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☆ North Korea's Kim unveils new military goals at key party meeting -KCNA
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the sixth enlarged meeting of the eighth Central Committee of the Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this undated photo released on December 27, 2022 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA via REUTERSSEOUL, Dec 28 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un unveiled new goals for the country's military for 2023 at an ongoing meeting of the ruling Workers' Party, state media reported on Wednesday, hinting at another year of intensive weapons tests and tension. The third-generation leader set the direction for the "anti-enemy struggle" and goals for reinforcing defence power, it added. KCNA did not provide details on those goals, but Kim's remarks could indicate the isolated country will continue to accelerate its military buildup. North Korean leaders previously made speeches on New Year Day, but in recent years, Kim has called days-long party gatherings at the end of the year to announce major policy decisions.

The country spent big on quarantine and testing facilities over the past three years rather than bolstering hospitals and clinics and training medical staff, these people said. "There is no transition time for the medical system to prepare for this," said Zuofeng Zhang, professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. The failure to boost vaccination rates among the vulnerable could imperil China's health system, more than a dozen experts said. The death of a 23-year-old medical student in Chengdu on Dec. 14 fueled public ire at the strain on China's health system. Chen Jiming, a researcher at China's Foshan University, said there was every chance that China's medical system could cope now that the country has ended quarantine for asymptomatic and mild cases.

Now, as the country rapidly relaxes restrictions, millions of people have been told to keep going to work — even if they’re infected. For three years, its stringent approach has kept Covid cases and deaths relatively low in the country. Covid control workers walk by a closed shop near a community with residents under health monitoring for Covid on December 4 in Beijing. Top leaders at the Central Economic Work Conference, a key annual meeting that ended Friday, said in a statement that stabilizing economic growth was the top priority for 2023. Officials nationwide had worked frantically to contain Covid cases ahead of the highly sensitive twice-a-decade leadership reshuffle, which saw Chinese leader Xi Jinping emerge more powerful than ever into his third term.

It’s quite remarkable.”In his first five-year term on the Standing Committee, Wang ran the party's secretariat, an organ responsible for day-to-day affairs. In Xi's third leadership term, Wang is on track to be in charge of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body. "All the major slogans, from Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping, seem to have come from Wang Huning," Lam said. 'AMERICA VS. AMERICA'Where most Standing Committee members have experience such as running a major city or province, Wang is an academic. During 1989's pro-democracy student protests, Wang told Xia not to stand with the students, a warning Xia did not heed.

☆ North Korea Wants Dollars. It’s a Sign of Trouble.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | Pablo Robles | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +18 min

Media Korean Studies 2016 2008 New Finished New buildings Repainted TAEDONG RIVER TAEDONG RIVER Pyongyang in 2008. Media Korean Studies 2008 2016 New Finished New buildings Repainted TAEDONG RIVER TAEDONG RIVER Pyongyang in 2008. Under Mr. Kim, North Korea has opened a new terminal at the city’s international airport, renovated subway stations and opened new amusement parks. Missile tests this year alone cost North Korea hundreds of millions of dollars, according to estimates by South Korean and American researchers. An array of cell phones, assembled in North Korea with components imported from China, is on sale and advertised on state TV.

His centre-left Social Democrats, the Greens and liberal Free Democrats, have had to wrangle to reach compromises, sometimes delaying decisions. Some European allies say the focus on domestic challenges and internal politicking have distracted Berlin from regional cooperation and especially the key German-French motor that traditionally drives the European Union. Relief measures worth hundreds of billions of euros have helped Scholz's coalition stave off serious social unrest due to soaring energy prices in the wake of the Ukraine war, but recent polls suggest it has lost its majority. MIXED MESSAGESTo be sure, Germany's allies have welcomed the Zeitenwende after years of warning the country of complacency on security. The government may for example not reach the NATO spending goal until 2025, a spokesman said this week.

☆ When China and Saudi Arabia meet, nothing matters more than oil
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Saudi Arabia is China’s largest trading partner in the Middle East and the top global supplier of crude oil. Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesEnergy is coreLast year, bilateral trade between Saudi Arabia and China hit $87.3 billion, up 30% from 2020, according to Chinese customs figures. China’s crude imports from Saudi Arabia stood at $43.9 billion in 2021, accounting for 77% of its total goods imports from the kingdom. Beyond security of supply, Saudi Arabia could offer Beijing another prize with bigger geopolitical ramifications. Eurasia Group’s Kamal believes it’s “highly unlikely” that Saudi Arabia would take such a step, unless there is an implosion on the US-Saudi relationship.

☆ The year in review: What happened -- and what did not
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Simon Robinson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

With distant artillery fire booming across the capital, Ukraine's defence ministry urged residents to build petrol bombs to repel the invaders. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy filmed himself with aides on the streets of the city, vowing to defend his country's independence. Many in Moscow had expected Russia's military to sweep to victory, oust Zelenskiy's government and install a Russia-friendly regime. The big exception was China, whose zero-COVID policy has sparked protests and unrest in the past few weeks. Over the coming few weeks we'll recap the biggest, dig into why they mattered, and ask where they may be headed.

☆ His power secure at home, China’s Xi Jinping goes on a charm offensive abroad
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | Evelyn Cheng Is A News Associate With Cnbc. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

BEIJING — Now that he has consolidated power at home, Chinese President Xi Jinping is stepping out onto the world stage to strengthen relations with the U.S. and other countries. Most recently, Xi hosted European Council President Charles Michel in Beijing on Thursday. In a speech at the party congress, Xi said the party has “safeguarded China’s dignity” in the face of international changes and warned of “dangerous storms” ahead. The following week, the countries’ military leaders met for the first time since Pelosi’s controversial Taiwan visit in August. Heads of Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia and Italy met with both Xi and Biden in the last several weeks, based on government announcements.

☆ Jiang Zemin: China's Xi calls for unity at former president's memorial service
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Hong Kong CNN —China’s Xi Jinping on Tuesday called on the country to unite around his leadership as he addressed a memorial service for former leader Jiang Zemin, following an unprecedented show of dissent over his zero-Covid policy and authoritarian rule. At the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi led hundreds of China’s political and military elites to pay final tribute to Jiang, who died last Wednesday at the age of 96. Chinese leader Xi Jinping leads other officials to bow during a formal memorial for late former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin in Beijing on December 6, 2022. Coming to power in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, Jiang led China out of international isolation and guided its integration into the global market. On Tuesday, in his first public speech since the protests, Xi praised Jiang for ensuring the party’s survival from the “political storms” of his time.

☆ China Covid restrictions: Protesters win a partial victory as cities start to loosen controls
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Following protests nationwide, some local Chinese authorities have started to ease Covid restrictions – in what appears to be a shift toward gradual reopening as the country nears entering the fourth year of the pandemic. “I feel like everyone’s hard work is paying off,” said a protester who took part in a demonstration in Beijing. “Policy flip-flop is common.”In some cities, the partial relaxation has caused confusion and chaos on the ground. In Beijing, public venues such as shopping malls and office buildings still require a 48-hour negative Covid test for entry. I don’t celebrate, I just remember those brave friends with gratitude,” a Beijing resident posted on Weibo, in a reference to the protesters.

☆ 'Don't yell that': fears compete with calls for 'freedom' at China protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Don't get people too riled up ... we didn't say anybody should step down," one lead protester told the crowd through a megaphone. Many people in the Sunday night crowd in Beijing shouted: "Return freedom to the people, end the lockdowns." But that worried some in the crowd, according to a Reuters witness. 'BRIDGE MAN'Public criticism of Xi or the Communist Party is exceedingly rare. "The average Chinese person knows it's extremely dangerous to question the rule of the Communist Party or Xi Jinping by name in any public context," said Delury.

☆ Chinese protesters are reacting to a broken social contract
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Diana Fu | Diana Fu Is Associate Professor Of Chinese Politics At The University Of Toronto | Non-Resident Fellow At The Brookings Institution. She Is Author Of The Book | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

However, a deeper cause for this unrest is that the protesters are responding to a broken social contract between the Chinese Communist Party and the people. Despite swift censorship, a Chinese social media post referencing the incident had been viewed 180,000 times before it was deleted. With 20% youth unemployment, businesses closing, migrant workers left homeless and preventable deaths mounting, some Chinese citizens are withdrawing their consent to be ruled. Chinese protesters normally avoid such rhetoric, preferring to stick to bread-and-butter economic or local issues, which are more likely to yield concessions. It is significant that this time, Chinese protesters are borrowing a tactic from Hong Kong protesters in 2020 — holding up pieces of blank paper.

☆ Factbox: A chronology of dissent in China in recent decades
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( James Pomfret | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The following is a timeline of some other notable protests, and public dissent against China's ruling Communist Party. 2009 - Xinjiang - In the region's worst ethnic unrest in decades, ethnic Uighurs attacked majority Han Chinese in the capital Urumqi, after an incident involving Uighur workers in a factory in southern China. China later builds massive "facilities" to turn Xinjiang into what a United Nations panel described as a "massive internment camp shrouded in secrecy". China later imposes a powerful national security law, arresting scores of democrats and shutting down civil society groups and liberal media outlets, including the Apple Daily newspaper. 2022 - Henan bank protests - Public protests simmer as thousands lose access to their savings in a banking fraud scandal centred on rural lenders in Henan and Anhui provinces.

☆ China’s lockdown protests spread to campuses and cities abroad
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

HONG KONG — Protests against China’s strict zero-Covid policy and restrictions on freedoms have spread to at least a dozen cities around the world in a show of solidarity with rare displays of defiance in China over the weekend. Expatriate dissidents and students staged small-scale vigils and protests in cities around the world including London, Paris, Tokyo and Sydney, according to a Reuters tally. In most cases, dozens of people attended the protests, though a few drew more than 100, the tally showed. The protests on the mainland were set off by a fire in China’s Xinjiang region last week that killed 10 people who were trapped in their apartments. It has been common in recent years for overseas Chinese students to rally in support of their government against its critics, but anti-government protests have been rare.

☆ What China’s Protesters Are Calling For
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Agnes Chang | Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

The protesters’ calls for an end to lockdowns have morphed into demands for official accountability and even for China’s leader, Xi Jinping, to step down. In Shanghai on Sunday, protesters had gathered at Urumqi Road, named after the city, when the man stepped onto the road. The crowd responded: “No!”“Chinese people, we have to be braver!” ReutersThe crowd applauded. PLAINCLOTHES OFFICER PLAINCLOTHES OFFICER The New York Times; video via ReutersThe man continued: “How did the people in Urumqi die? “The foreign forces you are talking about — are they Marx and Engels?”“We are all patriots,” one replies.

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - China will likely have a stockpile of 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035 if it continues with its current nuclear buildup pace, according to a report released by the Pentagon on Tuesday. The figure underscores mounting U.S. concerns about China's intentions for its expanding nuclear arsenal, even though the projections do not suggest China is accelerating the pace of its already-brisk warhead development. The report, which primarily covers activities in 2021, said China currently has a nuclear stockpile of more than 400 warheads. The Pentagon's projection for China's nuclear arsenal of 1,000 warheads by 2030 remained unchanged, the official said, adding the projection for 2035 was based on an unchanged pace of expansion. The United States has a stockpile of about 3,700 nuclear warheads, of which roughly 1,740 were deployed, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think-tank.

Asked about the protests on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the Chinese government was adjusting its Covid measures based on the realities on the ground. “We believe that with the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the support of the Chinese people, our fight against Covid-19 will be successful,” he said at a regular news briefing. Zhao also addressed the detention of BBC journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested Sunday while covering the protests in Shanghai. The Communist Party “has a lot of experience accumulated over the years in dissipating social unrest,” she said. Most of the people who protested appeared to be from the Han ethnic group that dominates China.

REUTERS/Thomas PeterBEIJING, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The rare street protests that erupted in cities across China over the weekend were a referendum against President Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy and the strongest public defiance during his political career, China analysts said. Public dissatisfaction with Xi's zero-COVID policy, expressed on social media or offline in the form of putting up posters in universities or by protesting, is Xi's biggest domestic challenge since the 2019 protests in Hong Kong against an extradition bill. Although this authoritarian arrangement allowed Xi to be more powerful, it also contains vulnerabilities, as exposed by the protests, analysts said. "If he lets go, it would mean that his past zero-COVID policy has completely failed and he would have to take responsibility for it. Xi tried tweaking the zero-COVID policy with the release of "20 measures" last month, in an attempt to standardize prevention measures nationwide and make them friendlier to residents and to the economy.

☆ Analysis: China protests highlight Xi's COVID policy dilemma - to walk it back or not
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File PhotoBEIJING, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The rare street protests that erupted in cities across China over the weekend were a referendum against President Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy and the strongest public defiance during his political career, China analysts said. Public dissatisfaction with Xi's zero-COVID policy, expressed on social media or offline in the form of putting up posters in universities or by protesting, is Xi's biggest domestic challenge since the 2019 protests in Hong Kong against an extradition bill. Although this authoritarian arrangement allowed Xi to be more powerful, it also contains vulnerabilities, as exposed by the protests, analysts said. "If he lets go, it would mean that his past zero-COVID policy has completely failed and he would have to take responsibility for it. Xi tried tweaking the zero-COVID policy with the release of "20 measures" last month, in an attempt to standardize prevention measures nationwide and make them friendlier to residents and to the economy.

☆ China's lockdown protests spread to campuses and cities abroad
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Jessie Pang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Expatriate dissidents and students staged small-scale vigils and protests in cities around the world including London, Paris, Tokyo and Sydney, according to a Reuters tally. In most cases, dozens of people attended the protests, though a few drew more than 100, the tally showed. The protests on the mainland were triggered by a fire in China's Xinjiang region last week that killed 10 people who were trapped in their apartments. On Monday evening, dozens of protesters gathered in Hong Kong's Central business district, the scene of sometimes-violent anti-government demonstrations in 2019. BLAME, SLOGANSIt has been common in recent years for overseas Chinese students to rally in support of their government against its critics, but anti-government protests have been rare.

☆ China's protests over lockdowns spread to campuses and communities abroad
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Jessie Pang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Dozens of people attended most of the protests with a few drawing more than 100, the tally showed. The protests on the mainland were triggered by a deadly fire in China's Xinjiang region last week that killed 10 people who became trapped in their apartments, in a disaster blamed in part on lockdown measures. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told a regular briefing on Monday that China was not aware of any protests abroad calling for an end to the zero-COVID policy. State media and government spokespeople have not made any official comment on the protests in China. "At the core of it is China's system,” said the student, who asked to be identified as just Emmanuel.

☆ China’s Economy Faces Challenges Despite Latest Moves to Stimulate Growth
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Stella Yifan Xie | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG—China’s recent steps to adjust Covid-19 controls and revive activity in the beaten-down property market stirred hopes that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is putting fresh emphasis on measures to support the economy, potentially leading to a strong rebound in growth next year. But economists warn the moves so far haven’t amounted to a broad shift in Mr. Xi’s policies, and the messaging out of the recent Communist Party Congress only reinforced that the Chinese leader planned to stick to his goals of achieving economic self-sufficiency and “common prosperity”—even at the cost of lower growth rates.

☆ One of China's biggest retailers is cutting executive pay to create a fund to help lower-level employees buy homes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The e-commerce titan will allocate $1.4 billion to help rank-and-file employees buy homes. The move comes amid China's "common prosperity" campaign to reduce economic inequality in the country. The billionaire's philanthropy is part of China's "common prosperity" campaign to close the income gap and bolster social equality in the country. He brought up the slogan "common prosperity" multiple times in his opening speech, Insider reported. ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming donated 500 million yuan, or $77.3 million, in June of 2021 to Fangmei Education Development Fund, named after Zhang's grandmothers in his hometown of southeastern Longyan city.

☆ China’s Xi attempts to claim diplomatic victory in battle for global influence after summit whirlwind
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday. Since taking office, Biden has shored up relations with allies and partners to counter China’s growing influence. In a rare, candid moment caught on camera, Xi chided Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, accusing him of leaking details of a brief conversation between them. He also attended the Group of 20 dinner, where he shook hands and chatted with leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apart from the Dutch Prime Minister, Xi also invited US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s newly elected Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to visit Beijing early next year.

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