Month: March 2022

Diplomacy Quickens to Halt Ukraine War or Stop Its Expansion

Chin@Strategy

LONDON — Diplomatic activity quickened on multiple fronts Monday as Russia’s war on Ukraine entered an uncertain new phase, with President Vladimir V. Putin’s forces widening their bombardment of Kyiv and other cities, hundreds of civilians escaping the devastated port of Mariupol, and the United States warning China over its deepening alignment with an isolated Russia. There were no breakthroughs, either at the negotiating tables or on the battlefield. But as the human cost of the war continued to mount, the flurry of developments suggested that people were groping for…

China Battles Multiple Outbreaks, Driven by Stealth Omicron

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement China banned most people from leaving a coronavirus-hit northeastern province and mobilized military reservists Monday as the fast-spreading “Stealth Omicron” variant fuels the country’s biggest outbreak since the start of the pandemic two years ago. The National Health Commission reported 1,337 locally transmitted cases in the latest 24-hour period, including 895 in the industrial province of Jilin. A government notice said that police permission would be required for people to leave the area or travel from one city to another. The hard-hit province sent 7,000 reservists to help with…

With Yoon’s Election, It’s Time for China to Rethink Its Korea Policy

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement Former Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol swept to power in a narrow victory over his rival, Lee Jae-myung, in the 2022 South Korean presidential election. His entry into the Blue House is likely to bring substantial transformations not only to domestic and social policies, but to South Korea’s foreign policy and relations with its regional allies. With respect to the latter, Beijing would benefit from taking note – and responding accordingly, in its diplomatic strategizing and approach to the Korean peninsula. Making Sense of Yoon’s Foreign Policy Vision Much commentary…

China locks down province of 24m as new Covid infections rise

Chin@Strategy

China’s government has ordered a province of 24 million people into lockdown as it tries to contain a Covid-19 outbreak that has spread to multiple locations. Authorities reported 1,437 new cases across the country, including 895 in Jilin province, which was put under lockdown measures. People living in the province have been banned from moving around, and anyone wanting to leave the province must apply for permission from police. Restrictions were already in place in two cities, Jilin and Changchun. The industrial province sent 7,000 reservists to help with the…

Wave of Omicron Infections Prompts Lockdowns in China

Chin@Strategy

BEIJING — Several of China’s largest factory cities have ordered a lockdown, halting production of Toyota cars and Apple iPhones. Theaters, cinemas and many restaurants have closed in Shanghai. The northeastern province of Jilin on Monday banned its 24 million residents from leaving the province or traveling between cities. China is grappling with its largest surge of Covid-19 infections since the coronavirus first emerged more than two years ago in central China. Sustained outbreaks in two-thirds of the country’s provinces are proving the toughest test yet of China’s zero-tolerance coronavirus…

China shuts down city of 17.5m people in bid to halt Covid outbreak

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China’s government has locked down Shenzhen, a city of 17.5 million people, as it tries to contain its worst ever Covid-19 outbreak across multiple provinces, with case numbers tripling from Saturday to Sunday. All businesses in the finance and technology hub, which borders Hong Kong, were ordered to close or work from home unless they supplied food, utilities, or other necessities, according to a government notice on Sunday. It said all residential communities were now under “closed management”, meaning they would be locked down. Every resident would undergo three rounds…

Russia Asked China for Military and Economic Aid for Ukraine War, U.S. Officials Say

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WASHINGTON — Russia asked China to give it military equipment and support for the war in Ukraine after President Vladimir V. Putin began a full-scale invasion last month, according to U.S. officials. Russia has also asked China for additional economic assistance, to help counteract the battering its economy has taken from broad sanctions imposed by the United States and European and Asian nations, according to an official. American officials, determined to keep secret their means of collecting the intelligence on Russia’s requests, declined to describe further the kind of military…

It’s Time to Offer Russia an Offramp. China Can Help With That.

Chin@Strategy

Casualties are mounting in Ukraine. Bombs continue to fall. More than 2 million refugees have fled the fighting. Vladimir Putin seems to have assumed he could get a swift victory, underestimating the fierce resistance from Ukraine. Two weeks in, Russia is intensifying its assault on Ukraine, and Western nations in turn are intensifying their financial and economic punishments against Russia, including by triggering the financial “nuclear option” — banning some Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system. Meanwhile, Mr. Putin has put his actual nuclear forces on high alert. We…

The more things change, the more China’s Xi Jinping focuses on stability

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Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives for the closing session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, on March 10. China holds two major annual political meetings, The National People’s Congress (NPC) and the CPPCC, known as ‘Lianghui’ or ‘Two Sessions’. Photo: EPA-EFE South China Morning Post

China battles worst Covid outbreak for two years as cases double in 24 hours

Chin@Strategy

China reported nearly 3,400 daily Covid-19 cases on Sunday, double the previous day, forcing lockdowns on virus hotspots as the country contends with its gravest outbreak in two years. A nationwide surge in cases has seen authorities close schools in Shanghai and lock down several north-eastern cities, as almost 19 provinces battle clusters of the Omicron and Delta variants. The city of Jilin has been partially locked down, with hundreds of neighbourhoods sealed up, an official announced Sunday, while Yanji, an urban area of nearly 700,000 bordering North Korea, was…