China has urged the US to “avoid sending any wrong signals” after President Joe Biden for a second time in three months said the US would come to Taiwan’s defence if it was attacked. In both instances, the White House has clarified that there has been no change in US policy, which officially maintains so-called “strategic ambiguity” regarding Taiwan. Still, Biden’s words will rattle Beijing. China’s foreign ministry has “no room for concessions” when it comes to its core interests, its spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a daily news briefing, in…
Month: October 2021
Li Yundi: China’s ‘Piano Prince’ detained for hiring prostitute
“I’m curious to know how the public found out about him. When you see a 39-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman go into an apartment building together, how did people know that it’s a prostitute and her customer? Why not a married couple, friends, hookup buddies?”, a Weibo comment read. BBC
Li Yundi Is Detained in China on Suspicion of Prostitution
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
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?
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…
Enes Kanter: Boston Celtics star under fire over China comments
Kanter, who is known for his activism, has had his Turkish passport removed by the country’s government over his remarks about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In 2019, prosecutors in Turkey issued an international arrest warrant for Kanter, claiming he had links with armed groups behind a 2016 failed coup. Kanter denies the allegations. BBC
As Chinese Women Seek to Crack Male Professions, Schools Stand in the Way
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
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
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…
Apple fails to block Huawei’s MatePod trademark for AirPods rivals in China because they will ‘not cause confusion’
The FreeBuds 4, pictured here in Bangkok on July 15, 2021, are the latest version of Huawei’s wireless earbuds that compete with Apple’s AirPods. Huawei was granted a trademark for “MatePod” earphones last month, which Apple tried to block. Photo: Shutterstock South China Morning Post