The continued rise of Beijing mayor Cai Qi
Politics & Current Affairs
Top politics and current affairs news for February 8, 2017. Part of the daily The China Projectย news roundup "Chinese state media group invests in gay dating app.โ
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Mayor of Beijing is put in charge of military reform groupย / SCMP
Cai Qi ่กๅฅ, the newly appointed mayor of Beijing, continued to make waves on Wednesday (see hereย for his waves on Tuesday) as he took charge of a largely symbolic but nonetheless unusually high-profile role for a city mayor. A Beijing-based political commentator noted that โCai is very likely to be the party chief of Beijing, considering how trusted he is,โ referring to a position of national importance that Beijingโs mayor normally ascends to, but which Cai appears to be fast-tracked toward. Cai is said to beย a close associate of President Xi Jinping, and part of the โZhejiang Cliqueโ that worked under him when he was party chief of Zhejiang Province from 2002 to 2007. -
Amid tensions, China planning policies to attract Taiwaneseย / ABC News
Around 1 million Taiwanese live, work, or study in mainland China, and Chinaโs Taiwan Affairs Office has announced upcoming incentives to further boost โeconomic and social integration.โ At the same time, however, Jing Daily notesย that Chinese tourism to Taiwan has been discouraged over the past year, which has been seen as punishment for Tsai Ing-wenโs governmentโs frosty attitude to Beijing. Additionally, since last October, a Chinese state-owned tour company with a Taiwan package has been directingย tourists to areas of the island that are supportive of the more Beijing-friendly Kuomintang party, and away from Tsai Ing-wenโs bases of support.
- Opinion: China is doing what it has to in North Koreaย – arguing that the U.S. has little leverage through Chinaย / Foreign Policy (paywall)
- Surprise findings: Chinaโs youth are getting less nationalistic, not moreย – discusses a new academic paperย out of Harvardย / Foreign Policy (paywall)
- Opinion: Chinaโs nuclear weapons policy could be about to radically changeย – arguing that new missiles, among other evidence, point to a more aggressive future policyย / The Conversation
- Beijingโs new scorched-earth policy against the Uighursย / Jamestown Foundation
- Can the new U.S. ambassador to China see Xi Jinping for who he really is?ย / ChinaFile
- China invites Britain to attend new Silk Road summit: sourcesย / Reuters
- Fire breaks out at Chinese factory that makes Samsung Note 7 batteriesย – in Tianjinย / SCMP
