Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“One unexpected result from last week’s China-U.S. summit was that Chinese leader Xi Jinping told President Donald Trump that he ‘would consider’ releasing the country’s most prominent Christian pastor, Ezra Jin Mingri, from detention. Whether the release happens or not, the mere fact that Mr. Xi had to respond favorably to the U.S. leader’s request confirmed an obvious point to the country’s religious faithful: The Chinese Communist Party does not control the narrative of what their persecution means. God does. Last October, when police rounded up Mr. Jin and more than 20 other pastors in a major crackdown, his Beijing Zion Church issued this statement: ‘The Church belongs to God, not to any political power’. Such conviction might help explain why, by some estimates, the number of Christians in China remains close to the party’s total membership despite decades of repression, frequently raising curiosity among many Chinese about Christianity.” (05/19/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0519/A-welcome-spotlight-on-China-s-Christians

Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman

“[I]f Smith is correct, we should have seen feudalism last longest in places poorly suited to produce export goods, well suited to produce subsistence goods. For similar reasons, we should have seen feudalism last longest in places where transport costs were high — most obviously places far from good water transport, which in the Middle Ages was typically much less costly than overland transport. The theory is, at least in principle, a testable one.” (05/19/26)

https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/testing-smiths-explanation-for-the

Source: Expression
by Graham Piro

“The shock hit Clemson before the facts had fully settled. Charlie Kirk was dead. Within minutes, the ghastly footage of his murder circulated online. For many, the initial response was horror. Others found the killing justified. Some even joked about it. At Clemson University, students gathered hours after the attack to mourn Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA. But the sadness was soon accompanied by an ominous chilling effect on speech as administrators began targeting any faculty or staff perceived to have justified or celebrated the shooting. … In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Clemson fired two professors for social media posts about Kirk’s death.” (05/19/26)

https://expression.fire.org/p/how-two-clemson-professors-fought

Source: In These Times
by Alessandra Bergamin

“Eight days into the new year, in the stifling aftermath of a state-sanctioned attack on the Philippine village of Abra de Ilog, the country’s armed forces shared a video of Filipina American Chantal Anicoche to its Facebook page. Filmed by the military’s 203rd Infantry Brigade in the province of Mindoro Occidental, the video shows Anicoche clambering out of a vine-covered pit, barefoot, sallow and drawn. Cowering, Anicoche is led to a clearing. She sits on the ground as a soldier asks, ‘Why are you here?’ A passionate activist from Maryland, 24-year-old Anicoche had moved to Abra de Ilog the month prior to learn from the Indigenous Mangyan-Iraya and peasant communities that are resisting extractive industries, militarization and state violence.” (05/19/26)

https://inthesetimes.com/article/martial-law-philippines-anicoche-environment

Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton

“We defend anyone’s right to speak (write, publish, record, etc.) freely on any subject. Whether right or wrong. But we defend our own God-given right to challenge, contest, disagree, and point out when what they say is wrong. Either when someone fails to tell the truth, or when they twist things around. Not just draw the wrong conclusions but claim that only they know the truth and can explain it properly. Free speech is not just a fundamental requirement for a republic, or even a ‘democracy’ but for society. As is the right to challenge when someone abuses that right. But the challenge must be appropriate to the offense. For example, teachers do not chop off a student’s hand (or even a finger!) for misspelling a word. Or writing down something that is obviously untrue.” (05/19/26)

https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/05/19/defending-free-speech/