“What matters is not what you oppose but what kind of life you desire,” said Anne Jieping Zhang, the owner of bookstores in Taipei and Chiang Mai, Thailand. Credit...Simon Simard for The New York Times

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       émigrés Are Creating an Alternative China, One Bookstore at a Time

       From Thailand to America, Chinese denied a safe public space for discussion in their home country have found hope in diaspora communities.

       “What matters is not what you oppose but what kind of life you desire,” said Anne Jieping Zhang, the owner of bookstores in Taipei and Chiang Mai, Thailand. Credit...Simon Simard for The New York Times

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       By Li Yuan

       Reporting from Tokyo; Taipei, Taiwan; and Chiang Mai, Thailand

       Published Feb. 23, 2024Updated Feb. 26, 2024

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       On a rainy Saturday afternoon in central Tokyo, 50 or so Chinese people packed into a gray, nondescript office that doubles as a bookstore. They came for a seminar about Qiu Jin, a Chinese feminist poet and revolutionary who was beheaded more than a century ago for conspiring to overthrow the Qing dynasty.

       Like them, Ms. Qiu had lived as an immigrant in Japan. The lecture’s title, “Rebuilding China in Tokyo,” said as much about the aspirations of the people in the room as it did about Ms. Qiu’s life.

       Public discussions like this one used to be common in big cities in China but have increasingly been stifled over the past decade. The Chinese public is discouraged from organizing and participating in civic activities.

       In the past year, a new type of Chinese public life has emerged — outside China’s borders in places like Japan.

       “With so many Chinese relocating to Japan,” said Li Jinxing, a human rights lawyer who organized the event in January, “there’s a need for a place where people can vent, share their grievances, then think about what to do next.” Mr. Li himself moved to Tokyo from Beijing last September over concerns for his safety. “People like us have a mission to drive the transformation of China,” he said.

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       Li Jinxing, a human rights lawyer in Tokyo, said he organized events to help Chinese immigrants “think about what to do next.” Credit...Shoko Takayasu for The New York Times

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       A correction was made on Feb. 26, 2024

       : An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the Nieman fellowship’s academic affiliation. It is affiliated with Harvard University, not the Harvard Kennedy School.

       When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at nytnews@nytimes.com.Learn more

       Li Yuan writes the New New World column, which focuses on the intersection of technology, business and politics in China and across Asia. More about Li Yuan

       A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 26, 2024, Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: émigrés From China Are Creating A Community Through Bookstores . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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