Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Ellen Bork
Min Zin’s freedom must be first on the Trump-Xi summit agenda
As the summit meeting between President Trump and China’s General Secretary Xi Jinping gets under way today, the first item on the agenda must be freedom for Min Zin, an American expert on Myanmar, who has been detained in China since June 3. Min Zin, 53, was already in China, if only barely, when he was arrested at the Kunming airport upon his arrival to participate an academic workshop.
Opinion - Min Zin’s freedom must be first on the Trump-Xi summit agenda
As the summit meeting between President Trump and China’s General Secretary Xi Jinping gets under way today, the first item on the agenda must be freedom for Min Zin, an American expert on Myanmar, who has been detained in China since June 3. Min Zin, 53, was already in China, if only barely, when he was arrested at the Kunming airport upon his arrival to participate an academic workshop.
As Dalai Lama Turns 90, Dangerous Questions Loom for Tibet
ON JULY 2, THE FOURTEENTH DALAI LAMA announced that, like his predecessors, he will be reincarnated. The statement, timed to coincide with his birthday—the exiled spiritual leader turned 90 on July 6—came from Dharamsala, India, where he has lived since fleeing Tibet in 1959. The Dalai Lama’s announcement brought joy and relief for Tibetans. Previously, he had left open the possibility that the ancient line of Tibetan theocratic leaders could end with him.
‘Those Who Should Be Seized Should Be Seized’ Review: A People Persecuted
Beijing at first denied the existence of camps for Xinjiang’s Muslims. Now the party calls them ‘vocational education and training centers.’ In 2017, satellite images, leaked government documents, online tenders for prison construction and guards, as well as social-media posts of ribbon-cutting ceremonies revealed a network of prison camps used to detain, torture and politically indoctrinate Turkic Muslims in China’s far-western region of Xinjiang.
James Piereson | The New Criterion
Are Americans responsible for sickness & death in Sudan? Diane Ravitch’s fraudulent attack Is the Democratic Party violating civil-rights law? Humanism redivivus Too many Democrats The DOGE team zeroes out the National Endowment for Democracy Is this the end of the DEI regime? The DOGE versus the NED: an exchange The DOGE versus the NED Statistical questions about the Iowa poll
Tibet policy should reflect U.S. strategic interests today
Read As the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday approaches in July, American officials should mark the occasion by undertaking a comprehensive review of Tibet policy. If they do, they will discover that America has repeatedly subordinated Tibet to China based on perceptions of strategic interest that no longer exist. Washington’s deference to Beijing over Tibet has emboldened China in projecting its aggression and influence around the world.
The DOGE versus the NED: an exchange
What follows is a letter to the Editors of The New Criterion from Ellen Bork, a fellow at the George W. Bush Institute, written in response to James Piereson’s December 3 Dispatch article, “The DOGE versus the NED.” A response from Piereson follows Bork’s letter. To the Editors: James Piereson’s article “The DOGE versus the NED,” from December 3, 2024, provides readers of The New Criterion an inaccurate picture of the National Endowment for Democracy while recommending its elimination.
America must win the struggle between democracy and authoritarianism
China, Russia, and other authoritarian regimes are leading an unprecedented attack on democracy. While they use repression and corruption to remain in power and enrich themselves, authoritarian leaders are also working to redefine universal values of human rights, democracy, and sovereignty to reshape the U.S.-led world order. Overcoming the authoritarian challenge should be a top priority of the new White House, its national security team, and Congress. China requires special attention.
U.S. policymakers must stand for democracy after COP29 in Baku
Read The U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan went into overtime and concluded Nov. 22. Delegates wrangled until the final hour over the amount of financing wealthier countries would provide to poorer ones to tackle climate change. While an agreement was reached, the conference’s host, the kleptocratic dictator Ilham Aliyev, used the conference to boost his own legitimacy and line his pockets at the expense of democracy and human rights.
Applebaum discusses authoritarian threat to democracies in Autocracy, Inc.
In her new book, Autocracy, Inc., The Dictators Who Want to Run the World, Anne Applebaum explains how the world’s authoritarians are united by a common enemy: “us” – that is, “‘the West,’ NATO, the European Union, their own, internal democratic opponents, and the liberal ideas that inspire all of them.” The challenge the U.S. and its democratic allies face does not constitute a new Cold War, according to Applebaum, a journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author expert about the Soviet Union.
How a U.K. Firm Helped China Crack Down on Hong Kong Democracy
THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION HAS WARNED American businesses operating in Hong Kong that they face “new and heightened” risks as Beijing brings the city’s legal and political regimes into alignment with the mainland. The September 6 advisory from the U.S. Departments of State, Agriculture, Homeland Security, Commerce, and Treasury updated a 2021 warning of the “reputational, regulatory, financial and in certain instances, legal risks” to American companies in the city.
The Struggle for Freedom: The Turkish businessman targeted by bizarre conspiracy theories
The Struggle for Freedom: Middle East As Turkish businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala watched protests against the planned redevelopment of small Gezi Park in central Istanbul from his nearby office in 2013, he couldn’t have imagined that in a few years he would be accused of masterminding them as part of a plot to overthrow the government.
The Struggle for Freedom: Venezuela imprisons Rocío San Miguel, a staunch advocate for peaceful democratic transition
The Struggle for Freedom: Central and Latin America Rocío San Miguel, an expert on Venezuela’s military, was arrested at Caracas’ international airport Feb. 9 as she and her daughter waited to board a flight to the United States. Little has been heard about her since. She is imprisoned at El Helicoide, the notorious headquarters of Venezuela’s intelligence service. Former detainees there have reported torture and inhumane treatment.
Beijing is using Hong Kong to spread its anti-democratic agenda. The U.S. must act
Read In May, the United Kingdom charged three men linked to the official Hong Kong trade office in London with gathering intelligence and other hostile activity against the Hong Kong diaspora.
The Struggle for Freedom: The Thai academic exiled for criticizing the monarchy
The Struggle for Freedom: Asia Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a Thai academic, would be a political prisoner if he were to set foot in his homeland.
The U.S. Should Help This Russian Dissident Survive
THE WALL STREET JOURNALreported last week that U.S. intelligence agencies have found Russian President Vladimir Putin culpable for the murder of democracy leader Alexei Navalny in his Siberian prison camp last February, but found that “he probably didn’t order it at that moment.” That assessment comports with President Biden’s statement after Navalny’s death: “Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.” Putin may not have determined the time of Navalny’s murder, but he had...
The Struggle for Freedom UPDATE: Prominent reporter Stanis Bujakera freed in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Stanis Bujakera, deputy editor of actualitie.cd and a correspondent for Jeune Afrique and Reuters in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was released on March 19 – the day after he was convicted of spreading false information on social media. He was sentenced to 6 months in prison, but credited with time served since his arrest on Sept. 8 and released.
The Struggle for Freedom: The Democratic Republic of Congo sidelines an influential reporter
Stanis Bujakera, a reporter in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is on trial there on charges he forged and disseminated a memo by a Congolese intelligence agency about the death of the opposition figure Cherubin Okende in July 2023. Bujakera was arrested Sept. 8 after the Paris-based publication Jeune Afrique, for which he writes, published an unsigned article about the memo by the National Intelligence Agency – known by its French acronym ANR.
The Struggle for Freedom: A Russian musician creatively uses supermarket price tags to spread anti-war messages in Russia
Russian musician, writer, and pacifist Sasha Skochilenko was sentenced to seven years in prison in November for putting five anti-war messages over price tags on items in a St. Petersburg supermarket in April 2022. She did this just two months after Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine and while the Russian Army was besieging the city of Mariupol.
The Struggle for Freedom update: Jacob Ngarivhume released from prison
Jacob Ngarivhume, a Zimbabwean politician and anti-corruption activist, was freed on Dec. 11 after the country’s High Court quashed his conviction for “inciting violence.” Ngarivhume’s conviction was connected to a video posted in 2020 to Twitter, now known as X, in which he urged his fellow citizens to join peaceful demonstrations against corruption planned for July 31 of that year.
Defending Democracy in an Age of Sharp Power
Defending Democracy in an Age of Sharp Power by William J. Dobson, Tarek Masoud, and Christopher Walker, eds. (Johns Hopkins University Press, 226 pp., $34.95) Approving comments about Osama bin Laden’s 2022 antisemitic “Letter to America” posted on TikTok after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel have rightly renewed attention to the social media platform and its operation under Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government dictates.
The Struggle for Freedom: An Azerbaijani economist who stands up to Aliyev’s kleptocracy
The Struggle for Freedom: Europe Gubad Ibadoghlu, an Azerbaijani economist critical of President Ilham Aliyev’s repressive, kleptocratic rule was arrested on July 23 outside Baku. Ibadoghlu, a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics, and his wife were beaten and detained while on a visit to Azerbaijan to see Ibadoghlu’s elderly mother.
‘Among the Braves’ Review: The Revolution of Their Time
Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy protests were the largest and most protracted in the city’s history. Beginning in June and often attended by well over one million people, the demonstrations were held with a mix of hope, fatalism and a remarkable degree of unity, as people pushed back against the Hong Kong government’s planned law to allow the extradition of defendants to communist China.
The Struggle for Freedom: A Vietnamese writer championed by the U.S. remains in prison
Pham Doan Trang, an imprisoned journalist and author, wasn’t among four political prisoners Vietnam released in connection with President Joe Biden’s visit to Hanoi in September. But Trang is among the most prominent of Vietnam’s 260 political prisoners. She was arrested Oct.
The Struggle for Freedom: Jacob Ngarivhume jailed in advance of anti-corruption protest – and Zimbabwe’s disputed elections | George W. Bush Presidential Center
Jacob Ngarivhume, the leader of the small political party Transform Zimbabwe, was swept up in a preemptive crackdown that headed off a nationwide anti-corruption protest planned for July 31, 2020. Ngaivhume was convicted of “inciting violence” and ultimately sentenced to four years in prison last April after posting a video posted to Twitter, now known as X, urging his fellow citizens to join peaceful demonstrations against the country’s rampant corruption.
The Struggle for Freedom: Lin Htet Naing (“James”) seeks to build the foundation for a post-military Burma
“Military intelligence called and asked me to come to the station,” she told me. If she did, they said, they would hand over her young son. Recognizing this as a trap, she refused and has since escaped Burma with both of the couple’s children.
China’s Influence Operations in the U.S. Demand Closer Scrutiny
PRESIDENT BIDEN IS SENDING HIS top cabinet officials to China, ostensibly to lessen tensions between Washington and Beijing. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing in June, and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen visited last week. But in trying to warm U.S.-China relations, the Biden administration is playing into Beijing’s hands by helping China’s “united front” agenda.
The Struggle for Freedom: The vlogger imprisoned for reporting on Russian repression after the 2014 annexation of Crimea
Kateryna Yesypenko visited Washington, D.C., in mid-May seeking to raise awareness about her husband Vladyslav, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty freelance reporter in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. He was arrested by Russian authorities there in March 2021, in retaliation for his reports on life under occupation.
The Struggle for Freedom: `Political prisoner by proxy’ Dr. Gulshan Abbas
The Struggle for Freedom: Asia May 2, 2023 By Learn more about Ellen Bork. Gulshan Abbas, 60, a retired doctor, was taken away from her Urumqi, Xinjiang, apartment in 2018, just days after her U.S. citizen sister, Rushan, criticized China’s abuses of the Uyghurs at the Hudson Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. Dr. Abbas is one of a significant number of Uyghurs persecuted due to their American relatives’ advocacy or reporting on the Uyghur genocide.
The Struggle for Freedom: Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi advocates for ‘Women, Life, and Freedom’ from prison
Mohammadi, the Deputy Director of the Center for Human Rights Documentation, wrote a letter describing the sexual abuse of women imprisoned during the demonstrations. Mohammadi returned to prison last April after a brief furlough for heart surgery to resume an eight-year sentence for alleged national security offenses. In defiance of the Iranian regime’s strict repression of women’s style of dress and public behavior, demonstrators last September danced and sang, and women discarded their veils.
‘Navalny’ Won an Oscar, But Navalny and Kara-Murza Are Still in Prison
When Navalny, the film about Russian democracy leader Aleksei Navalny, won an Academy Award on Sunday for the year’s best documentary, director Daniel Roher dedicated the award to Navalny and to all political prisoners around the world: “We cannot, we must not, be afraid to oppose dictators and authoritarianism wherever it rears its head,” he said.
Biden debería presionar por la liberación de los presos políticos de Cuba, como hizo en Nicaragua | Opinión
El 9 de febrero, Nicaragua liberó —y obligó a exiliarse en Estados Unidos— a 222 políticos de la oposición prodemocrática, periodistas, académicos, diplomáticos y activistas estudiantiles. La mayoría fueron detenidos cuando el régimen lanzó una ofensiva relacionada con las elecciones presidenciales amañadas que dieron al líder autoritario de Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, un cuarto mandato en 2021.
Biden should push for the release of Cuba’s political prisoners, as he did in Nicaragua | Guest Opinion Original
On Feb. 9, Nicaragua released — and forced into exile in the United States — 222 pro-democracy opposition politicians, journalists, academics, diplomats and student activists. Most were rounded up when the regime launched a crackdown connected to the rigged presidential election that gave Nicaragua’s authoritarian leader Daniel Ortega a fourth term in 2021. After arriving on a flight from Managua to Washington, some expressed both relief and anguish over having left their country behind.
Beijing-Controlled Hong Kong Tries, Lamely, to Buff Up Its Image
It’s probably not a coincidence that a few days before 47 democracy activists went on trial for subversion on February 6, Hong Kong’s chief executive, a Beijing puppet named John Lee, presided over a ceremony to promote the city’s new marketing campaign. The “Hello Hong Kong” launch featured an opening musical number with dancers dressed as hotel staff, pilots, flight attendants, and chefs, and a giveaway of 500,000 airline tickets.
George W. Bush Presidential Center
“The American government and people must stand in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as they seek freedom and the right to choose their own future. We cannot tolerate the authoritarian bullying and danger that Putin poses. Ukraine is our friend and democratic ally and deserves our full support during this most difficult time.” – President George W.
The struggle for freedom A Hong Kong businessman’s fight for democracy
The Struggle for Freedom: Struggle for Freedom January 5, 2023 Author Learn more about Ellen Bork. Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai has been in jail since he was charged with “foreign collusion” after a raid by the Chinese government on pro-democracy Apple Daily publication in August 2020.
The Struggle For Freedom
Dissidents living under repressive regimes have played crucial roles in the most consequential events in recent history. It would be impossible to tell the story of the fall of communism in the Eastern bloc and Soviet Union without speaking of the Czech playwright and future president Vaclav Havel or the physicist Andrei Sakharov.
Uncertainty Over Pelosi’s Taiwan Visit Exposes American Weakness
Chinese officials hope to intimidate the Biden administration over Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s long-planned stop in Taiwan during her August swing through Asia, with stops in Japan and South Korea included as well. Chinese official media quoted General Secretary Xi Jinping warning President Biden that, “Those who play with fire will perish by it.” Pelosi’s trip was originally scheduled for May but postponed after she tested positive for COVID.
Partisanship and Principle
There are many domains in which there is a strong norm of non-partisanship. The classic bureaucrat described by Max Weber is not a partisan, but rather a neutral technocrat whose role lies in expertly carrying out mandates provided by political leaders.
The New Language Police, III
Editing, and its siblings copyediting and fact-checking, are all hard work. They require intellect, focus, and no small amount of self-denial. But lately I’ve noticed copyeditors going on the offensive, assuming the shape of cultural and language critics. Some are even reading out the sins of writers. What gives? One driver of this may be technological.
July 18, 2022: Kenneth R. Weinstein on "Political Report from Tokyo"
Join us July 18, 2022 as Kenneth R. Weinstein discusses "Political Report from Tokyo." Moderated by Craig Kennedy. Kenneth R. Weinstein is Walter P. Stern Distinguished Fellow at Hudson Institute, where he works on U.S. foreign policy, having been chief executive officer of Hudson from 2005-2011 and president and chief executive officer from 2011-2021. He was the U.S. Ambassador-designate to Japan from 2020-2021.
Defending the New West
When I first visited Kyiv in March of 2014, a few weeks after the “Revolution of Dignity,” there was a certain dreariness in the air. The Maidan, with its encampments and smell of burnt tires, felt febrile; the downtown looked overwhelmingly grey and dilapidated after decades of communism and 20 years of missed opportunities following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
July 11, 2022: William Kristol and Eric Edelman discuss “Breaking the Black Sea Blockade”
Join us July 11, 2022 as William Kristol and Eric Edelman discuss “Breaking the Black Sea Blockade.” William Kristol is editor-at-large of The Bulwark. Prior to his work at The Weekly Standard, which he founded, Kristol led the Project for the Republican Future. He served as chief of staff to Education Secretary William Bennett in the Reagan Administration and as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle in the George H.W. Bush administration. Ambassador Eric S.
Who Will Certify the Certifiers?
“Democracy is on the ballot” has become an increasingly common refrain in U.S. elections. The assertion has been justified by Donald Trump’s rejection of an unambiguous commitment to accepting the outcome of a free and fair election, whether it brings victory or defeat.
Michelle Bachelet’s Disgraceful, Demoralizing Trip to China
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet’s recently concluded visit to Xinjiang was a disgrace for Bachelet personally and an institutional failure for the United Nations. It was also a stark reminder of China’s determination to advance its own set of norms at the expense of universal ones of democracy and human rights.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, Imprisoned but Undaunted
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian pro-democracy leader, was sentenced to jail for 15 days Tuesday for “disobeying police.” According to his lawyer, Kara-Murza merely asked the police to identify themselves when they intercepted him at his home after an interview with CNN on Monday April 11. In the interview, Kara-Murza criticized Russian President Vladimir…
How the Biden Administration Is Hurting Its Credibility on China
(Photograph by John Minchillo-Pool/Getty Images.) On September 16, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken criticized the disqualification of seven Hong Kong local level politicians in a tweet pledging, as he has in the past, to “stand with the people of Hong Kong.” The district councilors had fallen afoul of a new loyalty test to the Chinese Communist Party.
The Closure of Apple Daily Is a Warning Shot to Businesses in Hong Kong
(Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images) Apple Daily, one of Hong Kong’s largest newspapers and the only one to uphold a pro-democracy editorial line, has been forced to close despite having millions of dollars in its bank accounts that would have allowed it to keep operating. The funds that would have paid staff and vendors were frozen by the Hong Kong government using the unfettered powers provided by the National Security Law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in June 2020.
COVID, Hacking, and Spying Helped China Develop a New Stealth Fighter in Record Time
Ride or die. Support The Bulwark. Join Now Kiev China’s navy now has a carrier-capable stealthy aircraft. Designated the J-35 and built by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC), this new aircraft could fulfill China’s ambitions to make People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) the world’s second-largest operator of aircraft carriers. Which is one more step in China’s march to being able to project force and influence across the globe. The fighter wing of the Chinese Navy has long been a weak point.
It’s Time for Democracies to Push Back Against China’s Authoritarianism
A vigil commemorating the anniversary of the Tiananmen square crackdown outside of the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles on June 4, 2021. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images.) On June 4, 2005, the 16th anniversary of the 1989 massacre of democracy protesters by China’s People’s Liberation Army troops, the filmmaker Liu Wei walked up to people in Beijing and asked what day it was. He captured their uncomfortable responses in a 13-minute documentary.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Ellen
Contact Ellen, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack