The fog of words: Kabul 2021, Beijing 1949
The fall of Kabul to the Taliban reminded some nationalistic Chinese commenters of the victory of the People’s Liberation Army in 1949. They have a point, argues the noted Sinologist Geremie R. Barmé.
Politics & Current Affairs
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Can betting on Chinese politicians predict their futures?
Much of the political maneuvering within the Communist Party of China occurs behind closed doors, off-limits even to state media and most Party cadres. But new technologies like prediction markets and crowd forecasting may improve our understanding of politics in the world’s second-largest economy. Political analyst Neil Thomas explains a new experiment.
U.S. granted Chinese student visas at pre-pandemic levels in June
The U.S. issued nearly 34,000 F1 visas in June for Chinese students, about the same level as 2019. It’s not yet clear if the total number of Chinese students for the fall semester will be higher or lower than before the pandemic.
Soul-searching in Taiwan after Afghan fiasco, but is it just ‘immature bedwetting’?
“We can’t rely on the U.S.,” said a senior official from Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on condition of anonymity. Despite the U.S. and Taiwanese governments publicly resisting the comparison — and many analysts poo-pooing it — the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan and its dramatic aftermath has fueled fresh doubts in Taipei about American security guarantees.
‘Not the outcome China wanted’: Why a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan makes Beijing anxious
Beijing is happy to bash any failure of U.S. foreign policy, as it has in Afghanistan. But the rapid takeover of the country by the Taliban, an organization that China does not fully trust, risks heightening security concerns for Chinese interests in the region.
Peter Martin on what makes China’s diplomats tick — and so ticked off
“Their first, second, and third audiences are in Beijing, and the U.S. is somewhere way down the list.” Bloomberg correspondent Peter Martin appeared on the Sinica Podcast to discuss his book on the history and purpose of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
China sentences Canadian citizen Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison
As the extradition trial of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou draws to a close in Canada, China has upheld the death sentence of one Canadian citizen, and sentenced another to 11 years behind bars.
What happens at Beidaihe? An explainer
A secretive annual gathering of China’s top leaders in a coastal resort is one of the most anticipated events in Beijing's political calendar every year. How might this year’s meeting go?
Beijing recalls Lithuania ambassador in another shock to EU-China relations
In response to Lithuania establishing a “Taiwanese representative office,” China said it would withdraw its envoy to Vilnius, and demanded the Baltic nation recall its ambassador in Beijing. It was not the first time this year that the small EU member state had upset Beijing.