Ukraine was the trickiest part of French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to China. And though Xi Jinping didn’t say much, Macron made his voice clear on the war and possible arms shipments to Russia — and the West is watching closely.
Tag: beijing
The issue of Taiwan has come up during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China. The unresolved question of the island’s independence shows Europe will find it hard to remain neutral as tensions between the U.S. and China reach a new peak.
One year since Russia’s invasion, the global stakes of the war in Ukraine have come more fully into focus. It’s a battle over fundamental questions of sovereignty and democracy, but also the very meaning of power.
COVID infections have skyrocketed since China eased restrictions as public health policy has not been able to keep up. Unable to find medications, many have turned to generic drugs of questionable safety. It’s the culmination of a longstanding problem.
Large segments of Taiwan seem underprepared or indifferent when it comes to the possibility of Chinese invasion. But some are actively preparing, using Ukraine as a role model.
China is facing its biggest political protests in decades as frustration grows with its harsh Zero-COVID strategy. However, the real reasons for the protests run much deeper. Could it be the starting point for a new civic movement?
While street demonstrations have spread in China to protest the strict Zero-COVID regulations, some Chinese university students have taken up public acts of crawling to show what extended harsh lockdowns are doing to their mental state.
The deepening ties between China and Africa are a hot topic, but the voices we hear are usually the same — white and Western. So what does China look like to an African? Nigerian journalist Solomon Elusoji is the best person to ask.
The façade of unity between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin was lifted in Uzbekistan last week. But where exactly does the Chinese head of state stand on the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Beijing is still establishing its place in the world, and it remains in contradiction to the West
A new regulation in China is cracking down hard on tattoos. The law is ostensibly about minors, but some argue that it’s going too far and actively erasing the glorious Chinese past.
It may have taken a little while, but the Chinese Communist Party woke up to the risks of losing control of information flows on livestream platforms.
The death of the former Japanese Prime Minister has provoked different reactions between mainland China and Taiwan, but also between government officials and the public in the People’s Republic. Looking ahead, will Japan’s pro-Taiwan stance stick for the long haul?
The Russian invasion of Ukraine forced the sport world to abandon its long-held political neutrality, including the Olympics and FIFA. Is this a one-off event or a sign of a fundamental shift in sport?
? Dumêlang!* Welcome to Thursday, where a U.S. air raid in Syria kills civilians, tainted cocaine kills 20 in Argentina, and Jeff Bezos’ superyacht gets special treatment in Rotterdam. Thanks to Persian-language media Kayhan, we also look at the discontent brewing among Iranians vis-à-vis their country’s religious government. [*Northern Sotho, South Africa] SPOTLIGHT I […]
A resurgent, ambitious Russia has taken the West by surprise, just when the United States was pivoting and bracing itself to face down China.
Joined in their respective confrontations with the West, both the Chinese and Russian leaders are boasting about their burgeoning partnership. Yet there are fundamental reasons the love affair is unlikely to last.
China has big business interests in Afghanistan and security concerns on its western border; and following the U.S. pullout and Taliban takeover, Beijing will not tolerate the country becoming a source of regional unrest.
-Analysis- NEW DELHI — It was mid-September 2014, India was abuzz with the visit of Chinese president, Xi Jinping and his wife, folk singer Peng Liyuan. Televisions channels played an extended video loop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi sitting on a swing with Xi on the banks of the Sabarmati River, while excited anchors foretold an era of Sino-Indian peace, forged between the two strongmen who had come to power within two years of each other. Six years later, the Modi-Xi relationship lies in tatters, as do ties between New Delhi and Beijing. With Chinese soldiers having marched across the […]
HONG KONG — The Beijing authorities have finally decided to set aside the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government and its Legislative Council and instead craft themselves a national security law for the former British colony. According to Wang Chen, deputy chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the Chinese government’s rubber stamp agency, […]
As a Taiwanese, even one who has lived abroad for years, her instinct is to distrust the Chinese regime. Others chose to ignore all the warnings.
The center-right populist Italian government has recently bowed to Chinese flattery, announcing it was ready to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that will connect Rome and Beijing on a modern Silk Road. At the end of a long, slow path of decline and political confusion, Rome is in bad need of fresh investment to boost […]
As tensions between Washington an Beijing continue to build, smaller nations like Argentina should stay out of the fray and instead strengthen regional integration.
WASHINGTON — How long must you live, how strong must be your memory, to turn back and say: damn it, this world has really changed. Look at the millennials, they seem to be better educated than the boomers, but they are sui generis in their thinking, seemingly inspired and shaped by memes rather than historical […]
-Op-Ed- LAUSANNE — While plenty of attention has been paid to Donald Trump’s “America First” pledge — as troublesome or laughable as it may seem — relatively little is being said about another protectionist economic strategy, one that could have a far greater impact on Europe and the West. Unlike the U.S. president, with his well-known habit of airing every thought and whim on Twitter, authorities in Beijing have been discreet about their “Made in China 2025” initiative. Don’t be fooled though. It may not have a lot of fanfare, but this is no half-measure. Just as China has already […]
First with Obama and now with Trump, the U.S. is making space for a second imperialist power on the American continent, China.
Beyond the beltway, far from America’s heartland: the most unlikely of incoming U.S. presidents is daily bread for the international press. See what they’re saying.
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The Solitary Kite
This kite looked a bit lonely, flying on its own in the gray skies above Tiananmen Square.
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On This Day – December 26
Faced with enormous challenges both at home and abroad, China reveals itself as a land of double standards and growing uncertainty.
The People’s Daily, June 30, 2015 The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, featured on its front page today a large photograph of the representatives of 50 countries that signed an agreement Monday for the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The […]
Behind the Chinese government’s easy shows of strength is a rising sense of insecurity within the regime.
New Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is betting on Beijing to cement peace and help rebuild the economy. But China will play its cards carefully, especially its historic alliance with Pakistan.
BEIJING — It seems not so long ago that people were still looking at online literature with disdain. But no one can deny that, at the very least, it is a very real business opportunity. Last year, Choose the Day, a very popular Chinese online novel, was adapted into a webgame by Giant Interactive, a […]
The so-called congestion charges that have been levied in London and other major cities are being closely considered in the Chinese capital, which has serious pollution and traffic issues.
HONG KONG — Pro-democracy protesters took to the streets over the weekend in Hong Kong, flooding downtown around Admiralty, the government complex. Occupy Central activits rallied against the government’s plan to limit electoral changes. The city’s authorities had promised Hong Kong residents they would be allowed to choose their own leader by 2017, but the […]
BEIJING — The Tibetan mastiff is a breed of dog prized for its hardy build and exotic beauty. (photo: Pleple2000) Though now domesticated, it traces its origins to ancient times when it roamed the highlands of Central Asia. Here’s one in its native stomping ground on the Tibetan mountain of Gonggar. (photo: Dennis Jarvis) But […]
After building Beijing’s Olympic Park for the 2008 Games, a Chinese-American urban planner and Israeli architect continue to help develop green cities in a largely polluted China.
BEIJING — Winter has come to the capital, and Wang Jie (a pseudonym) feels particularly cold. The multinational communication equipment company where he’s worked for 20 years has just announced widespread layoffs in the marketing, sales and service departments. Wang’s name was on the list. When he joined the firm in 1994, he was part […]
Dubbed the new ‘cave dwellers’ of Beijing, these people were recently found living in the city’s underground water system. Society’s lowest rung raises hard questions about modern China.
Destination: Moscow. Setting out from Beijing, I had the choice of two passenger railway lines to connect to the famed Trans-Siberian. One of the lines, the K19, goes through the border town of Manzhouli, while the other, the K3, arrives via Mongolia. Beijing-Manchuria: familiar, strange and quiet For most Chinese railway passengers, it is a […]