Showing 1 - 4 of 4
Asia's century, China's year
Asia focus, Published on 30/12/2019
» Way back when 1999 was winding down, pundits were telling us that the Asian Century was about to dawn. That prediction has not yet been fully realised, but few would disagree that 2019 belonged to China. Over the past 12 months, the top headlines have been about the bruising trade war with America, defiant protests in Hong Kong against Beijing's tightening grip, and the rise of a surveillance state that is herding hundreds of thousands into "re-education" camps on its western fringes. Below, the Asia Focus team looks back on a busy and sometimes troubling 2019.
China is blowing an opportunity with Meng's arrest
News, Published on 21/12/2018
» China is blowing the geopolitical opportunity of a lifetime. There has probably never been a better moment to undo America's greatest strategic advantage by dividing the US from its global network of democratic allies, many of which are horrified by President Trump's rhetoric and policies and deeply worried about Washington's staying power. Yet, Beijing is doing its best to remind that democratic world that it has far more to fear from a hegemonic China than from an erratic America.
Social media the theatre of 'Information World War'
News, Published on 19/12/2018
» A year ago, in his annual New Year's resolution post, Mark Zuckerberg pledged to spend 2018 fixing Facebook by addressing foreign manipulation, election interference and other threats. He and other tech leaders should probably renew that vow for 2019, and 2020, and possibly every year after that.
Patience wearing thin with Iranian regime
News, Published on 05/05/2018
» In the early weeks of 2018, protests swept through the small towns of Iran, mobilising the disgruntled lower rung of society. Demonstrators chanted slogans against the country's theocracy. Meanwhile, large cities, where some of the largest anti-regime demonstrations previously had taken place, remained relatively quiet.