Day: October 31, 2024

HALLOWEEN IS A time of scares—not least for the Communist Party. With few opportunities to express their frustrations with the government, Chinese revellers have been known to speak through their costumes. Last Halloween, the first since pandemic controls were lifted, young adults in Shanghai dressed up as surveillance cameras and covid-19 testers. One brave soul emerged as Winnie-the-Pooh, a podgy cartoon bear whom China’s ruler, Xi Jinping, supposedly resembles. The government dislikes this comparison. And it is increasingly clear that it detests Halloween. The Economist

The bookstore in the metro station beneath Shanghai’s city library seemed increasingly out of place in Xi Jinping’s China. Founded in 1997 by Yan Bofei, who researched philosophy, Jifeng Books was known for holding lectures on topics such as democracy and labour rights. Its selection of works on the humanities and social sciences was far from the Communist Party’s recommended fare. The shop was purchased in 2012 by Yu Miao, who hoped to maintain it as a liberal forum. But in 2018 the government refused to renew its lease. Officials…

Listen to this story Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Officials FROM China have avoided direct comment on North Korea’s despatch of thousands of troops to Russia, where they might help in a conflict that all three countries see as a contest against overweening American might. China itself is a crucial if undeclared backer of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, providing technological support for Russia’s defence industries. But behind closed doors, Chinese officials may question North Korea’s move. To celebrate their forging of diplomatic relations 75 years ago,…