Month: November 2021

Chinese officials help to cultivate a local graffiti scene

Chin@Strategy

Nov 18th 2021 IN THE MID-1990s outlines of bulbous heads, spray-painted with a single swipe, began to appear on Beijing’s walls. Next to them was written “AK-47”. This tag, as graffitied signatures are known, belonged to Zhang Dali, an art student who had spent time in Italy and discovered graffiti culture there. On his return to China, swathes of its cities were being razed to make way for development. Workers were daubing the character chai, meaning “demolish”, on buildings due to be torn down. Mr Zhang took his cans to…

To prevent floods, China is building “sponge cities”

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Nov 18th 2021 LESHAN LOCALS HAVE a saying: “When the Buddha’s feet are washed, Leshan cannot sleep.” The city in the south-western province of Sichuan has reason to be fearful. Leshan lies at the confluence of three tributaries of the Yangzi river. Centuries ago its residents carved a stone statue of the Buddha into a cliff face. It towers 70 metres high, overlooking the swift currents. In August 2020 its giant toes were bathed in river water for the first time since the Communist Party seized power in 1949. Thousands…

Scepticism as Peng Shuai letter emerges claiming ‘everything is fine’

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The head of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has said he is now even more concerned for the welfare of Peng Shuai after Chinese state media published a letter purportedly from the Chinese player. Peng, a former world doubles No 1, has not been heard from publicly since she alleged on social media that a former vice-premier of China, Zhang Gaoli, had sexually assaulted her. The 2 November post on China’s Twitter-like Weibo was removed within half an hour and censors blocked numerous related terms including “tennis”, but the claims…

Covid Rules for Beijing Olympics Force Injured Athlete to Fly Home on Cargo Plane

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A Polish luge athlete who was injured during a Winter Olympics training event near Beijing was flown out of China on a cargo plane this week after coronavirus restrictions prevented him from taking a commercial flight, according to the head of Poland’s luge association. The incident speaks to the kinds of complications that could arise at next year’s Winter Games, which are scheduled to begin on Feb. 4 in accordance with strict health protocols. For training and other events in the prelude to the Games, athletes and team officials are…

Women’s Tennis Challenges China’s Narrative Over Missing Player

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The top official overseeing women’s tennis on Wednesday directly challenged the narrative presented by Chinese state media that a highly ranked professional player had walked back allegations of sexual assault against a top Communist Party official, saying he feared for her well-being. China Global Television Network, an English-language broadcaster controlled by the Chinese government, on Wednesday distributed an email that it said had been written by Peng Shuai, the highly ranked player. Ms. Peng has not been seen in public since Nov. 2, when she posted the accusation on social…

Bhutan-China Border Negotiations in Context

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Advertisement The People’s Republic of China has maritime or land border disputes with many of its neighbors: Brunei, Bhutan, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Bhutan shares over 400 kilometer-long border with China. Recently, Bhutan and China signed a MoU “for expediting the Bhutan-China Boundary” negotiations. It is believed that the roadmap had been finalized during the 10th expert group meeting in Kunming in April 2021. The roadmap might include setting up a framework first, confirming the specific disputes with an exchange of maps, and then a resolution…

Doppa, a Central Asian Hat, Guides Quest for Uyghur Roots

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The woman’s first doppa was embroidered with a rose bed and intertwining black leaves — a motif signifying beauty, spiritual connectedness and resistance. The doppa, a traditional skullcap worn across Central Asia, was passed down to the woman, Subhi Bora, as a girl by her mother, who is Uyghur, a predominantly Muslim, Turkic group from the autonomous region of Xinjiang in northwestern China. Ms. Bora, 31, who grew up in Sydney after her parents fled China, had conflicting feelings about her different cultural identities and never wore the hat outside…

‘Little Britain’: Chinese media weigh in on reports of spat between Liz Truss and UK envoy

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An official Chinese newspaper has weighed in on an alleged spat between the British foreign secretary and the UK’s ambassador to China, suggesting Liz Truss was “a radical populist” and quoting Chinese internet users calling the UK “Little Britain”. The alleged row between Truss and Caroline Wilson, the British ambassador to China, was first reported by the Times early this month. A Truss ally reportedly recalled a conversation last year between her and Wilson who, according to the source, asked why the UK could not treat China “like we treat…

China and US agree to ease restrictions on journalists

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China and the US have agreed to ease restrictions on each other’s journalists amid a slight easing of tensions between the two sides. The official China Daily newspaper said on Wednesday that the agreement was reached ahead of the virtual summit between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US president Joe Biden held a day earlier. Under the agreement, the US will issue one-year multiple-entry visas to Chinese journalists and will immediately initiate a process to address “duration of status” issues, China Daily said. China will reciprocate by granting equal treatment…