Month: July 2021

Advertisement Despite early failures, Chinese government efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic have been overwhelmingly successful. Curiously, Beijing has failed to capitalize on this success to increase its global reputation. Instead, a continued ban on most foreign nationals entering the country, scientifically questionable quarantine regimes for international arrivals, as well as hostility toward independent investigations into the origin of the virus have made this all but impossible. At the same time, recent concerns about the efficacy of Chinese vaccines have also threatened to undermine the results of Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy.…

Advertisement On July 25 and 26, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman was in Tianjin, China. While the State Department read-out characterized the trip as “meetings with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other PRC officials,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry made it clear that Sherman’s primary interlocutor was Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng, the official responsible for North American affairs. According to Xinhua, China’s state media agency, Xie presented Sherman with two lists: the “List of U.S. Wrongdoings that Must Stop” and the “List of Key Individual…

Advertisement He Fangmei was seven months pregnant when she, her husband, and their two young children were taken from their home in Henan province by authorities last October. They have not been heard from since. A 2018 scandal involving the Chinese vaccine manufacturer Changsheng Bio Company claimed hundreds of victims, including He’s 20-month old baby, who became paralyzed from a spinal fluid infection after receiving a vaccine against hepatitis A, measles, and tetanus/diphtheria/ pertussis (TDAP). He eventually became the most prominent voice for Chinese parents with children allegedly sickened or…

Jul 24th 2021 HOUHAI BAY BELLA LIU’S family was aghast when she returned to her home inland after a year on Hainan, an island province in the south. She had several scars and a deep tan. “My mother thought I had become a drug dealer working across the border with Vietnam,” says Ms Liu. In fact, the former dietician had taken up full-time surfing. But that was almost as shocking. “I nurtured you for 20 years, and you just want to float out to sea?” she recalls her mother saying.…

Jul 24th 2021 IN THREE DAYS, beginning on July 18th, an entire year’s-worth of rain fell on the central city of Zhengzhou in Henan province. One hour alone saw about 20cm of it. Streets were turned into raging torrents that swept up cars and gushed into the underground railway system, filling trains. Videos posted online showed passengers more than chest deep in water. Hundreds of them were eventually rescued, but 12 were among more than 30 who were killed by the floods.■ Listen to this story Your browser does not…

Advertisement The figure known only as “Program-Think” (编程随想) started blogging in 2009. Twelve years later, they have 712 posts to their (assumed) name on topics ranging from coding to self-development, but mostly on state repression and elite privilege in China. Their tech expertise allowed them to advise readers on circumventing the “Great Firewall.” They derided the ruling Communist Party as the Zhao clan, referencing the aristocratic family in a novella, “The True Story of Ah Q” by Lu Xun. In late May, some of Program-Think’s followers noticed they had not…

Advertisement Last week, China announced the launch of its national carbon emissions trading market. Although China’s plan was first proposed a decade ago, and the current version is far more limited in its scope than originally intended, Beijing is framing the trading program as an initial step toward deepening its commitment to addressing climate change. The move comes after the European Union’s European Green Deal, with plans for Europe to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and reduce carbon emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030. China’s…

Advertisement A teenager who says he’s a U.S. permanent resident and his fiancée are once again on the run from the threat of extradition to their homeland, China, in a sign of Beijing’s lengthening reach over perceived dissidents abroad. Chinese officials had sought Wang Jingyu, a 19-year-old student, over his online comments about deadly border clashes between Chinese and Indian forces last year. He was arrested by plainclothes police in Dubai while transferring for a flight to the U.S. in early April and was held for weeks, in a case…

Advertisement China’s military has blasted a dam to release floodwaters threatening one of its most heavily populated provinces, as the death toll in widespread flooding rose to at least 25. The dam operation was carried out late Tuesday night in the city of Luoyang, just as severe flooding overwhelmed the Henan provincial capital of Zhengzhou, trapping residents in the subway system and stranding them at schools, apartments and offices. Another seven people were reported missing, provincial officials said at a news conference. A video posted on Twitter by news site…

Advertisement “I think the people in my grade are too immature,” Kevin Li told me at the English class we attended at Point Grey Secondary in Vancouver. Through our interactions in high school, Kevin left me with the impression of a charming person with marked confidence, perhaps borderline egoistic. He vanished from class one day; the word was that he had been recruited by a talent scout during a trip to Korea. He appeared on screen years later, with a new name: Kris Wu. Kris Wu, having gained stardom in…