Editor’s note for Monday, July 19, 2021

My thoughts today:

The Taliban we like and the Taliban we don’t: It seems that Beijing is not going to call the Afghanistan Taliban a terrorist organization, at least not as long as it stands a chance of controlling the country. Not so for the Pakistan Taliban, which claimed responsibility for a bombing in Pakistan in April this year that appeared to target a Chinese official.

No organization has yet claimed, or been blamed for, the bus bombing last week that killed nine Chinese nationals.

At today’s China’s Foreign Ministry press briefing, wolf warrior Zhào Lìjiān 赵立坚 said (in English, Chinese):

The Pakistan Taliban and the Afghan Taliban…are different. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is a terrorist organization designated by the Pakistani government and the international community universally, which admits that it was behind terrorist attacks including the bomb blast of the hotel in Quetta.

The Afghan Taliban is a self-styled political and military organization which openly states that it prohibits any organization or individual from taking advantage of Afghanistan’s territory to threaten other countries. It has maintained dialogue and contact with the Afghan government and the international community in recent years.

Upcoming event: July 29: Classical Chinese medicine and our modern world.

The Young China Watchers organization is currently running its third annual survey of “China watchers” (i.e. you and me) and their views of China and its role in the world. They would love for you to share your opinions in a confidential survey that will take around 10 minutes to complete.

Our word of the day is Chinese-Canadian singer-actor Kris Wu (Wú Yìfán 吴亦凡), whose career may be over after a number of women accused him of sexual misconduct — see our top story today.

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief