Month: November 2022

China Protests Over ‘Zero Covid’ Follow Months of Economic Pain

Chin@Strategy

The toll of China’s unwavering approach to fighting Covid has rippled through the world’s second-largest economy for months: Youth unemployment reached a record 20 percent, corporate profits sagged, and economic growth fell well below Beijing’s own projections. The economic pain has intensified the pressure to ease pandemic restrictions to salvage the flagging economy and restore some semblance of normal life. Frustration with the government’s zero-tolerance Covid strategy, which has failed to prevent a big jump in cases, escalated over the weekend as a population tired of unpredictable lockdowns, extended quarantines…

UN Warns Australia Over Health of Great Barrier Reef

Chin@Strategy

Sydney —  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, said Tuesday that “a rapid escalation of corrective measures” is needed to safeguard the future of the country’s Great Barrier Reef. UNESCO accused Australia of failing to adequately address climate change and other key threats, including poor water quality and over-fishing. The report was initially scheduled for release ahead of a UNESCO world heritage committee’s meeting in June in Russia but due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the meeting has been rescheduled without a specific date. In response…

Chinese University Students Sent Home Amid Protests

Chin@Strategy

Beijing —  Chinese universities are sending students home as the ruling Communist Party tightens anti-virus controls and tries to prevent more protests after crowds angered by its severe “zero COVID” restrictions called for President Xi Jinping to resign in the biggest show of public dissent in decades. With police out in force, there was no word of protests Tuesday in Beijing, Shanghai, or other major cities. Some anti-virus restrictions were eased Monday in a possible effort to defuse public anger following the weekend protests in at least eight cities. But…

Tuesday briefing: What’s behind angry protests against China’s ‘deadly’ Covid restrictions

Chin@Strategy

Good morning. After days of escalating protests across China unprecedented since Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago, the state hit back on Monday night. “There was a massive police presence [at the expected protest sites] in Shanghai and Beijing questioning passers-by,” the Guardian’s Helen Davidson, covering the story from Taipei, told me this morning. “They scared people off, which was obviously the intention.” And yet the unrest that has grown over recent days and weeks remains a sign of an extraordinary rupture in China’s political system. “This isn’t…

China Strengthens Police Presence in Response to Protests

Chin@Strategy

Chinese police patrolled the capital, Beijing, and China’s largest city and financial hub, Shanghai on Tuesday, working to prevent the resurgence of protests against the country’s COVID restrictions that have also included rare calls for President Xi Jinping to step down. Both cities were quiet overnight with police out in force, particularly in areas where social media users suggested new gatherings. China’s government eased some of its pandemic rules on Monday, but it also affirmed its commitment to a zero-COVID strategy. The government made no mention of the demonstrations, the…

Appeals for the release of Tran Huynh Duy Thuc fall on deaf ears

Chin@Strategy

Vietnamese authorities have ignored the latest application for the release of political prisoner Tran Huynh Duy Thuc from a 16-year prison term, as they have many times in the past. He was arrested in May 2009 for writing online articles criticizing Vietnam’s one-party communist state and convicted in 2010 on charges of plotting to overthrow the government. Thuc is being held at Detention Center No. 6 in Nghe An province in Vietnam’s North Central Coast region and has already served most of his sentence of 16 years but still faces…

China to Launch 3 Astronauts to New Space Station: How to Watch

Chin@Strategy

On Tuesday night in China, a rocket as tall as a 20-story building will carry three astronauts toward a rendezvous with the country’s just-completed space station. The mission, which is called Shenzhou 15, will set a significant milestone for China’s crewed space program. Here’s what you need to know about the flight and why it is significant. When is the launch and how can I watch it? The mission will lift off at 11:08 p.m. local time on Tuesday, or 10:08 a.m. Eastern time in the United States. CGTN, China’s…

Blank paper, equations and alpacas: the symbols of China’s zero-Covid protests

Chin@Strategy

Blank sheets of paper, mathematical equations and even alpacas: protesters in China have found creative ways to express anger at the government’s zero-Covid measures, unleashing a wave of dissent against long and severe lockdowns, the deaths of factory workers in Urumqi, and the censorship they’re not allowed to talk about. The extraordinary protests, which began over the weekend and spread to cities across China including Shanghai and Beijing, have been characterised by acts of civil disobedience, including clashes with police. The most widely used symbol in the demonstrations has been…

Djibouti suspends China and other loan repayments, banks on forgiveness

Chin@Strategy

REDD Intelligence senior credit research analyst Mark Bohlund said the two creditors referred to in the World Bank report were likely to be China and Kuwait, “although it doesn’t matter which the other creditor is, as Chinese debt widely surpasses that owed to other creditors”. Bohlund said Djibouti’s action was unsurprising, given the sharp projected increase in its external debt servicing. “The International Monetary Fund declared Djibouti’s debt as being unsustainable in late 2021,” he said. Advertisement Djibouti owed a total of US$2.68 billion to external creditors as of the…

What Is China’s ‘Zero-COVID’ Policy?

Chin@Strategy

Protests have erupted across China over the country’s strict pandemic restrictions. The demonstrations indicate that many Chinese have grown weary of the lengthy lockdowns and widespread testing that is a part of China’s “zero-COVID” policy. Here is a closer look at the policy. What is China’s COVID strategy? China’s goal in fighting COVID-19 is to keep cases as close to zero as possible. To achieve this, it has implemented mass testing, quarantined the sick in government facilities and imposed strict lockdowns that can span entire cities. When did the policy…