Day: October 21, 2021

Li Yundi Is Detained in China on Suspicion of Prostitution

Chin@Strategy

A prominent Chinese pianist, Li Yundi, has been detained on prostitution suspicion in Beijing, state-run news outlets in China reported on Thursday. Mr. Li, 39, who had gained celebrity in China as a performer and a reality television personality, was accused of soliciting a 29-year-old woman, according to People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling Communist Party. The authorities in Beijing did not provide many details of the incident, saying in a statement that a 39-year-old man with the last name Li had acknowledged wrongdoing and had been detained…

Smuggling Australian rock lobsters into China a national security threat, Hong Kong customs chief says

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Rampant smuggling of Australian rock lobsters into mainland China is a national security threat, Hong Kong’s new customs chief said Thursday as she vowed to crack down on the trade. Lobsters are one of a number of products from Australia that China has restricted imports of as relations between the countries plunged. But they remain a prized and much sought-after delicacy in mainland China. Imports of Australian rock lobsters to Hong Kong – which maintains no restrictions on the crustaceans – have since sky-rocketed, with suspicions that the vast majority…

Is Russia Starting to Sour on China?

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement Conventional wisdom holds that best friends make the worst enemies. Should China keep this saying in mind regarding its relationship with Russia? Currently, enmity between the two partners seems a remote possibility, especially after President Vladimir Putin praised Beijing openly at the recent Russian Energy Week conference. However, despite the harmonious public pronouncements, Sino-Russian rapprochement may not be able to completely conceal the emerging irritation of Russian elites toward Beijing. Professor Alexander Lukin’s latest article in the Washington Quarterly notes this change. Back in 2018, his book “China and…

As Chinese Women Seek to Crack Male Professions, Schools Stand in the Way

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When Vincy Li applied to a prestigious police academy graduate program in China, she knew her odds of success were low. After all, the school set quotas, typically capping the number of female students at no more than a quarter of the student body. But her chances were even lower. When the school released admissions results earlier this year, just five out of 140 students who had tested into the program — less than 4 percent — were female, even though more than 1,000 women had applied. And the lowest-scoring…

Hong Kong’s Media Under Siege

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement On October 8, two journalists from the Philippines and Russia were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to safeguard freedom of expression, a fundamental right the committee emphasized as “a precondition for democracy and lasting peace” in a world threatened by encroaching authoritarianism. One of the most troubling reflections of this trend has taken place in Hong Kong, where the media sector is rapidly becoming unrecognizable under the Beijing-imposed national security law (NSL) that took effect just over a year ago. In today’s Hong Kong, journalists…

The confidence of China’s Communist Party is striking

Chin@Strategy

Oct 21st 2021 SINCE THE Ming dynasty, Chinese who are oppressed by local officials have sighed, by way of explanation: “The heavens are high, and the emperor far away.” An earthier variant runs: “With no tiger in the mountains, the monkeys are in charge.” Today’s Communist Party bosses have no time for such cynicism. They want the masses to believe that, even in the remotest villages, their welfare is the concern of an all-knowing leader, Xi Jinping, served by officials striving to follow his stern but wise example. Listen to…

Tourists in Asia Navigate a Patchwork of Policies

Chin@Strategy

While fully vaccinated Americans can fly to hundreds of cities and towns across the country and 27 European capitals, border rules across Asia remain far stricter than in any other region in the world. Governments in Asia have promised to reopen their borders because of the improved Covid situation and progress on vaccinations. But they are falling behind the rest of the world. Air travel in August across the region was still 10 percent of what it was two years ago, lagging the rebound in the United States. Travelers must…

China Evergrande shares fall sharply after $2.6bn asset sale collapses

Chin@Strategy

Shares in the struggling property giant China Evergrande have fallen sharply after plans to offload a stake in one of its units for $2.6bn fell through, casting further doubt over whether it can avert the country’s biggest ever corporate failure. China Evergrande Group, the parent company for the sprawling empire built by former steel industry executive Xu Jiayin, closed down 12.54% in Hong Kong on Thursday. Evergrande announced on Wednesday that it had formally abandoned plans to sell a 50.1% slice of Evergrande Property Services, one of its most profitable…