China could be harvesting TikTok data, but much of the user information is already out in the open: Experts have been considering whether TikTok is worse in terms of privacy or security than other, US-based apps. Shutterstock / Primakov The social media app TikTok has been a focus for concerns that the Chinese government could …
Ukraine: Beijing’s peace initiative offers glimpse at how China plans to win the war: Beijing’s “Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis” has now been officially released by the country’s foreign ministry, after being foreshadowed by China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, at the recent Munich Security Conference. Short on detail and rich in …
China: why Beijing has decided this is the year to ‘unify’ with Taiwan: The likelihood of China using military force to “reunify” Taiwan is growing. Some believe the Chinese government could use military action to distract its population from troubles at home after China’s economic growth fell to its second lowest level for decades in …
EU poised to copy US subsidies for green technology – new evidence from China shows how it could backfire: There's a reason why the west has long avoided state aid. Shaun Dakin/Unsplash The EU is preparing to abandon its longstanding restrictions on state aid to take on US and Chinese subsidies over green technologies. European …
China is extending its dealings with the Taliban as it increases its superpower status: China is one of the few countries that is committed to expanding its dealings with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, where it hopes to expand its use of the vast natural resources while also improving its own geopolitical security. In mid-2021 …
What effect will lunar new year have on COVID spread in China? Our modelling shows most people have already been infected: China stuck rigidly to a zero-COVID policy until December 2022. This included travel restrictions, mass testing and mandatory quarantines. The rapid lifting of this strategy led to a surge of COVID infections across the …
COVID is running rampant in China – but herd immunity remains elusive: After nearly three years of keeping COVID under control, China is experiencing a massive new wave of COVID infections. The official figures reporting 60,000 deaths between December 8 and January 12 are widely seen as underestimating the impact of the outbreak. Until December …
China: the rise of gen Z will have massive consequences for business and politics: All the rage: bunny balaclavas from fashion chain Ambush to help Chinese youth celebrate the Year of the Rabbit. Ambush As China prepares to celebrate new year on January 22, luxury brands are gearing up for the year of the rabbit …
China and Russia’s uneven relationship can be explained with one word: Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, China’s reaction in response to the Russian aggression has been fiercely debated in the western media. The majority of the discussions have focused on one particular term: “no-limits friendship” – a phrase believed to have been taken from …
China wants more people to eat potatoes – how changing national diets could help fix our global food crisis. Podcast: China began promoting potatoes as a staple in 2015 in an effort to combat food insecurity. chinahbzyg via Shutterstock How do you get a country to change its national diet? That’s what China has been …
China could face a catastrophic COVID surge as it lifts restrictions – here’s how it might play out: China is the only major country which, until now, has continued to enforce a zero-COVID strategy. Other countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, also sought to eliminate COVID entirely earlier in the pandemic. But all eventually …
China protests: Uyghur people have suffered most from draconian zero-COVID policies but are too terrorised to join in: The latest wave of protests sweeping through China were sparked by the deaths of at least ten people in a fire in a high-rise apartment block in Ürümchi, Xinjiang. Residents were apparently prevented from leaving the building …
Western leaders are divided over the future of relations with China: European Council president Charles Michel heads to Beijing on December 1, the latest in a procession of western leaders to seek an audience with Xi Jinping, in a year when the Chinese president has cemented his position as the country’s most powerful leader since …
In China, a debate over sanitary pads on trains reflects long-held beliefs about women and menstruation: tommaso79 / Shutterstock Discrimination against and repression of women is a global problem. In authoritarian states, it is also intertwined with regime survival. Take recent events in Iran, where women-led protests against strict hijab laws are challenging the country’s …
China: echoes of authoritarian past as Xi Jinping cements his place at the heart of a Communist Party now entirely built around him: It has been suggested that the removal of Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping’s predecessor, from the closing ceremony of the 20th Communist Party congress could overshadow all other news from Beijing during the …
China: Xi Jinping poised for a third term with no plans to relinquish power any time soon: It is a certainty that the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will be confirmed in office at the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, currently being held in Beijing. At 69, Xi is also tipped to become the …
How financial technology can discriminate against people speaking minority dialects – new evidence from China: Chaay_Tee / Shutterstock In the UK, studies have repeatedly found evidence of accentism. Prejudice based on someone’s way of speaking can affect people in the classroom, the office and beyond. Our research of dialects and peer-to-peer lending in China found …
The world’s democratic recession is giving China more power to extend authoritarianism: Over the last decade, the number of countries considered to be liberal democracies has contracted from 41 to 32, back to the same level as in 1989. In the same period, 87 other countries were labelled as closed autocracies or elected autocracies. A …