Stanley Lubman writes for The Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2014

Headlines about China are filled with reports of Chinese citizens—some well-known, some less so—who have been detained, arrested or indicted…. The array of terms used to describe the different powers and tactics available to the Chinese police is enough to make both readers and journalists struggle.

Stanley Lubman writes for The Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2014

Local protectionism is a systemic defect in China’s governance that has been difficult to control because it exists from the provincial level on down. It is so pervasive that it is not possible to know how provincial officials will respond to the reform, or whether they will encourage, or impede, lower-level reforms.

Stanley Lubman writes for The Wall Street Journal, China Real Time blog, June 30, 2014

On top of prosecutions for vaguely defined crimes such as “picking quarrels,” the rules for journalists and lawyers restrict public expression of views by the two groups who should be most involved in interpreting party-state policies and actions. Ordinary citizens who might contemplate taking their grievances to the streets can’t discern a “line” other than one that suggests that they should keep their dissatisfactions to themselves.

Stanley Lubman writes for The Wall Street Journal, Real Time Blog, June 10, 2014

The agencies of the party-state are always watching for stirrings of unrest. If they detect growing strength — especially if it reflects increasing links among labor unions, NGOs and social media — there will be efforts to suppress it.  Moreover, concern about worker unrest cannot be separated from the party’s unrelenting focus on stability.

Stanley Lubman writes for The Wall Street Journal, May 14, 2014

A grisly crime arising out of a clash over land rights in eastern China’s Shandong is the latest illustration of a critical disconnect among farmers, local village authorities and the central government, which has pledged land reforms that have not yet been enacted.

Stanley Lubman writes for The Wall Street Journal, China Real Time blog April 9, 2014

China’s current campaign against corruption, which has targeted very high-level officials, demonstrates both the extent of the corruption in China and the Party-state’s failure to prevent its spread. The Party has tough choices ahead: It clearly recognizes the danger corruption poses to its own mandate to rule, but meaningful reform would weaken the very power that the Party seeks to strengthen.

Stanley Lubman writes for The Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2014

The Chinese Communist Party is reasserting control, stifling local protests and handing out money to the village in the interest of “stability maintenance.” The villagers, meanwhile, are disillusioned by their failure to regain most of the land that the former village government illegally seized. Since the 2012 election, there has been no progress on the land claims, and hopes that “democracy” might change the situation have faded.

Stanley Lubman writes for The Wall Street Journal, February 25, 2014
China’s new leadership has signaled that fundamental changes to the country’s legal system are not on the table. But a brief document, largely ignored in the English-speaking world until recently, suggests high-level support for limited, but important, reforms.

Stanley Lubman writes for The Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2014
The need for real reform of rural land law, not just promises from the central government, is illustrated by the highly publicized case of Wukan, a fishing village in Guangdong Province that had once fueled hope for change but which now languishes as an example of the intractable difficulties faced by China’s farmers in defending their rights.

Stanley Lubman writes for The Wall Street Journal, February 4, 2014
There is an ironic twist in the fact that Xu and President Xi Jinping have both been campaigning against the same problem in Chinese society: the pervasiveness of official corruption.  But while Xi has focused on the lifestyles of officials, Xu has sought to go deeper by insisting that officials be required to disclose the sources of their wealth.