孔杰荣常常追问自己：与中国的接触和交往是否真正有意义，是否能够带来改变？我不止一次撰文批评那些忽视中国人权和民主化的“接触政策”，认为那往往等同于绥靖，并主张“有原则的接触”。而这恰恰是孔杰荣一生所践行的路线。他从不进行自我审查，坚持关注人权法治议题，真诚地交流，直率地批评。
作为思想家、导师、社会活动家和伟大的人道主义者，孔杰荣所体现的“批判性接触”精神，值得人们学习；因为今天有太多人在对华政策上，难以摆脱对抗、脱钩与绥靖这些怪圈。

Jerry empathized deeply with the suffering of humanity, yet he never yielded to darkness. His legacy will continue to inspire the people he loved so much, ppl who carry forward the beautiful causes he cherished, with the belief that we must try our best to make the world better.

但中国这样的政治体制，无法实现和谐社会。僵化的专制体制，畸形的发展模式，导致了很多问题，比如民众的基本自由被剥夺、权利被侵犯；经济发展的不平衡，贫富分化；社会也越来越压抑，缺少向心力，道德下滑，民众充满恐惧和愤懑。整个社会越来越虚伪、分裂，官方天天宣传虚假的东西，甚至故意制造仇美仇日、仇恨少数民族的情绪。

要想真正解决群体性事件的问题，需要最基本的司法公正，民主选举，需要新闻自由、集会游行示威的自由，让政治有制度性的对话，让社会有一个出气阀。而中共一味地去隐瞒、封锁、镇压，甚至大规模抓人，处以重刑，“不解决人民提出的问题，只解决提出问题的人民”，只能让矛盾加剧、让民众的怨气越积越深。

Prof. Jerome A. Cohen co-authored a piece on Chinese human rights lawyers with me two months ago.
It's such a privilege to have him in my life.

www.thewirechina.com/2025/07/20/a...

I had a 7-hour interview with Jerry last year.
My wife & I visited Jerry at his home in Jan. 2025. We had planned to visit him again soon, but it has become a regret that will last forever.
Every time I met him, I was inspired by his kindness and passion.
His life was a legend.

Jerry co-authored this article with me a few months ago. He always replies to my emails with a few hours. He cared about #Xuzhiyong, #Gaozhisheng and other Chinese human rights defenders very much. www.chinafile.com/reporting-op...