Day: February 27, 2025

There are many things that make Alice Weidel an unconventional leader for a German political party on the hard right. Though her marriage to a Sri Lankan-born woman draws most attention, many in government and business circles are equally intrigued by the time she spent in China before entering politics. Ms Weidel lived there for about six years from around 2006, and learned to speak Mandarin before moving home and joining the Alternative for Germany (afd) party in 2013. The Economist

China’s tech bros, including Jack Ma of Alibaba and Liang Wenfeng of DeepSeek, stole all the attention at the high-profile symposium of entrepreneurs held by China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on February 17th. Amid all the hoopla, one guest passed almost unnoticed, but his presence may say a lot more about the actual state of China’s economy than the superstars of online commerce and ai. The Economist