A bad situation - for academic, political, and religious freedom - in China

I suppose it is not news that the political authorities in the People's Republic of China are not -- despite the sincere, or perhaps naive, hopes of some -- friendly to academic, political, or religious freedom.  This story ("Maoists in China, Given New Life, Attack Dissent") ran yesterday on the front page (!) of the New York Times and is, in my view, a must-read . . . especially for administrators and officials of institutions of higher education (including my own) considering collaborations or parterships with such institutions in China.  Here's a bit:

. . . Two years into a sweeping offensive against dissent, Mr. Xi has been intensifying his focus on perceived ideological opponents, sending ripples through universities, publishing houses and the news media and emboldening hard-liners who have hailed him as a worthy successor to Mao Zedong.

In instructions published last week, Mr. Xi urged universities to “enhance guidance over thinking and keep a tight grip on leading ideological work in higher education,” Xinhua, the official news agency, reported.

In internal decrees, he has been blunter, attacking liberal thinking as a pernicious threat that has contaminated the Communist Party’s ranks, and calling on officials to purge the nation of ideas that run counter to modern China’s Marxist-Leninist foundations. . . .

The Times story calls into serious question, it seems to me, the relatively optimistic thesis of this article ("China Warms to Catholic University's Mission"), which ran on the Times Higher Education site a few days ago.