Author: Chin@Strategy

Power imbalance in China-Iran relations on full display during Raisi’s Beijing trip

Chin@Strategy

In contrast, Iran is a heavily sanctioned and isolated power that produces little that Beijing immediately needs. Its rich hydrocarbon supplies are of interest to China, as is its large consumer population and open market for outside infrastructure investors. But these are all things that China can also find elsewhere. Iran does not sit at the heart of any international structures that are useful to China’s efforts to blunt the growing push by the West to isolate Beijing on the world stage. In fact, Iran is desperately keen to join…

Myanmar junta’s switch to electronic voting won’t bode well for voters, analysts say

Chin@Strategy

Myanmar’s ruling junta is considering the use of electronic voting machines in an upcoming election, a move that poses security risks for those who vote against military-backed parties and allow the regime to manipulate the votes using census data, analysts say.   The junta, which unseated the elected government in a Feb. 2021 coup, said previously that it expected to hold general elections in August. But on Feb. 1, the second anniversary of the coup, the regime announced it was extending its state of emergency imposed when it seized power, delaying…

YouTube shuts down satirical spoof video channel targeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping

Chin@Strategy

A YouTube channel that once churned out satirical spoof videos featuring ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has been deleted from the platform, sparking concerns over whether the Chinese government is exploiting the social media giant’s copyright rules. The RutersXiaoFanQi channel, whose name amalgamates the Chinese word “to humiliate” with that of the news agency Reuters, was unavailable on YouTube at 1300 GMT on Monday. The takedown comes as Chinese censors grow increasingly concerned about satirical content about Xi Jinping coming from overseas, where students and activists recently demonstrated…

Myanmar prison guards injure more than 80 inmates when argument turns violent

Chin@Strategy

Guards injured more than 80 political prisoners at a prison in central Myanmar after an argument turned violent, an incident which observers say is typical in the prison system since the junta took control of the country in a coup more than two years ago. The incident occurred on Feb. 4 at Mandalay’s Obo Prison while a group of inmates, all female, were in line to get hot water, and some of the women began arguing with the guards. “That’s when the prison guards came in and beat them. It’s…

China increases surveillance, security in run-up to Tibetan New Year celebrations

Chin@Strategy

The Chinese government has imposed intense restrictions on residents of Tibet’s capital for the Tibetan New Year, with security forces ramping up surveillance and monitoring of residents and conducting random searches, Tibetans inside the region said. Lhasa, the region’s administrative capital with a population of about 560,000 people, is the heart of New Year celebrations and pilgrimages in the western region. Tibetan Buddhists from other areas go there to visit and pray at significant religious sites such as the Potala Palace, Barkhor Street, Jokhang Temple and Norbulingka Palace. Chinese authorities…

World leaders condemn North Korea’s latest missile launch

Chin@Strategy

The leaders of the G-7 have joined the condemnation of North Korea’s weekend missile launch, calling the test a “reckless” threat to peace, as experts said Pyongyang is verging on the ability to launch missiles that can strike the continental United States without “re-entry” issues. North Korea on Saturday launched a long-range missile into the sea off Japan in apparent protest against U.S.-South Korean military drills. The missile was fired in a largely vertical direction, but showed a capacity to fly far further if launched toward a lower altitude, according…

Cambodia PM Hun Sen says doctors tell him he’s prediabetic

Chin@Strategy

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced Monday that he has prediabetes, a condition that means he has above normal blood sugar levels and is at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.  “I am not diabetic yet, but it is very close. It is alarming,” he said. “[Doctors] asked me to reduce sugar intake.” This is a rare instance of Hun Sen making a public announcement about his health. Previously, the 70-year-old has said that he was fit and that his family has no history of diabetes.  The announcement comes after…

INTERVIEW: ‘Young people today are still speaking out’

Chin@Strategy

Former Xiamen University professor You Shengdong cuts quite a figure around Harvard University. Neatly dressed in a fedora and long black coat, the septuagenarian retired professor recently braved the chill Bostonian winds to mark the third anniversary of the death of Wuhan doctor and COVID-19 whistleblower Li Wenliang on Feb. 5.  Fired amid an ongoing purge of higher education institutions for making “politically inappropriate” comments in class, You addressed the rally from the podium, delivering a speech from a closely scrawled piece of paper. “Today is the traditional Chinese Lantern…

China’s Clouded Future in Afghanistan

Chin@Strategy

Advertisement More than a year since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the country is now facing a new terrorist threat that is making it more risky and difficult for China to commit to the region. While the Islamic State (IS) has been weakened globally since its territorial defeat in 2019, it continues to thrive in Afghanistan. A new U.N. report on the threat posed by the group published in early February describes Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) as effectively establishing itself as “the primary rival” to the Taliban. The group…

China’s Courtship of European Powers Hits a Russian Wall

Chin@Strategy

China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, has been on a high-stakes tour of Europe, defending his country’s interests in a clash with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and reaffirming Beijing’s friendship with Russia with a visit to Moscow. But China is also trying to woo European nations in an urgent bid to revive its economy and to find common ground with some of Washington’s staunchest allies in the region. Mr. Wang promised the leaders of France and Germany that Beijing wanted to “fully restart exchanges” and increase cooperation on issues…