“I can’t even do the maths any more! It’s so incredible!” With those words, uttered on September 30th, a retail trader summed up the state of China’s stockmarkets during a surge that lasted from mid-September to early October. Posting on social media, the man marvelled at the boom in share prices. Others told triumphant tales of enormous returns. The Economist
CHINA’S WAR games around Taiwan on October 14th broke records for a single-day drill. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) employed 153 aircraft. Taiwan’s defence ministry also spotted 26 ships, including a Chinese aircraft-carrier. As if that were not enough, China’s coastguard carried out an unprecedented patrol around Taiwan’s main island, calling it a “practical action to control Taiwan island in accordance with the law based on the one-China principle”. The Economist
Last month a 33-year-old woman in Xi’an, in central China, posted a video on social media that showed snowflakes falling on the ancient city. It was early in the year for such weather, so netizens shared the video widely. But it turned out to be fake. When China’s police found out, they detained the woman, accusing her of being an “evil influence” on society. The Economist