A renowned American scholar is drawing attention to a tactic the Chinese Communist Party is using to control people: fear. Professor Perry Link says people’s fear towards the CCP prompts them to self-censor.
Link spoke at a top Taiwanese research institution last week. He highlighted how China’s authoritarian regime represses both its own people and those abroad.
During his talk, Link revisited a concept he introduced in 2002, describing the CCP’s censorship as a giant anaconda coiled in an overhead chandelier. The anaconda symbolizes danger that could strike at any moment, though no one knows when. Because of it, people live in fear and avoid taking risks that could trigger it.