The Indian government is preparing to ban private cryptocurrencies and allow the country’s central bank to launch an official digital currency. The proposed legislation follows a crackdown on cryptocurrencies in China, where financial regulators and the central bank have made all digital currency transactions illegal. The Indian proposals were flagged in a parliamentary bulletin listing upcoming legislation which included one paragraph on “The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021”. The accompanying description of the bill appeared to leave some room for using cryptocurrencies, however. “To create a…
Month: November 2021
Jamie Dimon Says He Regrets His Remarks About China
JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, expressed remorse on Wednesday for saying the bank would outlast China’s Communist Party. “I regret and should not have made that comment,” Mr. Dimon said in a statement. “I was trying to emphasize the strength and longevity of our company.” At a Boston College event on Tuesday, Mr. Dimon relayed a recent joke he had made comparing the longevity of the multibillion-dollar bank and China’s ruling party. “I made a joke the other day that the Communist Party is celebrating its 100th year,” he…
Where Is the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Headed Next?
Advertisement The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has been one of the most striking comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnerships of the 21st century. Since its formation in 2000, FOCAC has proven to be an effective blueprint for interregional cooperation between China and all African nation-states except Eswatini, which continues to recognize Taiwan. FOCAC represents one of the earliest forum mechanisms for China’s regional multilateralism in the developing world. The triennial summit has become a major event in global politics since its inauguration, as it sets the tone for Sino-African relations…
China: Photographer sorry for ‘small eyes’ Dior picture
“Dior, as always, respects the sentiments of the Chinese people… If any errors happen, [Dior] must be open to receiving feedback and correct them in time,” the fashion house wrote on its Weibo account on Wednesday evening, adding that the work was an artwork and not a commercial advertisement. BBC
Hong Kong’s Pillar of Shame Is More Than a Statue
For nearly a quarter of a century, the Pillar of Shame has stood on the campus of Hong Kong University — a 26-foot-tall commemoration of the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Last month, the university ordered the pillar’s removal. The order is a striking blow in the government’s ongoing campaign to erase the memory of the 1989 atrocity: First, it banned the candlelight vigil held annually on June 4, arrested the vigil’s key organizers and raided a museum that documents the history of the massacre. But this is about…
China accuses US of ‘mistake’ after Biden invites Taiwan to democracy summit
China’s government has accused Joe Biden of “a mistake” in inviting Taiwan to participate in a democracy summit alongside 109 other democratic governments. Taiwan was included in a list of participants for next month’s Summit for Democracy, published by the state department on Tuesday. Taiwan is a democracy and self-governing, but Beijing claims it is a province of China and has accused its government of separatism. The inaugural gathering is considered a test of Biden’s pledge that he would return the US to a position asserting global leadership to challenge…
What Peng Shuai reveals about one-party rule
Nov 24th 2021 IT IS HARD to see a good ending to the story of Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis champion who on November 2nd accused a former Communist Party grandee more than twice her age of subjecting her to a coercive sexual relationship. In theory, the party deplores all immorality in office. When it suits the regime, propaganda outlets denounce purged officials for keeping mistresses as well as taking bribes. But China’s rulers care still more about asserting their authority, and their exclusive right to decide which rotten corners…
Peng Shuai: What we know so far
“I know that someone of your eminence, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, you’ll say that you’re not afraid”, Ms Peng wrote in her post, “but even if it’s just striking a stone with a pebble, or a moth attacking a flame and courting self destruction, I will tell the truth about you.” BBC
China’s Quest for Greater ‘Discourse Power’
Advertisement Shifts in China’s economic and military power continue to produce dramatic headlines, but few recognize the changing nature and impact of China’s internationally oriented discourse as a form of power. Those that do tend to argue China still can’t do soft power and communicates poorly with the outside world. On closer inspection, however, 2021 seems to have charted a subtle increase in China’s “discourse power.” COP26 is a prime example. Despite facing international criticism due to Xi Jinping’s physical absence and surging domestic coal consumption, China appears to have…
Hong Kong: Pro-democracy activist Tony Chung jailed under security law
Johnny Patterson, policy director of the human rights organisation Hong Kong Watch, said in a statement that the decision was “disproportionate, draconian, and sets a dangerous precedent for other young Hong Kongers whose only crime is using social media to protest the dismantling of Hong Kong’s freedoms”. BBC