The 1989 protests changed all priorities. Jiang, Shanghai party secretary, was called to Beijing to become party chief. In 1993, Zhu became vice premier, and in 1998 premier, China’s economic czar. Nobody has impacted the Chinese economy as he has. Yet his massive push to set things in order and clear books and accounts was abandoned once he left power. He knew market rules can’t be ignored forever. If this happens, the economy will collapse.
søndag 16. august 2026
Goodbye, Comrade Zhu Rongji
As a young man in 1957, Zhu was punished during the anti-rightist campaign. Deng noticed him in the mid-1980s, when he was a mid-level head of the Department of Industrial Economy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). In 1988, reportedly, Deng sent him to Shanghai to serve as mayor to shake up the city, which was lagging behind Guangdong, and to make it a spearhead of the reforms.
The 1989 protests changed all priorities. Jiang, Shanghai party secretary, was called to Beijing to become party chief. In 1993, Zhu became vice premier, and in 1998 premier, China’s economic czar. Nobody has impacted the Chinese economy as he has. Yet his massive push to set things in order and clear books and accounts was abandoned once he left power. He knew market rules can’t be ignored forever. If this happens, the economy will collapse.
The 1989 protests changed all priorities. Jiang, Shanghai party secretary, was called to Beijing to become party chief. In 1993, Zhu became vice premier, and in 1998 premier, China’s economic czar. Nobody has impacted the Chinese economy as he has. Yet his massive push to set things in order and clear books and accounts was abandoned once he left power. He knew market rules can’t be ignored forever. If this happens, the economy will collapse.
Zhu Rongji left Asia a blueprint — and it still works
When Zhu Rongji died in Beijing on August 12 at the age of 97, Asia lost one of the finest public servants of its modern era. He was the premier who opened China to the world, the plain-spoken technocrat who took his country into the World Trade Organization in December 2001 after almost 15 years of talks.
The tributes have reached for the big numbers, and the numbers are extraordinary. But the most valuable thing he left behind is smaller and more useful than any of them: a method any government in Asia can copy. Make a binding promise to the outside world, then use it to win the arguments you cannot win at home.
The tributes have reached for the big numbers, and the numbers are extraordinary. But the most valuable thing he left behind is smaller and more useful than any of them: a method any government in Asia can copy. Make a binding promise to the outside world, then use it to win the arguments you cannot win at home.
The West studies China’s power — but not its civilization
At their Beijing summit on May 14, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping asked US President Donald Trump whether China and the United States could avoid the “Thucydides Trap,” in which rivalry between a rising power and an established one ends in war. During the talks, Xi also warned that mishandling Taiwan could bring the two countries into conflict. The exchange captured the strategic anxiety of the present moment. China’s rise is measured in factories, patents, artificial intelligence models, naval vessels, infrastructure projects and trade flows.
South Korea proposes talks to officially end war with North
South Korea's president has proposed talks with its northern neighbour on officially ending the war between the two that is technically still active. Lee Jae Myung suggested a "multi-layered security system" to avoid flare-ups along the countries' de-facto border, known as the demilitarised zone (DMZ), and offered to discuss practical ways of halting Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
North Korea has continually tested ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, which has been perceived in Seoul and nearby Japan as an attempt to intimidate and project power. The conflict between the two occupants of the Korean peninsula has been effectively frozen since an armistice was signed in 1953.
North Korea has continually tested ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, which has been perceived in Seoul and nearby Japan as an attempt to intimidate and project power. The conflict between the two occupants of the Korean peninsula has been effectively frozen since an armistice was signed in 1953.
Afghan women tell the BBC their lives are unrecognisable after five years of Taliban rule
Five years on from the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, women and girls have told the BBC their lives are unrecognisable under the rule of the regime. The hard-line Islamist group has been eroding the rights of the 22 million women in the country since it re-gained control in 2021- two decades after being removed from power by a US-led military coalition.
The BBC is one of the few media organisations that has been able to maintain access to Afghanistan since the takeover. We spoke to women across the country, from the heart of Kabul to the vast countryside.They have watched on as the Taliban barred access to school for girls over 12, restricted travel without a male chaperone and brought in a law implying legal approval for child marriage.
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The BBC is one of the few media organisations that has been able to maintain access to Afghanistan since the takeover. We spoke to women across the country, from the heart of Kabul to the vast countryside.They have watched on as the Taliban barred access to school for girls over 12, restricted travel without a male chaperone and brought in a law implying legal approval for child marriage.
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fredag 14. august 2026
Zhu Rongji, the ‘economic czar’ who helped turn China into a powerhouse, dies at 97
In some ways his death marks the end of a more economically optimistic era for many Chinese who witnessed their country’s sweeping transformation during its reformist years. Those reforms led to huge reduction in poverty, an exploding middle class and a scramble by foreign companies to access the lucrative Chinese market.
Opinion: Zhu Rongji’s Promise
Zhu Rongji began his tenure as China?s prime minister with a promise. During his now-famous March 1998 press conference at the National People?s Congress, the bold and freewheeling Zhu pledged that within three years he would turn around China?s ailing state-owned enterprises, long the nemesis of China?s economic opening. Now, as the prime minister prepares to step down, his critics are charging he has failed to deliver.
The behemoths of Chinese industry continue to be an enormous drag on the economy. And now that China has entered the World Trade Organization, many fear that China?s state-owned companies, especially those most sheltered from needed reforms, will collapse under the pressure of foreign competition.
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The behemoths of Chinese industry continue to be an enormous drag on the economy. And now that China has entered the World Trade Organization, many fear that China?s state-owned companies, especially those most sheltered from needed reforms, will collapse under the pressure of foreign competition.
Read more
Zhu Rongji, who helped turn China into a trading giant, dies at 97
Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, who spearheaded China's entry into global trade and laid the foundation for its explosive growth, has died at the age of 97. He served in the country's second-highest office from 1998-2003 and played a leading role in securing its entry into the World Trade Organization, opening Chinese factories to the international market and drawing foreign investment.
He was one of the most important economic reformers who moved local tax powers to the central government, closed or privatised failing state firms and promoted home ownership. Many in China remember him as a tough and pragmatic leader who delivered double-digit growth and was rarely afraid to speak his mind.
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He was one of the most important economic reformers who moved local tax powers to the central government, closed or privatised failing state firms and promoted home ownership. Many in China remember him as a tough and pragmatic leader who delivered double-digit growth and was rarely afraid to speak his mind.
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onsdag 12. august 2026
The lonely Chinese men being conned by fake brides
At 37, Wang Zhuang had almost given up hope of finding a wife, until he saw the glossy matchmaking adverts. They promised he wouldn't have to waste years on building a relationship that had no future. They offered to introduce him to a demure, devoted woman.
"The matchmakers said that girls from Guizhou are frugal," Wang says. "They told me they are good at running a household, able to do housework, and their families are very poor, so after marrying into your family, they would settle down and live a life with you."
So Wang travelled to Guiyang, a city in the southwestern province of Guizhou, in the hope of finding his soulmate. He thought he had, when he was matched with a woman who seemed to tick every box. They had only met a few times before they married. Then, almost as quickly as his new life had begun, it was over.
"The matchmakers said that girls from Guizhou are frugal," Wang says. "They told me they are good at running a household, able to do housework, and their families are very poor, so after marrying into your family, they would settle down and live a life with you."
So Wang travelled to Guiyang, a city in the southwestern province of Guizhou, in the hope of finding his soulmate. He thought he had, when he was matched with a woman who seemed to tick every box. They had only met a few times before they married. Then, almost as quickly as his new life had begun, it was over.
Six Nations, One Crisis: Drug Addiction and the Fentanyl Trade in the USA, China, Russia, Japan, India and France
Drug addiction looks completely different depending on where you stand. In the United States it means fentanyl-laced pills and a decades-long opioid emergency. In China it means a state that has all but eliminated the heroin epidemics of the 1990s through mass surveillance and harsh enforcement, while its chemical industry quietly supplies the raw materials for other countries’ crises.
In Russia it means an aging population of injecting heroin users cut off from harm-reduction support. In Japan it means one of the lowest drug-use rates on earth, offset by a stubborn methamphetamine subculture. In India it means a mostly licit-drug and cannabis problem layered on top of a fast-growing synthetic and injecting-drug crisis in the northern states. In France it means a booming, blue-collar cocaine market alongside Western Europe’s most entrenched cannabis use.
Pentagon official asks Asian allies to invest more in defense to deter aggression
A Pentagon official on Monday asked allies in Asia to invest more in their defense and help deter aggression in the region and said the United States remains committed to do the same with “partners, not protectorates.”
Elbridge Colby, an undersecretary of defense, made the remarks at a forum in the Philippines, his first stop in Southeast Asia, where he will also visit Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia. He renewed Washington’s assurances that the U.S. is not backing away from Asia despite its current preoccupation with the Iran war and the Middle East.
“America is definitely not disengaging from Asia — to the contrary. Our vital national interests dictate our enduring presence here,” Colby told an audience that included foreign diplomats, generals, business executives and journalists.
Elbridge Colby, an undersecretary of defense, made the remarks at a forum in the Philippines, his first stop in Southeast Asia, where he will also visit Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia. He renewed Washington’s assurances that the U.S. is not backing away from Asia despite its current preoccupation with the Iran war and the Middle East.
“America is definitely not disengaging from Asia — to the contrary. Our vital national interests dictate our enduring presence here,” Colby told an audience that included foreign diplomats, generals, business executives and journalists.
Chinese users of AI companions bereft after government tightens regulations
Li Linlin cried for days after losing her AI boyfriend. She had exchanged about 700,000 words in messages over two years, and never got to say goodbye. Li, 24, wasn’t the only left mourning the loss of a virtual companion when major Chinese tech companies recently pulled the plug on their popular AI companion services to comply with new government restrictions.
“It was like we were forced to be separated by our parents, but I still miss him,” Li said.
AI companions in China range from romantic partners to virtual recreations of deceased loved ones. The new regulation, which took effect July 15, bans AI platforms from generating content that could lead users to make questionable decisions due to manipulation of their feelings or that might trigger extreme emotions or unhealthy habits in children and teens.
“It was like we were forced to be separated by our parents, but I still miss him,” Li said.
AI companions in China range from romantic partners to virtual recreations of deceased loved ones. The new regulation, which took effect July 15, bans AI platforms from generating content that could lead users to make questionable decisions due to manipulation of their feelings or that might trigger extreme emotions or unhealthy habits in children and teens.
Chinese rocket carrying satellite explodes seconds after launch
A Chinese rocket set to launch a satellite into orbit blew-up seconds after liftoff Monday, marking the relatively rare failure for a rocket considered a workhorse of Beijing’s space program. The Long March 7A rocket erupted into a massive fireball just 85 seconds after blasting off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the island of Hainan on Monday night, video showed. Unlike other successful launches, the incident appears to have been downplayed on China’s state media with scant mention of the explosion.
Knowledge as Hegemony: What the Cancellation of the IATS Conference Reveals
In the backdrop of the recent cancellation of the International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS) conference, which was scheduled to be in Kathmandu over Aug 23-29, Ifrah Khalil Kawa* reflects on how contemporary geopolitical power increasingly extends beyond territorial control to shape academic spaces and the production of knowledge. Drawing on the ideas of Michel Foucault and Antonio Gramsci, alongside her fieldwork in Ladakh, Ifrah Khalil argues that the politics surrounding Tibet today must also be understood through the politics of knowledge and academic freedom.
"The significance of this moment extends well beyond Nepal. Contemporary discussions of Tibet often focus on territory, sovereignty and diplomacy. We measure geopolitical power through military deployments, infrastructure projects or economic influence. Yet the Kathmandu episode reminds us that power also operates in quieter ways. It determines which conversations take place, which archives remain accessible, which histories receive attention and, perhaps most importantly, which forms of knowledge are allowed to circulate. The struggle over Tibet is therefore not only territorial. It is also epistemic. It concerns the conditions under which Tibet itself can be studied."
China claims its ‘Zangnan’, not ‘Arunachal Pradesh’, slams India’s release of standard names for 27 locations
China has on Aug 10 reacted to India’s issuance on Aug 7 of standardized names of 27 locations in its state of Arunachal Pradesh in a move to counter similar exercises undertaken by itself since 2017, calling it “null and void”.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China does not recognize the so-called “Arunachal Pradesh”, saying it was illegally set up by India, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Oct 10. “Zangnan region is China’s territory,” Guo has maintained, using the name coined relatively recently by China to refer to the strategic border state of India as it began adopting a more assertive posture on laying claim to it.
“Zangnan” simply means Southern Tibet, or “southern part of the Xizang autonomous region” – “Xizang” being China’s Pinyin term for “Tibet”.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China does not recognize the so-called “Arunachal Pradesh”, saying it was illegally set up by India, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Oct 10. “Zangnan region is China’s territory,” Guo has maintained, using the name coined relatively recently by China to refer to the strategic border state of India as it began adopting a more assertive posture on laying claim to it.
“Zangnan” simply means Southern Tibet, or “southern part of the Xizang autonomous region” – “Xizang” being China’s Pinyin term for “Tibet”.
Governing Strangers: African Communities in Guangzhou
With a population of 1.4 billion, the continent of Africa has a similar number of people to China, although it is approximately three times greater in size. Moreover, the continent has fifty-four countries and boasts the most heterogeneous collection of languages in the world. Such diversity is reflected among the Africans travelling to and residing in Guangzhou, a trading port in southern China. In 2018, we surveyed some 120 Africans in Guangzhou, from thirty countries.
Most were traders buying cheap manufactured goods and shipping them to their home countries. Several trading centres clustered in Yuexiu and Baiyun districts attract a large number of Africans, thanks to the convenient concentration there of factory outlets, affordable hotels and informal housing in their vicinity (see figure 1). The factory outlets selling products from the Pearl River Delta and other provinces, including electronics, clothing and footwear, cosmetics and building materials, are significant hubs for the flow of manufactured goods from China to Africa.
tirsdag 11. august 2026
Torbjørn Færøvik: China is hot on the heels of the US
Hardly a day goes by without Donald Trump receiving bad news from Beijing. Despite all the American sanctions, China continues to close the gap with the United States in most strategic areas. Not least in the most important of all: artificial intelligence and new technology.
The superpower that wins this race will also win the economic and military duel. It must therefore be all the more frustrating for Trump to see China making new and remarkable advances almost every week. Stanford University in the United States concludes in a recent report that America’s lead over China in AI has almost disappeared. But the race will not be decided solely by who develops the most advanced models. Being able to roll out the technology faster and more cheaply is just as important, and here China is in the lead.
Trump is now considering banning several Chinese AI models. At the same time, he is expanding US sanctions against Chinese companies producing semiconductors and other sensitive technologies. Nor does he intend to approve China’s latest humanoid and quadrupedal robots.
Torbjørn Færøvik: Kina puster USA i nakken
Det går knapt en dag uten at Donald Trump får dårlige nyheter fra Beijing. For trass i alle amerikanske sanksjoner fortsetter Kina å nærme seg USA på de fleste strategiske områder. Ikke minst på de viktigste av alle: kunstig intelligens og ny teknologi. De puster oss i nakken, lyder omkvedet blant datahjernene i Silicon Valley.
Den supermakten som vinner dette kappløpet, vinner også den økonomiske og militære duellen. Desto mer frustrerende må det være for Trump å se at Kina nesten ukentlig gjør nye oppsiktsvekkende fremskritt. Det amerikanske Stanford-universitetet fastslår i en fersk rapport at USAs KI-forsprang på Kina nesten er eliminert. Men kappløpet avgjøres ikke bare av hvem som lager de mest avanserte modellene. Like viktig er det å kunne spre teknologien raskest og billigst, og her er Kina i tet.
Nå vurderer Trump å utestenge flere av de kinesiske KI-modellene. Samtidig utvider han USAs sanksjoner mot kinesiske selskaper som produserer halvledere og annen følsom teknologi. Han vil heller ikke godkjenne Kinas nyeste humanoide og firbente roboter.
Den supermakten som vinner dette kappløpet, vinner også den økonomiske og militære duellen. Desto mer frustrerende må det være for Trump å se at Kina nesten ukentlig gjør nye oppsiktsvekkende fremskritt. Det amerikanske Stanford-universitetet fastslår i en fersk rapport at USAs KI-forsprang på Kina nesten er eliminert. Men kappløpet avgjøres ikke bare av hvem som lager de mest avanserte modellene. Like viktig er det å kunne spre teknologien raskest og billigst, og her er Kina i tet.
Nå vurderer Trump å utestenge flere av de kinesiske KI-modellene. Samtidig utvider han USAs sanksjoner mot kinesiske selskaper som produserer halvledere og annen følsom teknologi. Han vil heller ikke godkjenne Kinas nyeste humanoide og firbente roboter.
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