Showing 1 - 10 of 12
The case of the disappearing senior generals
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 10/02/2026
» Armies can be used against both against foreigners abroad and against citizens at home, but the two roles require quite different equipment and tactics. The same applies to their commanders: you need a different kind of general if you think that the primary task of their troops will be controlling dissent at home.
Musk, Trump and Mao have a lot in common
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 11/07/2025
» The only place where some people still see Elon Musk as a political genius is China. "Brother Musk, you've got over a billion people on our side backing you," wrote a fan on Weibo, China's biggest social media site. "If Elon Musk were to found a political party," wrote another, "his tech-driven mindset could inject fresh energy into politics."
Schrödinger's Island: Taiwan election 2024
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 12/01/2024
» Taiwan's fate is as unknowable as usual, even though we know who the next president will be. The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) William Lai, vice-president under outgoing President Tsai Ing-Wen, will almost certainly win the election tomorrow because the two opposition parties failed to agree on a joint candidate and will split the slightly-less-anti-China vote between them.
Will Xi Jinping be in charge of China forever?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 14/10/2022
» In the Chinese Communist Party's 20th National Congress, which begins in Beijing on Sunday, President Xi Jinping is expected to be confirmed as president-for-life. If that actually happens, China's ascent to genuine superpower status will be at least delayed. At worst (from the Chinese perspective), it may not happen at all.
China and Covid: The cost of infallibility
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 04/05/2022
» Even the pope claims to be infallible only on matters of faith and doctrine.
Ukraine: lessons for Taiwan, and for China too
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 23/03/2022
» Almost a month in, China is still being extremely coy about its attitude towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The regime is acutely aware that there are many parallels between the Russian-Ukrainian relationship and the Chinese-Taiwanese one, and that the Russian attempt to conquer Ukraine is failing, or at least stalled.
China: No more being Mister Nice Guy
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 04/01/2022
» More than 200 Hong Kong police raided and shut down one of the last pro-democracy news websites in Hong Kong before on Wed of Dec 29, in the latest sign that the Beijing regime will no longer tolerate dissent of any kind. It was total overkill -- a couple of cops with a court order would have sufficed -- but they were 'sending a message' to other "malcontents".
Vulnerability marks 100 years of the CCP
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 30/06/2021
» The Chinese Communist Party is celebrating the centenary of its foundation tomorrow and most people in China accept the origin myth that justifies its dictatorial rule. China was a horrendously impoverished and unequal society in 1921, the official line says, and owes its current prosperity and freedom from foreign rule to the Communist revolution of 1949.
China ambush in Himalayas threatens peace
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 19/06/2020
» Never bring a knife to a gunfight, the saying goes, but China does it differently. It brings clubs.
China and Taiwan following a well-rehearsed script
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 05/01/2019
» 'Independence for Taiwan would only bring profound disaster to Taiwan," said China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday, and he ought to know. He is the one who would make sure the disaster happened.