Tajikistan’s forbidden question: Why China is off-limits

Rukhshona Hakimova, a journalist and researcher, asked about Beijing’s influence – and paid the price with her freedom.

Rukhshona Hakimova.

All too often in Tajikistan, the cruelty is the point.

Until early last year, Rukhshona Hakimova, 31, was eking out a living as one of a dwindling community of unaffiliated, independent journalists. Her thoughts were mainly on her two small children, the youngest of which was less than one year old.

In February, she took on a routine re…