Advertisement On May 7, 1999, during NATO’s Operation Allied Force mission, which put an end to the Serbian bloodshed in Kosovo, an air missile accidentally hit China’s Embassy in Belgrade, killing three Chinese journalists. Beijing viewed the bombing as paving the way for “gunboat diplomacy,” which could threaten China’s immediate security environment, and a potential precedent for U.S. interference in the Taiwan issue. Twenty-three years later, the unfortunate event continues to fuel China’s anti-U.S. sentiment and its unequivocal support for Serbia. China’s position on the Kosovo issue has been constant…
Day: April 6, 2022
John Lee, Who Led Crackdown on Hong Kong Protests, May Lead City
HONG KONG — John Lee rose through the ranks of Hong Kong’s security services, earning a reputation as a hard-liner by crushing the city’s 2019 protest movement and curbing dissent as the city’s No. 2 official. Now, he is widely expected to be Beijing’s choice to take over as Hong Kong’s leader, an appointment that would reflect the central government’s emphasis on reinforcing its grip on the once-restive city, even at the expense of its status as a global financial center. Mr. Lee said Wednesday he had submitted his resignation…
Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV faces being taken off air in Taiwan over investments from mainland China
Taiwanese law bans companies with mainland owners or investors from operating mass media operations. It also bans companies with more than 30 per cent mainland investment from operating on the island. Advertisement They also found that state-owned China Mobile also owned 19.68 per cent of Phoenix’s shares, making the TV company practically a Chinese-owned company, they noted. “The investment commission started reviewing the shareholding and management structure of the company last year and in September asked that the company remediate the transfer of ownership within six months,” Economics Minister Wang…
Shanghai’s ‘grim’ Covid outbreak threatens more global supply chain disruption
The Covid-19 outbreak in Shanghai remains “extremely grim” with the ongoing lockdown of China’s financial powerhouse threatening to devastate the country’s economy and “tear apart” already very stretched global supply chains. As Shanghai announced another daily record high of 16,766 cases on Wednesday, the director of the city’s working group on epidemic control was quoted by state media as saying that the outbreak in the city was “still running at a high level”. “The situation is extremely grim,” Gu Honghui said. Although low by international standards, this is China’s worst…
Watching a film about communism, I realised I had been lied to as a child in China
I was born in north-east China in a province that was particularly heavy-handed with party propaganda. I learned to march in formation before knowing how to write, and maybe even count. Every morning at school started with a flag ceremony and obligatory salutes to Mao Zedong. Textbooks were illustrated with watercolour Lenins and Stalins, drawn to look much more handsome than they actually were. The propaganda made its way home as well. I think that, even to this day, my father knows only socialist songs. The life I’ve just described…