Day: February 17, 2022

Advertisement A massive spike, followed by a severe drop off: this seems to be how the highly infectious, but relatively less deadly, Omicron variant of COVID-19 has played out in many countries and regions around the world. Over the past two years of the pandemic, Hong Kong has had fewer COVID-19 cases and deaths than most places in the world, but it has experienced a serious spike of cases over the past few weeks, with over 4,000 cases recorded on February 16 alone. As a result of the outbreak, there…

Feb 17th 2022 “I’M AMERICAN WHEN I’m in the US, and I’m Chinese when I’m in China.” So Eileen Gu, a gold-medal-winner for Team China at the Beijing Winter Olympics, replied when asked if she was still an American citizen. Ms Gu, born and raised in America, is a superstar in China. But many Chinese are puzzled. China does not recognise dual nationality. Questions about whether she holds two passports have fuelled debate about whether China should change its strict citizenship rules. Listen to this story Your browser does not…

Feb 17th 2022 SANYA CHINA’S IMPRIMATUR on the “Kunming declaration” goes beyond its name. Signed by over 100 countries in October, the pledge set the tone for COP15, the largest UN biodiversity gathering in a decade. (First scheduled for 2020, it was delayed several times because of covid-19.) The conference, taking place in two parts, is being hosted by China for the first time. Its second meeting was scheduled for April but also looks likely to be postponed. The host city is the capital of Yunnan, a south-western province that…

Advertisement Facing the Ukraine stand-off, the United States is very concerned about Russia and China’s interactions. For example, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby called China’s “tacit support” for Moscow “deeply alarming.” Kirby seemed to imply that China supports Russia’s possible invasion of Ukraine. U.S. concern is understandable, but some U.S. officials seem to be misjudging both China-Russia relations and China’s broader foreign policy. First, some Americans do not have a clear understanding of China-Russia military relations. China and Russia are not military allies. In other words, when one side is…

Yan Jiarong is a former member of the Chinese delegation to the UN general assembly The Winter Olympics is facing renewed political controversy after a Games official dismissed claims of human rights violations against the Uyghur Muslim population as “lies”. Beijing Games spokesperson Yan Jiarong also said that Taiwan is part of China. While Taiwan is a self-governed democratic state, Beijing sees it as part of its territory. The International Olympic Committee has said repeatedly that the Games should be free from politics. Yan made her comments at a daily…