Mar 5th 2022 VILNIUS “CHINA SHOULDN’T get riled by Lithuania at all,” one of China’s best-known nationalist commentators, Hu Xijin, opined on his social-media account. “It’s a snotty little country—just not worth it.” The Chinese government is paying no heed. As Russia invades one European democracy, China is boycotting another. Ukraine’s offence was to be an independent country. Lithuania’s was to give Taiwan an opportunity to hint that it is. Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the <audio> element.…
Month: March 2022
Fareed Zakaria Has a Better Way to Handle Russia — and China
ezra klein I’m Ezra Klein, and this is “The Ezra Klein Show.” [MUSIC PLAYING] It is eerie knowing that you have lived through the end of an era and that you’re now witnessing the birth of another. For most of my life, foreign policy has not been dominated by great power conflict. And that is a defining characteristic of that period. There have been crises. There have been wars. There have been horrors. But America was too strong and other countries too weak to really worry about world wars or…
China has little to gain but much to lose as Russia’s ally | George Magnus
In just a few days, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended decades of international relations thinking and practices. Nothing will be the same as before. Even the 5,000-word statement on “international relations in a new era” issued by China and Russia just a month ago in Beijing – to make the world safe for autocracy – has been overtaken by events. In this ugly Russian quagmire, China’s role and behaviour merit close attention, not least as we wonder whether Ukraine today may be Taiwan tomorrow. China and Russia have been…
How China’s Ambitious Belt and Road Plans for East Africa Came Apart
Advertisement As China draws back from large scale infrastructure investments in Africa, it is worth considering why so many major Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in the region, unveiled with great fanfare, have ultimately struggled. A connecting thread across such cases has been China’s inability to manage the political complexities associated with infrastructure development. Within China itself, the context for infrastructure development is defined by political continuity, deep-pocketed state actors, state-controlled media, and a weak civil society. Authorities can plan and implement projects with few serious impediments. The BRI…
How China Embraces Russian Propaganda and Its Version of the War
Hours after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the Chinese Communist Party tabloid, Global Times, posted a video saying that a large number of Ukrainian soldiers had laid down their arms. Its source: the Russian state-controlled television network, RT. Two days later, China’s state broadcaster Central Television Station (CCTV) flashed a breaking news alert, quoting Russia’s parliamentary speaker, that President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had fled Kyiv. CCTV then created a related hashtag on the Twitter-like platform Weibo that was viewed 510 million times and used by 163 media outlets…
China pulls Premier League TV coverage over shows of solidarity with Ukraine
Premier League matches will be blocked by Chinese broadcasters this weekend because of planned displays of solidarity with Ukraine. Under the banner “Football Stands Together”, club captains will wear armbands in the colours of Ukraine this weekend and a “moment of reflection and solidarity” will take place before kick-off. The gestures of solidarity are to feature in international broadcast feeds of all Premier League fixtures, and the league’s Chinese broadcast partner, IQIYI Sports, has informed the league that matches will not be broadcast in the country as a result. This…
Winter Paralympics: The lowdown on being disabled in China
After President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, civil society, which allowed people to call for change, was “largely closed down”, Stephen says. It was exchanged for what he calls an “atmosphere of fear, where people can’t speak out and criticize the government. BBC
Navy Recovers Stealthy Jet From Deep in the South China Sea
The Navy has recovered a stealthy F-35 warplane that fell into the South China Sea after it crashed while trying to land on a Navy aircraft carrier, the service announced on Thursday. The Navy’s Japan-based Seventh Fleet said a remote-operated vehicle attached lines to the plane, which was then lifted 12,400 feet to the surface of the ocean and winched aboard the deck of a civilian vessel called the Picasso that the Navy contracted to assist in the operation. “This deliberate approach resulted in the correct capabilities conducting recovery operations…
Can China Shield Russia From Ukraine-Linked Sanctions?
Advertisement Amid the tragedy of war in Ukraine, the roles of major powers are coming into question. With regards to China, there is a view that Russia President Vladimir Putin is not afraid of sanctions because China will provide an economic lifeline to Russia. On the other hand, China’s abstention from a draft United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution that would have deplored Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Russia vetoed, was interpreted as a diplomatic win by both Russia and the West. How do we understand the role that China…
Government prepared for backlash before Tony Abbott’s Taiwan trip made public, FoI documents reveal
Australian officials prepared talking points to help the government respond to sensitive questions about Tony Abbott’s trip to Taiwan, dismissing any suggestion the former prime minister’s visit represented a policy shift. Documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal the Australian government was drafting its responses to potential media questions at least a week and a half before news broke of the former prime minister’s travel to Taiwan. Abbott’s visit in October triggered a diplomatic protest from Beijing, after he raised fears that the Chinese government “could lash out disastrously very soon”…