Day: October 7, 2021

It doesn’t have to do what the US is doing, he said, but it should be “sufficient to your own capacities”. In short, he thinks China has to reduce its reliance on coal, increase its energy mix and cut its carbon emissions faster. Otherwise, it could wipe out the efforts of numerous smaller nations. BBC

South Korean developer Jung Myung-soo is seen at the unveiling of his plans for the Central City project in Surrey, British Columbia, in 2005, with Surrey’s mayor, Doug McCallum. At the time it was to be the biggest residential and retail development in Surrey‘s history. Photo: Material republished with the express permission of Vancouver Province, a division of Postmedia Network Inc South China Morning Post

And asked how long the US would wait while Iran delayed the resumption of talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, Mr Sullivan said: “We’ve just heard… that Iran is prepared to come back in a matter of a few short weeks, if that turns out not to be the case, then we will have to consult with allies and partners on a different way forward. BBC

Advertisement When U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, first met in Anchorage, Alaska, the tension was palpable. The March meeting devolved into a public dressing-down from Yang, in front of the press. In a 20-minute tirade, Yang demanded that the U.S. “fully abandon the hegemonic practice of willfully interfering in China’s internal affairs” after his U.S. counterparts raised the issues of Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Taiwan in their opening remarks. Their second meeting, held in Zurich, Switzerland, between Yang and Sullivan was decidedly more…

Oct 7th 2021 SOMETIMES CHINA makes shrewd decisions. At other times it is capable of grave mistakes, even acts of wickedness. But the Chinese government is rarely silly. In particular, officials do not stake the prestige of their supreme leader, President Xi Jinping, on a whim. That makes it worth revisiting dismissive foreign reactions to a move that, though dry-looking, is important and revealing. Listen to this story Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. On September 16th China formally…

Oct 7th 2021 BEIJING WITH ONE’S eyes closed, Beijing’s main roads sound like any Chinese city. All around is the roar of traffic, punctuated by honks from delivery scooters, recorded safety warnings from buses and the occasional bell of a rental-bicycle. But in the capital’s last hutongs, as its ancient grey-walled alleys are known, fragments of an older soundscape can be heard. Listen to this story Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. The chirping of caged crickets is one.…

Oct 7th 2021 NEW YORK IT WAS A deliberate provocation, patriotically timed. On October 1st, the country’s national day, China flew 38 aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers, towards Taiwan (one type, the J-16, is pictured). They entered the island’s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), a buffer region where intrusions often prompt military alerts. It was the year’s daily record. Over the next three days China sent another 111 planes. In response, Taiwan scrambled jets, broadcast warnings and tracked the Chinese aircraft with missile systems. The island’s defence minister, Chiu…

Advertisement In recent months, China’s Red Flag River Water Diversion Project Proposal (Red Flag River), an astonishing new inter-basin water diversion proposal, has gained much attention on social media in China and also in the downstream countries, especially in India. Named after the famous Red Flag Canal, the proposal aims to annually divert 60 billion cubic meters of water from the major rivers of the ecologically fragile Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, including three transnational rivers (Mekong, Salween, and Brahmaputra), to arid Xinjiang and other parts of northwest China. Chinese social media posts…