tremble and obey

Calque from Chinese 凜遵／凛遵 (lǐn zūn), a phrase historically used in Chinese imperial edicts.

• "The ordinary voter ... feels himself their humble subject, whose duty is, as the Chinese used to say, to “tremble and obey”."
• "Never “tremble and obey” if doing so will damage or destroy your business in China."
• "... the previous colonial government and the current tremble-and-obey government have helped foster the myth of a historically politically apathetic and selfish society ..."