Month: October 2022

How China Boosts Iran’s Digital Crackdown

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement Ongoing protests in Iran have been nothing short of an existential challenge to the Iranian regime’s legitimacy and its hold on power. This is chiefly so because schoolchildren and teenagers have been playing a leading role in keeping the momentum, which, in turn, has made it more difficult for the regime to apply its usual method of mass suppression and brute force. In response, there are emerging signs that Tehran is beginning to rely more heavily on AI-powered technologies to both prevent crowds from gathering and better identify the…

We need to talk about Xi Jinping: G7’s discord over powerful trading partner

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Western powers in the G7 group of nations are failing to coordinate their China strategies, senior western officials admit, adding that the need to do so has been given sharp impetus by Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power at this month’s Communist party congress. The G7’s poor coordination reflects a deep disagreement, also reflected within the EU, about whether dialogue and trade with China have a future if Beijing is seen as an existential threat that requires strict strategic controls on economic ties. Chinese aggression At the week-long Communist party congress,…

Cities across China double down on Covid-19 controls

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Wuhan, site of the world’s first Covid-19 outbreak in late 2019, reported around 20 to 25 new infections a day this week. Nevertheless, local authorities ordered more than 800,000 people in one district to stay at home until October 30. Wuhan also suspended the sale of pork in parts of the city, according to images and posts on social media, after one case was found that authorities said was linked to the local pork supply chain. 03:08 How ordinary people in China view the country’s ‘dynamic zero-Covid’ policy In Xining,…

China locks down part of Wuhan, nearly three years after first Covid case emerged

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Chinese cities from Wuhan in central China to Xining in the north-west are doubling down on Covid-19 curbs, sealing up buildings, locking down districts and throwing millions into distress in a scramble to halt widening outbreaks. China on Thursday reported a third straight day of more than 1,000 new Covid cases nationwide, a modest tally compared with the tens of thousands a day that sent Shanghai into a full-blown lockdown earlier this year but enough to trigger more curbs and restrictions across the country. Wuhan, site of the world’s first…

As Xi Jinping begins a third term, Australia must push to engage China on common interests | Jennifer Hsu

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For Australia, everything can seem China-adjacent. But the reverse is hardly ever true. It is unlikely Xi Jinping – confirmed as China’s national leader for a historic third term this week – is up to speed with the latest developments in Australia-China relations, and perhaps not even those with the US, despite the number of recent flashpoints in bilateral relations, from Taiwan to US restrictions on technology exports to China. But China’s centralisation and consolidation of power has major implications for Australia and the rest of the world. Xi is…

Cautious US, EU responses to China’s party congress signal widening gulf with West

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“It was very clear from the Communist Party congress that President Xi is continuing to reinforce the very assertive and self-reliant course China has taken,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said as the week-long event drew to a close. “Clearly, China is continuing a mission to establish its dominance in East Asia and its influence globally.” The US State Department had “noted” the conclusion of the party meeting, spokesman Ned Price said on Monday, as he repeated the Biden administration’s long-standing China policy of cooperating in a handful…

An Era Just Ended in China

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On the economic front, he faces smoldering crises, including an economy that is slowing sharply, a property sector meltdown and record-breaking youth unemployment. These problems have been exacerbated by the Covid controls and by Mr. Xi’s “common prosperity” campaign — a strategy for narrowing inequality and addressing monopolistic behavior by big tech firms and other private companies, which was punctuated by an abrupt and sweeping regulatory crackdown last year that has alarmed investors. The market backlash was intense: Within months, more than a trillion dollars in value at many of…

Protests break out in Tibetan capital against China’s strict Covid restrictions

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UPDATED at 12:13 p.m. EDT on 11/01/2022 Angry residents in the Tibetan regional capital of Lhasa took to the streets on Wednesday to protest the harsh COVID-19 lockdown that Chinese authorities have imposed on them for more than two months, Radio Free Asia has learned. They were the first major protests in the city since the 2008 Tibetan Uprising, a series of demonstrations against the Chinese government’s treatment of the ethnic minority group. Chinese police and military forces crushed that uprising, killing dozens. Videos obtained by RFA show scores of…

Authorities in Xinjiang increased detentions of Uyghurs before party congress

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China detained hundreds of Uyghurs in its northwestern Xinjiang region during a new round of its “Strike Hard” campaign in the month leading up to last week’s Chinese Communist Party congress to ensure that the predominantly Muslim ethnic group would not stir up trouble, a Uyghur source and regional authorities said. Chinese authorities announced the “Strike Hard” crackdown on “violent terrorist activities” in May 2014 after officials blamed suicide bombers for an attack in the regional capital Urumqi (in Chinese, Wulumuqi) that left 31 people dead. Many Uyghurs believe that…