The miracle of modern China was built on global connections, a belief that sending young people, companies and future leaders to soak up the outside world was the route from impoverishment to power. Now, emboldened by its transformation, the country is shunning the influences and ideas that nourished its rise. The country’s most dominant leader in decades, Xi Jinping, seems intent on redefining China’s relationship with the world, recasting the meeting of minds and cultures as a zero-sum clash. Education officials are imposing restrictions on English education and requiring that…
Month: February 2022
Essential poll analysis: Coalition’s national security scare campaign may have backfired
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Why China matters in the Ukraine conflict
Russia’s escalation of tensions in Ukraine has prompted the US and European allies to impose sanctions on some Russian banks and citizens. But China has refrained from following suit. The BBC’s Asia Business Correspondent Mariko Oi explains the scale of its economic ties with both Russia and Ukraine – and how China could help out Russia. BBC
Justice Dept. to End Trump-Era Initiative to Deter Chinese Threats
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Justice Department said on Wednesday that it was ending a contentious Trump-era effort to fight Chinese national security threats that critics said unfairly targeted professors of Asian descent. A top Justice Department official, Matthew G. Olsen, said in remarks at George Mason University’s National Security Institute that the agency would instead introduce a broader strategy meant to counter threats from hostile nations, which would extend beyond China to include countries like Russia, Iran and North Korea. “By grouping cases under the China Initiative rubric,” Mr. Olsen…
Grumbling Grows as Hong Kong Sticks with Zero-COVID Policy
Advertisement Hong Kong residents are becoming increasingly annoyed with the administration’s insistence on sticking to China’s “zero-COVID” strategy as the city posted another record number of cases Wednesday, bristling at ever-stricter regulations and a plan to test everyone for the virus. Schools have already switched to online learning and summer holidays are being moved forward so that the buildings can be used as facilities for testing, isolation and vaccination. Hong Kong says it will go ahead with the plan to test every one of its 7.5 million residents three times…
China Criticizes Sanctions Against Russia as Ineffective
China on Wednesday criticized the expansion of economic sanctions against Russia, saying that they were unlikely to solve the Ukraine crisis and that they had the potential to harm average people as well as the interests of Beijing. “The position of the Chinese government is that we believe that sanctions have never been a fundamental and effective way to solve problems, and China always opposes any illegal unilateral sanctions,” Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, said at a regular press briefing on Wednesday. “Since 2011, the United States…
Xuzhou’s Chained Woman Highlights China’s Human Trafficking Problem
Advertisement Senior officials in the Chinese city of Xuzhou found themselves in deep trouble after the Lunar New Year holidays, when a series of videos went viral on Chinese social media platforms showing a woman imprisoned by chains in an open air hut in the city’s rural area. Originally posted on social media to promote a man with eight children, these videos later triggered anger across China as more evidence suggests that the chained woman – reportedly the mother of those eight children – is a victim of human trafficking.…
Some in Taiwan See Parallels to Ukraine
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, on Wednesday ordered the island’s armed forces and security personnel to step up surveillance and strengthen defenses as she sought to reassure those who see, in the Ukraine conflict, echoes of the self-governed territory’s own existential crisis. Ms. Tsai’s instructions were delivered as a growing number of people within and outside the island are drawing parallels between Ukraine and Taiwan, a democratically ruled territory that Beijing claims as its own. Though the comparison is not perfect, Taiwan, like Ukraine, has long lived in…
Avoiding the Red Card: The Challenge of Separating Sports and Politics in China
Advertisement In recent years, it has seemed like Groundhog Day for sports in China: time and time again, international sports leagues expand into the country only to become entangled in China’s political affairs and face consequences. The prospect of doing business in China is understandably enticing due to China’s large economy and its burgeoning sports market. However, many leagues and athletes are continually challenged by the need for political acquiescence when conducting business in China. While sports teams as a whole may decide to toe the line regarding China, teams…
Cold war on ice? Politics and science collide once more in Australia’s approach to Antarctica | Kieran Pender
In the 1950s, the Soviets came to Antarctica. As part of its contribution to the International Geophysical Year of 1957-8, a global scientific jamboree, the Soviet Union began building research stations across the great southern land – largely in areas claimed by Australia. Amid heightened cold war tensions, Australian officials were not pleased. Government records from the time reveal fears the Soviets might install defence infrastructure in Antarctica; the then foreign minister, Richard Casey, warned of missiles being launched on Sydney or Melbourne. The Australian Antarctic Territory is vast: at…