Long before Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, his aggressions were often met by the accusation — leveled by John Kerry and Angela Merkel, among others — that he’s a 19th-century figure in a 21st-century world. It’s a line that seemed intended to judge Putin guilty not just of wickedness but of anachronism, which is somehow more confounding to the modern mind. But today there is a sense in which being a 19th-century man in the 21st century actually makes Putin extremely of the moment — a characteristic figure for our…
Month: March 2022
Ukraine War Ushers In ‘New Era’ for Biden and U.S. Abroad
WASHINGTON — The war in Ukraine has prompted the biggest rethinking of American foreign policy since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, infusing the United States with a new sense of mission and changing its strategic calculus with allies and adversaries alike. The Russian invasion has bonded America to Europe more tightly than at any time since the Cold War and deepened U.S. ties with Asian allies, while forcing a reassessment of rivals like China, Iran and Venezuela. And it has re-energized Washington’s leadership role in the democratic world just months…
How Ukraine has become the crucible of the new world order
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been described by politicians and commentators as a watershed moment in modern history, a turning point comparable in importance to the 9/11 attacks in the US in 2001, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and even the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963. Whether this portentous view of the war turns out to be justified, only time – and future historians – will tell. But there’s no doubt that in the violent, tumultuous days after 24 February, the established international order has…
Hospitals under fire and hard-won abortion rights: human rights this fortnight – in pictures
Rama, a 16-year-old Syrian refugee, holds a smiley face as she sits in the office of an organisation that cares for girls who have been forced into early marriage in Saadnayel, Lebanon. Rama was married at 14, divorced a year later and is a mother to an 18-month-old baby. Photograph: Marwan Naamani/DPA The Guardian
Ukraine: How China is censoring online discussion of the war
A “thank you” note posted by the official Weibo account of Russia’s state-controlled news network RT, expressing gratitude to the Chinese for their support, was taken down, as was this Weibo post: “I’m glad that Russia has taken the initiative to undertake the difficult task of fighting the neo-Nazis in Ukraine. The sanctions imposed on Russia are unacceptable.” BBC
Xi Jinping places a bet on Russia
Mar 12th 2022 CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY elites can picture an endgame to the Ukraine war that suits China very well. In Beijing, scholars and high-ranking government advisers predict that today’s shows of Western unity will fade sooner or later, as sanctions fail to break Russia and instead send energy prices soaring. In their telling the conflict will hasten America’s decline and slow retreat from the world. A crumbling of American-led alliances will then usher in a new global order, involving spheres of influence dominated by a few, iron-willed autocracies, China…
China is clamping down on food waste
Mar 12th 2022 BEIJING NO BANQUET IN China is complete without the host loudly calling for more food, even when it is clear that no one can eat another bite. Whether at business meals or family gatherings, to leave a clean plate is to imply that the host provided too little. Cultural issues of “face” also lead to big servings: everyone wants to be more generous than their neighbour. Now, though, these deep-rooted norms are being challenged from the top. Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS…
To meet its ambitious growth target, China turns to stimulus
Mar 12th 2022 HONG KONG THE CHINESE people have the “courage, vision and strength to overcome any obstacle”, said Li Keqiang, the country’s prime minister (pictured), on March 5th in his annual speech to the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament. Even so, not all of them will have the fortitude to digest his full report on the work of the government, which runs to more than 12,000 words in translation. For their benefit, the government has distilled its message into a 150-second rap video. The film features three animated…
China is squirming under pressure to condemn Russia. It can’t hold out forever | Richard McGregor
Two weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China is still turning diplomatic cartwheels to prevent the war from damaging its global standing, while still preserving its strategic partnership with Moscow. China offers to mediate! China offers aid! China is “extremely concerned” about the safety of citizens! Xi mentions the word “war”! The plethora of headlines alone is evidence for how Beijing has been subtly shifting its language day-to-day to put some distance between itself and Moscow and its increasingly bloody military tactics. But for the moment, such protestations should…
Disabled Chinese Fight for Equal Rights Despite Paralympic Glory
BEIJING — As Li Xiang strapped himself into a seat mounted atop a single ski and raced down the snowy slope, he reveled in the feeling of freedom that had become all too rare after a car accident required him to use a wheelchair as a child. Li, a 24-year-old Alpine skier competing for China in the Paralympic Winter Games, skis to win. But to him, it is also a way to escape the discrimination that he says he often encounters as a person with disabilities in China. “Talking about…