Mao Zedong once cited the “philosophy” in the Chinese parlor game of mahjong. It remains a mass pastime for millions of folk, both in China and among the diaspora.
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Mahjong, Pathway To The Chinese Mind
country: China
Stay updated with comprehensive news on China from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on Chinese politics, economic developments, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include Beijing, Shanghai, and events like the Chinese New Year.
If Chinese food is a link to the homeland, then so is Chinese literature. Two Chinese immigrants in Europe have found a way to connect themselves and others to their culture by setting up spaces where people can buy or borrow Chinese paperbacks.
If computing power becomes a major tool for superpowers like China and the U.S., then what does the latest U.S. technology blockade mean for the race to a more powerful AI? Honk Kong-based daily The Initium looks at the nuclear race of our time, with chips as the modern-day equivalent of enriched uranium.
A gigantic and multi-faceted new location near Shanghai epitomizes the American giant’s ambition to quench China’s growing but still-nascent thirst for coffee.
The credit giant becomes only the second player after American Express to be allowed to set up a bank card-clearing RMB operation in mainland China.
A democracy is not just the vague and dangerously malleable promise of popular rule. It is instead an institutional regime or “republic” that defines and protects the rights of the people, and of individuals.
Twenty years of costly interventions and China’s economic ascent have robbed the United States of its global supremacy. It is time for the two biggest powers to work together, to help the world.
Taiwanese, though under the weight of a far more powerful neighbor, have the tendency to idealize Israel and fail to create a self-definition beyond the island nation’s anti-China image.
The highly anticipated face-to-face between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping is about more than just global trade, it’s about putting the brakes on humanity sliding into total chaos and conflict.
Washington, Moscow and Beijing can all, in different ways, emerge stronger from the war in Gaza war, says French geopolitical expert Dominique Moïsi. The U.S. has been more present in the Middle East since Oct. 7 — but so has Russia, while China is keeping relatively quiet.
In just three decades, the village of Yubang has become the cradle of one of the most popular food brands in China, under the watch of the local Communist Party and a certain governor named Xi Jinping. It now dreams of conquering the globe.
The use of “Xizang” instead of “Tibet” by Chinese officials is supported by some nationalists, but viewed by Tibetans, including those affiliated with the Dalai Lama, as veritable erasure of identity.
Trailing only China in the widespread use across the nation of security cameras equipped with facial recognition technology.
There is no doubt that the old museums in Europe and America bear deep imprints of the colonial era; in a mirror image, “protecting treasures” has become a transcendental reference for the new China.
No country in the world has as big a cigarette industry as China. This is the story of how a giant state-backed monopoly created the industry, which provides more tax revenue than any other, and ultimately sabotaged the country’s anti-smoking efforts in the process.
Unemployment, stress in the workplace, economic difficulties: more and more young Chinese graduates are flocking to monasteries to find “another school of life.”
As the world’s technologies change, so do the countries with not only advantages in production, but also geography and diplomacy. China knows this, and sees that investing in Moroccan resources is a particularly smart bet in the long run.
Russia is digging itself into a hole as it becomes increasingly dependent on China, as a result of international sanctions and isolation. This shifting dynamic, analysts argue, is bound to have ripple effects around the world
Research by anthropologist Darren Byler provides a rare look inside the surveillance state China has created to control the Uyghur population of Xinjiang province, where every move is tracked, people are forced to carry cell phones, and “re-education camps” await anyone suspected of trying to break free.
There will be no Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping at this weekend’s summit of the world’s 20 leading economies in New Delhi: a symbol of the fragmentation of the world that has accelerated since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
China released a new map where it borrows strips of lands from its neighbors. Although this is far from being the first time the country is involved in territorial disputes, Beijing’s growing military shows it has the power (and will?) to try to make it a reality.
The BRICS economies’ inclusion of new members like Iran may not make business sense, but it fits with the Sino-Russian strategy of drawing states of the Global South into their orbit in open confrontation with the U.S. and the rest of the West.
The West is losing influence on many fronts, embodied in the rise of the BRICS alliance as a kind of “counter-G7.” But Western leaders will need to decide if they want to be part of this change, or its victim.
A new melodrama broadcast in China about sexual assault in the workplace is a sign that some difficult questions are being addressed, but that serious taboos remain in Chinese society and public life.
The manufacture of a chip requires 500 operations on three continents. Both the U.S. and China want to master this incredible logistics chain. And with Taiwan crucial to the supply chain, there is both a cause and effect to try to calculate.
The war in Ukraine has become globalized, with its effects being felt from Africa to China. The only hope of de-escalation is in a potential diplomatic summit between the U.S. and China this autumn.
China’s economy is struggling, partly driven by a deepening economic rift with the U.S. That does not bode well for the rest of the world, particularly countries in the Global South, writes Argentine daily Clarín.
Beijing is obsessed with absorbing the “rebel island,” but a peaceful reintegration seems more and more unlikely. Despite the risk of an economic, and maybe military, confrontation with the U.S. and allies, an attempt by China to take Taiwan by force is probable, sometime between 2027 and 2049.
A movie star, a tennis player, a tech billionaire — and now the Foreign Minister: the Chinese Party’s parallel justice system does not discriminate when it comes to hushing down figures deemed “subversive.”
Iran can expect few real economic benefits from joining the China-dominated SCO, but its leaders hope China and Russia will help the regime tighten its grip at home.
NATO has turned its focus from Ukraine to Asia, as American officials try to prepare a united front in case Taiwan is invaded. But consensus may not be possible as another key member, France, has its own strategy.
The creation of a new common currency will be one of the main questions on the agenda at the BRICS summit in South Africa in August. But there are still many obstacles to overcome before breaking free from the almighty dollar.
Beijing recently placed an export ban to the U.S. of two key metals. The move is a retaliation for U.S. bans of Chinese tech. The question remains of whether the superpowers can compromise before a total tech war breaks out.
Two Asian giants are facing each other: China, whose economic and military power is no longer in doubt, and India, whose weapon is demography and who dreams of being the equal of its Chinese rival. The effects will reverberate everywhere.
There are many lessons to be taken from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s aborted uprising in the halls of power China. Going forward, Beijing will see Russia as a model on what to avoid in maintaining stability autocratic rule.
A woman in China who falsely accused a man of filming her on the subway has sparked an avalanche of vitriol against her. There are now fears that the case will stop the many real victims of secret filming from coming forward and fighting back.
The Chinese pet market is booming, driven by young city dwellers who are increasingly reluctant to have babies. Care, food, yoga classes, strollers, specialized detectives and pet-cloning are all part of a 35 billion-euro industry.
The U.S. Secretary of State is visiting Beijing — but even if it’s a sign of de-escalation, tensions remain high between the two sides, and it’s clear the détente has yet to arrive.
The just completed G7 in Hiroshima has locked both sides in the simmering Cold War in Asia into what appears an inevitable confrontation that recalls the U.S.-Soviet showdown. But there are key caveats that make both the limits and risks harder to anticipate.
Five former Soviet states have arrived for a key summit in China, and the absence of Vladimir Putin signals Central Asia’s desire to distance itself from Moscow — and China’s rising global dominance.