Month: November 2021

U.S. and China Agree to Ease Restrictions on Journalists

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The United States and China announced an agreement on Tuesday to ease restrictions on foreign journalists operating in the two countries, tempering a diplomatic confrontation that led to the expulsion of some American reporters from China during the last year of the Trump administration. The deal was first reported by China Daily, a newspaper controlled by the Chinese government, and later confirmed by a statement issued from the State Department. Under the agreement, made public just a day after President Biden met with President Xi Jinping of China,…

Revising China’s History, to Glorify Xi Jinping

Chin@Strategy

Xi Jinping’s drive to extend his formidable power for years ahead reached a new pitch on Tuesday, when the Chinese Communist Party issued a resolution on history that anoints him one of its revered leaders, hours after Mr. Xi held video talks with President Biden. Senior party officials approved the resolution last week, when some of its main points were released in an official summary of their meeting. But the government has only belatedly issued the full document, the third such summation of history in the 100 years of the…

Biden-Xi summit highlights tensions – and desire for cooperation

Chin@Strategy

The much-awaited meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping achieved its admittedly low expectations when the two finally met and showed a willingness to move the bilateral relationship in a positive direction. Progress began to show soon after the meeting, for example on journalist visas. But the two sides also provided a list of existing grievances following the three-and-a-half-hour talks. The US said it raised its concerns over China’s human rights record, its “unfair trade and economic practices”, and its behaviour in the South China Sea. On the issue of…

China’s Content Manipulation Reaches New Frontiers

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long sought to influence the media and information spaces in other countries, deploying a diverse set of tools to achieve its aims. Yet for many years there was no significant evidence that China-linked actors were engaging in aggressive disinformation campaigns on global social media platforms like the one pursued by Moscow ahead of the 2016 U.S. elections. Since 2019, that picture has changed. Multiple investigations and large-scale takedowns of inauthentic accounts have demonstrated that pro-Beijing forces are indeed carrying out a broad range…

Formula 1: Guanyu Zhou becomes first Chinese driver after signing for Alfa Romeo

Chin@Strategy

Zhou has three F2 wins this season and is second in the championship with one round to go Guanyu Zhou has become Formula 1’s first Chinese driver after signing to race for Alfa Romeo in 2022. Alfa Romeo described the Formula 2 frontrunner as a “trailblazer who will write a pivotal page in his country’s motorsport history”. Zhou, 22, will partner Valtteri Bottas, signed from Mercedes after veteran Kimi Raikkonen decided to retire this year. He replaces Antonio Giovinazzi, who has raced for Alfa since 2019 but now has no…

U.S.-China Relations: What to Know

Chin@Strategy

[Follow live updates on the upcoming meeting between President Biden and China’s leader, Xi Jinping.] No relationship is shaping the planet more. And no relationship seethes, across such a wide and consequential set of issues, with more tension and mistrust. The United States and China are profoundly at odds on how people and economies should be governed. The two powers jockey for influence beyond their own shores, compete in technology, and maneuver for military advantages on land, in outer space and in cyberspace. But they are also major trade and…

Biden-Xi virtual summit: Biden says US and China must ‘not veer into conflict’ – video

Chin@Strategy

US president Joe Biden has told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that he hoped to have a candid conversation about human rights and security issues as the two began a meeting meant to lower tensions between the two global superpowers. Biden added that the two leaders must make sure their relations do not veer into open conflict, including by installing ‘common sense’ guardrails. Biden spoke with Xi over a video conference as the two leaders engaged in their most extensive talks since Biden became president in January. Xi said the two sides must increase communication and…

China’s ultramarathon tragedy and the survivors threatened for speaking out

Chin@Strategy

Zhu Keming in the cave dwelling where he sheltered the stricken athletes When Zhang Xiaotao woke up he was in a cave and somebody had lit a fire to keep him warm. He had no idea how he’d got there. Zhang’s frozen unconscious body had been found by a passing shepherd who’d wrapped him in a quilt and carried him over his shoulders to safety. He was one of the lucky ones. In May this year, 21 competitors died at an ultra-running event in northern China hit by extreme weather…

Talks between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden do not herald a thaw

Chin@Strategy

Nov 16th 2021 BEIJING BASKED in golden sunshine on November 16th as President Xi Jinping spent more than three hours on a video call with his American counterpart, Joe Biden. After months of tensions, the virtual meeting was supposed to show that their countries could manage disputes and avoid a spiral of confrontation. The two leaders’ remarks matched the burst of mild weather. Mr Xi called Mr Biden an “old friend”, nodding to hours that the two men had spent travelling and talking together in 2011, when each held the…

China urges developed countries to take the lead in cutting out coal

Chin@Strategy

As Cop26 drew to a close over the weekend, Chinese media highlighted Beijing’s contribution over the last fortnight in Glasgow. “The Chinese delegation took a constructive attitude, actively communicated and negotiated with all parties,” said CCTV’s main evening news bulletin on Sunday. “[It] provided China’s wisdom and China’s solution …” But when China and India chose the last few hours of negotiations to push for the language on coal to be diluted from “phase out” to “phase down”, both countries came under nearly immediate fire from commentators. Cop president Alok…