The Original Sin Of Li Jiabao
Chinese exchange Student Li Jiabao (李家宝 aka 李家寶). Li is seeking asylum in Taiwan after posting a video that went viral on Twitter criticizing the Chinese president and Communist Party. NPR's Emily Feng hide caption
Chinese exchange Student Li Jiabao (李家宝 aka 李家寶). Li is seeking asylum in Taiwan after posting a video that went viral on Twitter criticizing the Chinese president and Communist Party.
NPR's Emily FengIn March 2019, a masked Chinese exchange student in Taiwan live-streamed a video on Twitter passionately criticizing China's president Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party. Soon after, he posted again, this time with his face revealed and openly stated his name: Li Jiabao (李家宝 aka 李家寶).
Within hours, the video went viral. Li received threatening messages asking for his location and identity. Hours later, he was blocked from both his Chinese social media accounts.
Fearing imprisonment - or worse - if he returns to China, Li has extended his student status for almost a year. But the democratic island of Taiwan has no formal asylum law, and is wary of openly welcoming Chinese "mainlanders."
Li's situation has fueled larger discussions about Taiwan's role as a haven for Chinese dissidents, as well as questions about who he is as an individual and his motivations.
In this episode, NPR Beijing correspondent Emily Feng speaks with Rough Translation's host Gregory Warner about how and why a 20-year-old nursing student with no previous history of activism suddenly decided to make such a rash decision. Is Li a conscientious activist, a brazen opportunist, or perhaps, a Communist spy?
You can find more episodes of Rough Translation on our homepage, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Further Context:
- Here's another story our reporter Emily Feng created about why it's complicated for Taiwan to provide refuge for Hong Kong protesters.
- The Nation: Why Taiwan Won't Welcome China's Dissidents.
- The full recording of Li Jiabao's original live stream (Mandarin only)
- This episode of the Sinica podcast features an interview from the Study of Contemporary China Podcast on Taiwan's changing identity vis a vis China, and its role in global affairs