Program Think

[Randy W]

An influential Chinese blogger disappeared from the internet. This woman says she knows why

from CNN

ProgramThink, an anonymous blogger critical of China's ruling Communist Party, used a stylized version of Rodin's "The Thinker" as an avatar on multiple platforms.

Quote

 

The freewheeling blog offered a mixture of technical cybersecurity advice and scathing political commentary – including tips on how to safely circumvent China’s Great Firewall of internet censorship, develop critical thinking and resist the increasingly totalitarian rule of the Chinese Communist Party.

The blogger took pride in their ability to cover their digital tracks and avoid getting caught – even as a growing number of government critics were ensnared in Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s strident crackdown on dissent.

Then, in May 2021, Program Think suddenly went silent.

 . . .

Now, almost two years later, the wife of a blogger recently sentenced to seven years in a Chinese prison for “inciting subversion of state power” believes she has the answer to the question: What happened to Program Think?

‘How is it possible?’
The woman, surnamed Bei, is the wife of Ruan Xiaohuan, a 45-year-old man who was taken away by police from his Shanghai home on May 10, 2021 – one day after Program Think’s final blog post.

Ruan’s detention caught Bei completely dumbfounded. And she would be even more shocked to learn her husband was blogging about politically sensitive subjects.

“The police told me his case was very serious, and I thought, how is it possible?” Bei told CNN.

 

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)