Editor’s note for Monday, March 1, 2021

My thoughts today:

March is Women’s History Month, so each day for the rest of the month I’ll be highlighting a different historian, woman from history or relevant article. Suggestions are welcome — simply reply to this email. Let’s kick things off with bang: Here is a brief introduction on The China Project to empress Wǔ Zétiān 武则天, the most controversial woman in Chinese history.

Unfortunately, the beginning of March also brings some rather nasty language about women from China’s Foreign Ministry. Reuters reports:

As allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang mount, with a growing number of Western lawmakers accusing China of genocide, Beijing is focusing on discrediting the female Uyghur witnesses behind recent reports of abuse.

Chinese officials have named women, disclosed what they say is private medical data and information on the women’s fertility, and accused some of having affairs and one of having a sexually transmitted disease.

Our word of the day is pineapple (generally 菠萝 bōluó in mainland China, or 鳳梨 fènglí in Taiwan).

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief