friendship soured quickly.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Please, there is no such thing as the “Taiwan issue”. The CCP is the issue. It collaborated with the Japanese military to strengthen itself during WWII, and then with USSR to create a “People’s Republic” ignoring the ROC which the CCP itself recognized and pretended to fight for during the war.
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Captain Mark Kelly @captmarkkelly.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If U.S. law prohibits arms sales to China, why was Trump even suggesting it?? We need answers immediately.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
In shows and history about mafia bosses -- The Sopranos came to mind -- face-based respect has a shelf-life of lettuce. www.ft.com/content/8ac7...
ft.com
‘Xi got face’: China relishes equal treatment from Trump
Chinese state media hail the respect that US president offered their country’s leader
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Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · 26/09/2026
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Being (rightly) nervous about AI is like when man-made fire was first invented, disasters were more foreseeable, but probably not the need for the chef, not to mention celebrity chefs.
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Peter Baker @peterbakernyt.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
In Trump’s White House, China’s Dictator Is Welcome. American Media, Less So. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/u...
nytimes.com
In Trump’s White House, China’s Dictator Is Welcome. American Media, Less So.
The showdown over President Trump’s partial media ban played out as he welcomed President Xi Jinping, whose government is ranked among the most repressive in the world.
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Michael Pettis @michaelpettis.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Interesting substack by venture investor David Cheng on his recent China trip. earnedintuition.substack.com/p/involution...
earnedintuition.substack.com
Involution Without Export Is Wasted Effort
A week in Beijing and Shanghai with the people building AI in China
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
How long will it take before Russian media outlets get welcomed into the WH?
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
To ask China to rein in its AI for safety -- There's an apt Chinese saying for that, 与虎谋皮 (Asking a Tiger to give you its fur). apnews.com/article/bess...
apnews.com
US proposes AI incident alert system in talks with China, Bessent says
The U.S. is proposing a new notification system with China for artificial intelligence incidents that could threaten national security.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
When will Trump scorn Nixon for handing Okinawa back to Japan?
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Beijing and Moscow have mutually accelerated. After CCP and its ideology lost legitimacy circa 1989-1991, it promoted anti-West nationalism to justify its rule, which Putin copied. As Russia suffocated civil society, manipulated the West, and leveraged its market & supply chain, Xi copied the same.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Beijing itself maybe forgot for ~15 yrs after normalizing relations w Japan, there was no hostilities towards the latter. Investments flowed. Turning point was 1989-91. Due to Tian'anmen & Eastern Europe, CCP lost legitimacy. Nationalism/anti-West rhetoric ruled, w Japan being easy target of abuse.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The WH correspondents can learn from how the U.S. trade partners dealt with the administration unsuccessfully (e.g., allies who caved and hanged separately) vs. successfully (e.g., China, which played hardball and got rewarded).
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Cannot think of a more textbook (of any American law school) example of infringement of the freedom of speech, than banning CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Old enough to recall how Turkey couldn’t get the F-35 for planning to use Russian missiles. www.wsj.com/world/middle...
wsj.com
Debris Found in Yemen Suggests Saudi Arabia Fired Its First Chinese Missile
The body of what appeared to be a Dongfeng 15 was found in the desert.
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Captain Mark Kelly @captmarkkelly.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Today is Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. My great grandmother came from Poland with nothing but the hope of a better life. I still have her citizenship papers. That's the story of so many American families. We’ve always been a country of immigrants. No one can change that.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
In the news — Russia helps Iran kill American soldiers. Also in the news — a Russian oligarch finances the President's son's wedding party, and the US Administration seeks biz deals with the Russian authorities.
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Yen-han Chen 陳彥翰 🇹🇼🇺🇸🇺🇦 @chen-yenhan.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Found this account that posts webcam footage from around Taiwan. This is the first light over Taiwan on the day it has been a democracy longer than a dictatorship.
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David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
China gains when Pres Trump flounders in the Middle East. But the war in Iran has come too soon for China to take full advantage. The country wants to be richer and stronger, and needs a global trading order underwritten by the US to get there. My column economist.com/internationa...
economist.com
China is not ready for a post-American world
Donald Trump’s disaster in Iran has come too soon for China to take full advantage
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Captain Mark Kelly @captmarkkelly.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Donald Trump's trades: 28,700 All of Congress's trades: 22,200 My trades: 0 Ban stock trading in Washington.
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Michael Pettis @michaelpettis.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Interesting analysis by former Canadian diplomat and China specialist Michael Kovrig on why Chinese state financiers came to Canada’s investment summit. michaelkovrig.substack.com/p/why-chines...
michaelkovrig.substack.com
Why Chinese state financiers have come to Canada’s investment summit
China Investment Corp, China International Capital Corp and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are in Toronto to look for passive stakes, but political influence could follow
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Toyota, the silent giant of the military industrial complex.
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Edward Luce @edwardluce.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
"Bessent is badly harming himself in his quest not to disappoint the president. As one Washington veteran quipped: “Bessent makes Steve Mnuchin look like Alexander Hamilton.”" My column. as.ft.com/r/1f88e3d7-1...
as.ft.com
Scott Bessent’s wobbly house
Politics seems to be messing with the US Treasury secretary’s head
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Michael Pettis @michaelpettis.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
FT: "China has implemented sweeping new controls on overseas travel for Chinese citizens as President Xi Jinping steps up efforts to secure state secrets, advanced technology and highly skilled workers." www.ft.com/content/3f2b...
ft.com
China tightens control of overseas travel in sweeping new law
President Xi Jinping steps up efforts to secure state secrets, advanced technology and highly skilled workers
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Haneda airport. Apparently how many view AI these days.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
When America appears hopeless, just Google "in [X country] is burning the [X country's] flag a legal expression of political speech?"
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Eric M. Murphy @ericmmurphy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
It’s annoying to have to point this out: 18 U.S. Code § 597 - Expenditures to influence voting www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/...
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Putin's downfall would probably accelerate China's plans.
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Jennifer Pak @jpak25.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
More than a week after the deadly Nepal China floods, very little is known about the dead or missing in Tibet. China's control over media and digital censorship is in stark contrast to open reporting in Nepal. But it's not new. www.npr.org/2026/09/07/n...
npr.org
As Nepal identifies those killed in the floods, questions grow over China's reporting
One week after the deadly floods, very little is known about China's dead or missing. China's control over media and digital censorship is in stark contrast to open reporting in Nepal.
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Michael Pettis @michaelpettis.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
4/4 Once a country sets a politically determined GDP growth rate, what matters is not how much investment the economy needs to create economic value but rather how much economic activity is needed to achieve the target. carnegieendowment.org/posts/2025/0...
carnegieendowment.org
How to Predict China’s Economic Performance for 2025: A Sectoral Approach
GDP growth means something fundamentally different in China than in most countries.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
What are the chances that humans do not become some sort of AI’s pet, for AI’s entertainment and occasional consumption for energy, like horses after the invention of cars?
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Missouri’s Supreme Court, the show me court.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Tokyo. According Wayve folks, commercial launch here in October.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
It’s the Clarence court now.
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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
This is a really really important piece. The ideas within aren’t simple, and require open discussion. But Kendall’s spot-on.
nytimes.com
Opinion | The U.S. Military Must Learn to Say No to Trump (Gift Article)
How senior leaders of the armed forces dodge accountability.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Google Map today as seen in Japan without VPN.
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Joseph Torigian @josephtorigian.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
I shared some thoughts for this new podcast "The Dictator's Survival Guide," a deep investigation into the fall of Chinese general Zhang Youxia, a man whose family I've spent much of the last few months investigating. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 4 - Currently, The Dictators' Survival Guide
Why Xi Jinping's purge of China's most senior military general matters to us all.
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Peter Baker @peterbakernyt.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Trump makes clear that he thinks it's the government's role to go after journalists who anger him as he declares that NBC's Kristen Welker "will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment."
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Institutions of this country need to fire on all cylinders to limit the damages being done everyday by an un-American admin.
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
BREAKING: A federal judge in California has ruled that the Trump administration violated the First Amendment when it used security-related justification to revoke the legal status of students who expressed views it didn't like. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Gwyneth Ho just spent her 36 birthday in jail in Hong Kong, because she was a journalist who wouldn’t yield to thuggery.
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
If this is not the end of the American story, not sure what is. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
reuters.com
Trump administration issues pause on immigrant visa appointments for applicants worldwide
A U.S. State ​Department spokesperson said that it launched a global training initiative at ​all embassies and consulates worldwide and that appointments for visa services ⁠will be adjusted to accommo...
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Ben @benjaminqiu.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Considering that the population of young adult men (18–44 years) in Russia being roughly 25 million, the % is even more staggering.
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Jeremy Goldkorn @goldkorn.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I went back to China after a decade away—I'd previously lived there for 20 years. Some notes:
chinafile.com
App Life in China
“It’s really tough doing anything in China right now,” my friend told me. He’s a serial entrepreneur in Shanghai with a locked-in grin. We were waiting for our food in a Taiwanese restaurant in a lovi...
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