Month: August 2022

Mao-loving websites are in a grey zone between propaganda and dissent

Chin@Strategy

Red song society is redder than red. For more than a decade the privately run website and its social-media accounts have been pumping out articles that praise Mao Zedong and Marxism more enthusiastically than most Communist Party officials do. It sees no fault with the late dictator; it attacks capitalism—and its growth in China—with a vengeance. “Sing red songs; promote righteous ways” is its motto, handwritten at the top of the home page. Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support…

The creative ways Chinese activists protest pollution

Chin@Strategy

Public payphones don’t usually ring. So when one started buzzing in Beijing recently, people picked it up. On the other end of the line were residents of Huludao, some 400km away. All had the same story. The city’s factories were polluting the air. Some nights it smelled of chocolate; other nights, of chemicals. Most people kept their windows shut, yet they still struggled to breathe. The government refused to act, said residents. So some started calling the payphone. Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android.…

China’s economy is beset by problems

Chin@Strategy

When shanghai lifted its two-month lockdown in June, it hoped to see citizens flocking back to the shops in relief. Instead it has witnessed people fleeing a store in alarm. On August 13th health authorities discovered that a close contact of a child infected with covid-19 had visited an ikea outlet in the city. Under Shanghai’s strict virus-control regulations, the store had to be immediately locked down, so that everyone inside could be whisked off to quarantine. But panicked shoppers rushed for the exits, pushing past guards. Listen to this…

City in China orders fish swabbed for Covid

Chin@Strategy

In the coastal Chinese city of Xiamen, it’s not just the mouths of fishers being swabbed for Covid-19, but also the fish they’ve caught. As China maintains its commitment to zero Covid, city authorities are working to ensure there is no avenue for the virus to enter, ordering all fishers and their catch undergo a daily nucleic acid test. According to the Xiamen Jimei district’s political and legal committee, it was necessary to swab both returning workers and their “materials” immediately upon disembarking each day, because some fishers had made…

U.S. to Begin Formal Trade Talks With Taiwan

Chin@Strategy

The Biden administration said on Wednesday that it would begin formal trade negotiations with Taiwan this fall, after several weeks of rising tensions over the island democracy that China claims as its own. The announcement marks a step toward a pact that would deepen economic and technological ties between the United States and Taiwan, after initial talks were announced in June. But relations between the United States and China have markedly deteriorated since then, on the heels of visits by two delegations of U.S. lawmakers to Taiwan this month, including…

China’s Anger Over Pelosi Visit Will Further Alienate Taiwanese

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement In early August, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan provoked protests from top Chinese diplomats, with sharp words around the time. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that U.S. politicians who “play with fire” on the Taiwan issue will “come to no good end.” Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, indicated that “there will be serious consequences if she insists on making the visit.” Meanwhile, another Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, labeled the visit as “a grave political provocation to upgrade U.S. official exchanges with Taiwan.” Pelosi’s…

Chinese government attempts to boost birth rate with new policies

Chin@Strategy

The Chinese government has pledged to improve pre- and post-natal services to encourage more people to have children and reiterated its intent to “discourage” abortions as it seeks to turn around a declining birth rate. The measures announced by the country’s national health commission include a pledge to make fertility treatments more accessible. For several years authorities have flagged expanding IVF access to single women but it remains available only to married couples. A court challenge by a woman was recently struck down. The commission said it would guide local…

Real Estate Crisis Is at the Heart of China’s Economic Troubles

Chin@Strategy

For decades, buying property was considered a safe investment in China. Now, instead of building a foundation of wealth for the country’s middle class, real estate has become a source of discontent and anger. In more than 100 cities across China, hundreds of thousands of Chinese homeowners are banding together and refusing to repay loans on unfinished properties, one of the most widespread acts of public defiance in a country where even minor protests are quelled. The boycotts are part of the fallout from a worsening Chinese economy, slowed by…

The War in Ukraine Is Not a Watershed in China-EU Relations – Yet

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine sent waves across the European continent. To thwart the brutal military offensive right on the EU’s doorstep, Brussels, together with like-minded allies, have adopted seven packages of sanctions against Russia at an impressive speed. While the unprecedented solidarity across the Atlantic is laudable, the harsh truth is that a strong alliance among Western democracies is simply not enough to stall the war machine of the Kremlin. China, as the world’s second largest economy and one of the closest political allies of Russia, is perhaps…