Shitong Qiao
@shitongqiao.bsky.social
Professor of Law at Duke. Author of The Authoritarian Commons, Chinese Small Property, and Finance against Law. After two decades studying law, I’m still captivated by these questions: What is law? Does law matter? Why?
Finally accepted for publication at The American Journal of Comparative Law. A lengthy review process, but one that genuinely improved the paper.
Shitong Qiao @shitongqiao.bsky.social · 4w agoMy new paper presents a different model of the platform-state relationship and explains how China eliminated online music piracy within just a few years. Oh, btw, there is no local judicial protectionism regarding music copyright litigation: copyright holders win! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
An amazing quote from Lindsey Graham in this Atlantic story. It really captures an essential truth about politics that too few people ever really come to terms with. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
My new paper presents a different model of the platform-state relationship and explains how China eliminated online music piracy within just a few years. Oh, btw, there is no local judicial protectionism regarding music copyright litigation: copyright holders win! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is abandoning his proposal to hike taxes on all New York City property owners, following widespread criticism over the initiative.
Mamdani Abandons Plan for Raising New York City Property Taxes
The mayor’s plan to raise the taxes by 9.5% drew backlash, but her still supports a tax on second homes worth $5 million or more.
on.wsj.com
This NYT report marks the 10th review/interview about my book "The Authoritarian Commons: Neighborhood Democratization in Urban China." I'm grateful that people are still paying attention to everyday life in China. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/w...
In China, Even Complaining About Property Management Can Be Political
nytimes.com
Thank you, Emily! I'm flattered:)
Emily Feng@emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 3mo ago3/ Shitong Qiao @shitongqiao.bsky.social who is quoted in the NYT story has written THE definitive book on homeowners association as spaces for political activism and engagement in China. It's meticulous and brilliant. scholarship.law.duke.edu/faculty_book...
Property is the drive...
Emily Feng@emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 3mo ago2/ The images of ordinary folk driving Mercedes Benzes while pointing out abuses of the law reminds me of this rare form of protest, also about protecting private property (in this case huge villas), which I did in northern Beijing a few years ago www.npr.org/2021/01/26/9...
1/ Totally fascinating story from NYT on how homeowners associations and private property are spaces for political resistance in China: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/w...
Inside a Fight by Homeowners for Control of Their Community in China
nytimes.com
Thank you for the review!
China Governance Lab@chinagovernancelab.bsky.social · 5mo agoPleased to share a review written by our graduate fellow, Mary Hertz, featuring "On The Authoritarian Commons: Neighborhood Democratization in Urban China” (Cambridge University Press, 2025) by @shitongqiao.bsky.social. Read the full review here: shorturl.at/JLVi9
If a quiet method of mineral exploration is successful, it could thread a loophole in the law governing public lands, helping open these areas for mining that much more quickly—and controversially, Lauren Steele reports.
The Mysterious Devices Speeding Mining Exploration in Utah
Hiking guides hired to carry 20-pound nodes into the mountains were part of a new type of resource survey.
bit.ly
Miami-based #UChicagoLaw alums — come join @adamchilton.bsky.social & me tonight to discuss the future of presidential administration
Kudos to Mayor Mamdani. This is what economic justice looks like. And it's a reminder of how we can fight corporate greed at the state and local level. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/mamdani-ice-delivery-workers-settlement-backpay-uber-gig-workers-million/
Interesting... "The point at which people thought they’d be depleted was often when their best ideas began to emerge. The so-called creative-cliff illusion leads us to abandon the search before it heats up." www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
‘How Great Ideas Happen’ Review: Building a Brainstorm
The romantic idea of an insight that suddenly dawns is misleading. Most breakthroughs come slowly.
wsj.com
Selected by George Newman, the author of “How Great Ideas Happen.” on.wsj.com/4tcAHMS
Five Best: Books on the Creative Spark
Selected by George Newman, the author of “How Great Ideas Happen.”
on.wsj.com
Marcus Aurelius has been acknowledged as a sage. But his reign was marked as much by military affairs as it was by philosophy. on.wsj.com/49xQe0K
‘Marcus Aurelius’ Review: The Mind and the Sword
Marcus Aurelius has been acknowledged as a sage. But his reign was marked as much by military affairs as it was by philosophy.
on.wsj.com
“In a hyper-capitalist culture optimised for skimming and distraction, the ability to sit still with a novel is both subversive and truly gratifying.” www.ft.com/content/da33... One recommendation: Joanna Kavenna, Zed
Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan… * Vehicle traffic: -11% * Foot traffic: +3.4% * Storefront vacancy: -0.9% * Pollution: -22% * Revenue for mass transit: $548M So YES this has been a huge success.
Too many managers take a hands-off approach, and then get frustrated when things go awry. There is a better way on.wsj.com/44rnncT
The Biggest Mistake Bosses Make When Delegating
Too many managers take a hands-off approach, and then get frustrated when things go awry. There is a better way
on.wsj.com
"While the Chinese state endeavors to institute the Party’s leadership in all aspects of the society, it has failed in its urban neighborhoods where hundreds of millions of middle-class homeowners, who are backbone of the regime, live." papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/...
"In the case that the primary purpose was to support the local car manufacturing industry, the compensation took the form of subsidizing taxi drivers to replace their old cars with electronic vehicles (“EVs”) manufactured locally." papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
The Democratic Party’s winners this week “arguably got more out of affordability than any other approach,” @dkthomp.bsky.social argues. A party that adopts that approach at the national level “is in a strong position going into 2026”: https://theatln.tc/DJXBANTH
Hard to believe this video interview—where I discuss real estate law and politics in China—has been viewed over 583,000 times in just two months. Two parents of my daughter’s school friends even sent me screenshots of it… www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko25...
How to Finish the World's Tallest Abandoned Building
YouTube video by The B1M
youtube.com
"Techno-wizardry on one side and struggling villages on the other conveys valuable yet only partially accurate pictures of a complex country." #PIPFellow @kennedychina.bsky.social and Scott Rozelle discuss China's tech rise for @foreignpolicy.com: https://bit.ly/47kgElN
China’s Tech Obsession Is Weighing Down Its Economy
A decade of cutting-edge investment hasn’t translated into growth.
bit.ly
No one in America likes their HOA. However, according to @shitongqiao.bsky.social, HOAs are an important site of actually existing democracy in China that depend on a strong state while potentially threatening it. Alice Liu asks him how this could be. open.substack.com/pub/uscnpm/p...
The Democracy of HOAs (Seriously) w/ Shitong Qiao
One of the most odious sources of small scale authoritarianism in America is a site of actually existing democracy in China
open.substack.com
Interesting. A similar trend has been happening to their Chinese offices too... Seems that something more fundamental about the U.S. legal market is going on.
Above The Law@abovethelaw.com · 10mo agoTop Biglaw Firm Says Sayonara To Its Tokyo Office https://abovethelaw.com/2025/10/top-biglaw-firm-says-sayonara-to-its-tokyo-office/
It's out! "Recognition Rules: The Case for a New International Law of Government Recognition" Published in @nyulawreview.bsky.social, with coauthors Justin Cole and Alaa Hachem. You can download it for free here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Recognition Rules: The Case for a New International Law of Government Recognition - NYU Law Review
The last several years have been marked by contentious disputes about which governments represent the states of Venezuela, Libya, Yemen, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Niger. Such disputes are far from idl...
nyulawreview.org
@ncuscr.bsky.social is delighted to announce the twenty fellows who make up the ninth cohort of our Public Intellectuals Program. Learn more about the newest #PIPFellows: www.ncuscr.org/twenty-leadi...
Twenty Leading China Specialists Selected for Ninth Round of Public Intellectuals Program
The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations is pleased to announce the ninth round of fellows in its Public Intellectuals Program (PIP), generously funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York. The ...
ncuscr.org
