Day: December 14, 2021

Lithuania evacuates its embassy in China

Chin@Strategy

Dec 15th 2021 BEIJING ONE OF THE Chinese government’s favourite pieties is to warn Western democracies against starting a new cold war. A peaceful world needs more “win-win” co-operation, intone Communist Party officials, not more ideological cliques. This winter those words ring hollow in Beijing’s embassy districts. On the diplomatic frontline, it is China that appears to have launched an undeclared cold war. It seems confident of winning. An early skirmish took place on December 15th, when the small Baltic republic of Lithuania withdrew all its diplomats and their dependants…

Cyber review warns UK and west in ‘clash of values’ with Russia and China

Chin@Strategy

Britain and the west are becoming embroiled in a “clash of values” with Russia and China over the rules governing the internet, ministers and spy chiefs have warned in the UK’s first national cyber review published since 2016. Threats to the UK in cyberspace are “evolving and diversifying” they added, and argued that Britain has to improve its offensive cyber capabilities – and its wider digital skills base – to meet the challenge. “Cyberspace will become more contested as state and non-state actors seek strategic advantage,” the review said, with…

Blinken, in Indonesia, Stresses Soft Power to Counter China

Chin@Strategy

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Downplaying direct confrontation between the United States and China, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Tuesday pledged to strengthen relations with Indo-Pacific nations through billions of dollars in American investment and aid and, in doing so, counter Beijing’s regional pull. That soft-power pitch was delivered at Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta, the country’s capital, and continued with a series of agreements on maritime cooperation and education and Peace Corps exchanges. The university was also the site of a speech nearly 60 years ago by Robert F. Kennedy,…

Covid live: France confirms 130 Omicron cases; South Korea has deadliest day of pandemic

Chin@Strategy

At the Commons science committee, Dr Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association has accused the UK of a “knee jerk response” in bringing in a travel ban within 24 hours of Omicron being announced in South Africa last month. It would have been better to get people to wear masks, socially distance and keep away from large gatherings, she added. While proof of vaccination or a negative lateral flow test for certain events could help reduce the spread of the virus, Dr Coetzee said lockdowns were too…

Chloe Kim Is Grown Up and Ready for the Olympic Spotlight

Chin@Strategy

She repeated the words of the Instagram insult. She would not say who wrote them. “It’s definitely one of those things that I wish I didn’t see, but I’m also grateful,” Kim said. “If I didn’t see it, I would have been, like, ‘Oh, cool, we’re still all good.’ It’s helpful for me to know. It definitely made me put my guard up a little more, which I think is OK. You can’t trust anyone.” ‘Chloe time’ The front entry of Kim’s new house was a pileup of shoes, mostly…