Despite the risks that may involve in publicly questioning or criticizing the government, netizens in #China flooded social media posts about the fire in #Urumqi and the subsequent official responses with criticism and skepticism, with many using repetition of words or...
... special symbols to express their despair. Either to mock the government officials’ responses to the tragedy or to prevent the posts from being censored online, many used the repetition of “yes,” “ok,” or “ha” in Mandarin under posts about the government’s response to the fire
Others are way more direct, as they point to the fact that the only fact is Urumqi and other parts of #Xinjiang have been placed under strict quarantine for more than 100 days.
Some say “can you imagine the last 100 days of the life of those who died in the fire were spent at home in lockdown?”
Another netizen cited a famous quote from Chinese author Lu Xun, saying if I stood by idly today, when troubles happen to me another day, no one will cheer me on.”
An angry netizen wrote “anything unreasonable will be twisted into a reasonable explanation when it’s cloaked with the idea of “pandemic prevention.”
Another one wrote “if this didn’t happen to us this time, it could happen to us next time. If it didn’t happen to our kids this time, it could happen to our kids next time. If they don’t change and reflect, no one can get away from it.”
“If we remain indifferent to problems in society, when tragedy happen to you next time, when you were in a truck that turned on its side, if you called the hot line but the ambulance can’t reach you, if you don’t speak out for others, who will speak out for you when you need it?
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The EU is expected to notify #China that it will impose tariffs on electric vehicle imports this week, firing the starting gun on a potential summer trade war with Beijing. theguardian.com/business/artic…
A formal pre-disclosure of tariffs could happen as early as Wednesday, after a lengthy investigation into China’s state subsidies for its car manufacturing, which is predicted to conclude that massive support continues to be concentrated on the EV sector.
Chinese manufacturers are already bracing themselves for new import duties, but experts anticipate that Beijing will retaliate with countermeasures that could hit a range of EU exports to the country, ranging from cognac to dairy products.
My latest: Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun Sunday issued a stern warning on Taiwan and the South China Sea at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. voanews.com/a/china-warns-…
During his 40-minute-long keynote speech, Dong accused Taiwan’s government under the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which favors highlighting Taiwan’s sovereignty, of "pursuing separation [from China] in an incremental way" …
… while external forces continue to sell arms to Taiwan and maintain "illegal" official contacts with Taiwan.
Thread: Following U.S. Secretary of Defense @SecDef's speech at #SDL24, the People's Liberation Army held a presser to hit back against the speech, criticizing Washington's stance on a range of issues including #Taiwan, South China Sea and the Middle East conflict:
“The real purpose [of The U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy] is to merge a small circle into the big circle of NATO, that is, an Asia-Pacific version of NATO, to maintain the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy.
[It] is a political rhetoric that sounds good but does no good. It builds exclusive clubs with the cold war mentality and zero-sum mindset in the name of advancing regional cooperation.”
My latest: #Taiwan’s opposition-controlled parliament has passed a set of legal amendments granting lawmakers greater investigative power to scrutinize the government under President Lai Ching-te, who took office on May 20. voanews.com/amp/taiwan-s-p…
Despite days of protests that have attracted hundreds of thousands of people since May 17, the two opposition parties, the China-friendly Kuomintang, or KMT, and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party, or TPP, …
… used their combined majority to push through the deal on Tuesday. The bills still require the president’s signature to become law.
My latest: Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded his two-day trip to #China Friday after Beijing and Moscow signed a joint statement and vowed to cooperate against “destructive and hostile” pressure from Washington. voanews.com/a/china-and-ru…
During meetings between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Russian president said Moscow is willing to work with Beijing and other global south countries toward “a multipolar world,” ...
... while Xi said the two countries are committed to steering global governance “in the right direction.”
My latest: #HongKong’s adoption of Article 23 Tuesday is being criticized by foreign governments, while some business figures say the law will hasten foreign businesses’ departure from the city.
@benedictrogers @SamuelBickett @laiyanhoeric
The United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union expressed concern about the ambiguous language in the law and its speedy adoption, which was completed in less than two weeks.
Despite the international criticism, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee hailed the passage of Article 23 as “a historic moment for Hong Kong,” while the Chinese government expressed “full support” of the development.