Editor’s Note for Monday, February 21, 2022

My thoughts today:

Nixon met Mao exactly 50 years ago today, in one of the political acts that defined the late 20th and early 21st Century (see China Heritage, Associated Press, or Washington Post for more on the historic event).

But things have really changed. Today, as Vladimir Putin begins what seems to be a soft invasion of Ukraine, and many pundits say that Beijing must be horrified by Moscow’s actions, one of China’s leading foreign policy attack dogs — the former editor-in-chief of Global Times, Hú Xījìn 胡锡进 — said:

50 years ago, the U.S. united with China against the Soviet Union, but today, it is impossible for the U.S. to unite anyone of China or Russia against the other.

What will Beijing get from Moscow in exchange for its support or silence over Ukraine? Nobody wants to say it, but sadly, it’s hard to avoid looking at Taiwan to see what the quo for the quid will be.

Our word of the day is space junk (太空垃圾 tàikōng lājī).

Upcoming events:
March 8: Women’s leadership: Q&A with Esquel chairperson Marjorie Yang
March 9: How the sobering state of U.S.-China relations affects U.S. businesses
March 10: Can Hong Kong continue as Asia’s world city?