Singapore: SecDef Mattis declines to comment on London attacks: "I like to learn about something before I talk."
David Rennie
23.3K posts
David Rennie
@DSORennie
Geopolitics Editor & author of “The Telegram” column @TheEconomist.Postings in Beijing, Washington, London, Brussels, Washington, Beijing, Sydney. Panelist @1a
- Replying to @DSORennie130am in Beijing. Still going. Cries of “we want freedom, we want human rights”
00:00 - Police arrived at peaceful Covid protest in Beijing, on Liangma river. Candles being lit. Earlier, chants in honour of dead in recent fire in Urumqi,and “Shanghai police let them go”- reference to arrests today
- My taxi in Hebei ski country just pulled off for two-minute battery change by robot. A fresh battery lasts 150km in winter, says driver. He pays 45yuan ($7) for a fresh battery. Impressive system, all the more for being totally workaday, not exotic. Future here now for China EVs.
00:00 - The depressing reality is that inside China, this very basic detail - that Chinese nuclear plants have released far more radiation into the sea - is unknown. Instead, the propaganda machine has v successfully whipped up anti-Japan anger and panicIf you’re worried about eating Japanese seafood because of the water release from Fukushima, then you’d better stop eating seafood from anywhere.
- After six years and 220 Chaguan columns, it’s time to leave Beijing. It has been an adventure and a privilege. My next beat will include a dose of China, happily: I’ll be writing a new weekly geopolitics column in @TheEconomist. Column number 5 for me
- China puts a lot of work into covering up repression in Xinjiang, wheeling out party-approved imams and diplomats from Iran, Russia and other allies to declare that Islam is flourishing. Here’s some on the ground reporting from Xinjiang this week 1/
- China's vow to end extreme poverty in 2020 involves stunning numbers: billions of $ spent, millions moved from rural homes. But don't miss what it really is: a political campaign to integrate the poor into the natl economy, & train them to thank the Party.
- Just for clarity, President-elect Trump ditching campaign promises that could never have been kept is evidence of cynicism, not moderation.
- Next time you hear that Chinese assertiveness is a reaction to Trump and Biden era “containment”, recall how China took advantage of the Obama administration’s desire for cooperation and dialogue to annexe chunks of the S China Sea
- When I was 1st posted to China, 22 yrs ago, state media went to great lengths to keep the words of US presidents from the public. Not now. Trump’s confused travel ban all over official media. Chinese readers lamenting in comments that it’s too little too late, so much time wasted
- Chants of "thank you, thank you" as DC Nat Guard help take elevated photos of #womensmarch with protestors' phones
- Surely they saw this coming?Fortune-tellers normally busy soothsaying for tourists in Hong Kong's Temple Street say they are now struggling amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
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