Category: The Economist

What lessons might China’s leaders learn from the recent Wagnerian drama in Russia? To hear scholars in Beijing tell it, China is not the country in need of lessons. Instead, it is for Russia to study China’s good example. Specifically, Vladimir Putin should learn from the wisdom of China’s Communist Party founders, who imposed strict, top-down political control over armed fighters from the earliest days of the revolution. They cite Chairman Mao Zedong’s dictum: “The party commands the gun, the gun must never be allowed to command the party.” Listen…

Take four Chinese characters, all of them in everyday use. Put them in a certain order and, lo, they become a phrase that looks like classical Chinese—the kind of language used by the literati of yore. The idea they convey could be expressed just as succinctly in colloquial Chinese, but the classical style has gravitas. And it is a phrase loved by Xi Jinping, China’s leader, so all must follow suit. Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the <audio>…

A young man drives a harvester through a rice field. Slow down, a farmer chides him. But he zooms on—then gets stuck in the mud. Welcome to “Become a Farmer”, the hit reality-TV programme on iQIYI, a Netflix-like Chinese service. The show transplants ten preppy actors and musicians from the city to the countryside in Zhejiang province, where they must live together and try their luck at farming. Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the <audio> element. The 20-something…

When Xi Jinping strolled around the national archives in Beijing earlier this month, it seemed like a routine tour. China’s supreme leader commented on various items that piqued his interest, such as ancient scripts engraved on animal bone and an astronomical map from the Song dynasty (960–1279). But his remarks about a manuscript from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) received the most attention. It described old ties between the Chinese province of Fujian and the independent Ryukyu kingdom, a collection of islands that was later annexed by Japan and turned into…

Xiomara Castro, the president of Honduras, had laid the groundwork for a successful visit to Beijing this month. In March her country ditched ties with Taiwan in favour of China. Honduras is also in the process of joining the Shanghai-based New Development Bank, a World Bank knock-off co-founded by China. But perhaps Ms Castro felt something extra was needed. When she met her counterpart, Xi Jinping, she wore a red trouser suit and shirt with a flowing red neck tie (pictured). The Honduran president is hardly the first foreign dignitary…

IT TAKES LITTLE to spark fury among nationalist netizens in China, especially when the topic is Taiwan. Any action that could be viewed as a challenge to China’s claim to the island arouses a chorus of calls for war. Their voices alarm Western officials, who fret that Chinese policymakers may make concessions to their public’s swelling nationalism and the bellicosity it has spawned. Last year China’s leader, Xi Jinping, hinted that the West may be right to worry. He warned President Joe Biden that, concerning Taiwan, the views of Chinese…

The sleepy town of Yuanlin in central Taiwan is transformed when Mazu passes through. The maiden-turned-goddess lived in southern China during the tenth century—and, according to legend, used her mystical powers to save relatives from a shipwreck. Despite her roots in the mainland, she is widely worshipped in Taiwan. Each year her statue is carried across the island on a multi-day tour. In Yuanlin she was greeted by firecrackers and prostrate devotees. One woman burst into tears. Mazu healed her from cancer and protected her from covid-19, she says. Officials…

Public displays of affection can have dire consequences in China. Just ask Hu Jiyong. The boss (and Communist Party secretary) of the subsidiary of a state-owned firm held hands with a female subordinate as they strolled through Chengdu this month. Her pink dress caught the attention of a fashion photographer, who posted a video of the couple online. A commenter recognised Mr Hu and said that he was married to another woman. Having a mistress is often seen as a sign of official corruption in China. So netizens launched what…

For decades outsiders have told a simple story about the ties that bind China’s Communist Party and its people. This story describes a bargain between rulers and subjects, in rather condescending terms. In this telling, most Chinese people, from the toiling masses to the urban middle classes, know to avoid talking or thinking about politics. And in exchange for shunning the world of power, citizens are allowed to compete for their share of the wealth and opportunities generated by a rising China. Recently—as China’s economy slows, house prices slide and…

Just when China and America seemed to be moving past the spy-balloon saga of February, a new flashpoint has emerged in the form of an alleged plan for China to establish a listening station in Cuba. Chinese and Cuban authorities have reached a secret agreement on setting up the electronic eavesdropping facility, the Wall Street Journal reported on June 8th, quoting unidentified American officials. Other outlets, such as the New York Times and Politico, have since filed similar reports. The Journal said China had agreed to pay Cuba several billion…