Day: February 1, 2022

Ukraine: China’s Burning Bridge to Europe?

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement As the world monitors Russia’s military buildup on the Ukrainian border, the actions of China, Russia’s strategic partner, are worth watching as well. China has been Ukraine’s top trade partner since 2020 and views Ukraine as a critical entrepôt for its Belt and Road Initiative ambitions. Agricultural exports from Ukraine have also become important for China in the wake of the China-U.S. trade war, yet Chinese officials have supported Russia – or at least have felt obliged to do so – up to a point. In a January 27…

How I Made It to the Beijing Olympics

Chin@Strategy

How I Made It to the Beijing Olympics Alan BlinderReporting on the Olympic Games ⛷ China is hosting this year’s Winter Olympics in a bubble. For me, the bubble formed not in Beijing — but more than 5,000 miles away, at Charles de Gaulle Airport, outside of Paris. Here’s what my trip looked like → NYT

Video of woman chained to wall in shack causes outcry in China

Chin@Strategy

A video of a woman apparently locked against her will in a filthy shack has gone viral in China, prompting an investigation as well as a conversation about the country’s treatment of people with mental illness. The footage, taken on 26 January, was posted to the video-sharing site Douyin the following day by a man who was shocked to find the woman locked in the rubbish-filled building in a village in Jiangsu province in the east of the country. Standing in freezing conditions, the woman appeared to be chained by…

Illegal overfishing by Chinese trawlers leaves Sierra Leone locals ‘starving’

Chin@Strategy

Along Tombo’s crumbling waterfront, dozens of hand-painted wooden boats are arriving in the blistering midday sun with the day’s catch for the scrum of the market in one of Sierra Leone’s largest fishing ports. In a scrap of shade at the bustling dock, Joseph Fofana, a 36-year-old fisherman, is repairing a torn net. Fofana says he earns about 50,000 leone (£3.30) for a brutal, 14-hour day at sea, crammed in with 20 men, all paying the owner for use of his vessel. “This is the only job we can do,”…