China
Calling time on the bromance of Putin and Xi?
Xi Jinping once called Vladimir Putin his best friend. But is their relationship cooling as he realises how much his country stands to lose over Ukraine?
China
China
Alastair Campbell’s Diary: Has Putin’s invasion undermined soft power?
The observation that military force has become less important in how nations wield power was more credible pre-invasion
China
Now is the Winter Olympics of discontent
Will hosting the Games help to liberalise China? Or is this a shameful moment of appeasement for a brutal dictatorship subjugating the Uyghur population and ‘disappearing’ internal dissidents?
China
The dissidents of Hong Kong keeping truth alive
In an extract from his new book, Freedom: How we lose it and how we fight back, Hong Kong dissident NATHAN LAW, once jailed by the regime, warns of Beijing’s tightening grip on culture.
China
Letters to the Editor: Britain must become less reliant on China
Ahead of the COP26 conference, one reader has a suggestion for Boris Johnson's government to help Britain tackle climate change.
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How Richard Hamilton became Britain’s most influential pop artist
Richard Hamilton eschewed the knockabout nature of other purveyors of Pop Art, says Richard Holledge, but his work packed just as much of a punch. Pop! Whaam! Blam. Exclamation marks!!! Technicolour explosions. That’s Pop Art for you. The comic book whizz-bangs of Roy Lichtenstein and a group of post-war artists typified the 1960s for many – […]
China
China’s changing origin story
Communist China once traced its roots to the end of the county’s civil war in 1949. A new, official narrative, however, is nudging the start of its march to global power back to the Second World War. Historian RANA MITTER explains the significance of this shift In China, there are a lot of very rich people. There are also […]
China
What does the new China – Iran alliance mean for us all?
While the world has been distracted by other issues, relations between Beijing and Tehran have become closer than ever – with major implications for the rest of the globe, Jonathan Fryer reports. With European media attention largely focussed on Covid, Brexit and Donald Trump’s chances of re-election, a major geopolitical realignment has gone largely unnoticed. But […]
China
The crisis the world has chosen to ignore
China was the gift that kept on giving. What was there not to like about a country that was bringing hundreds of millions out of poverty and into the global consumer market? Certain human rights indiscretions might need to be mentioned, ever so politely, but Western governments, policy makers and business leaders saw China more […]
China
Don’t rely on China to keep Kim’s finger off the button
With Donald Trump doing his best to up the ante in his stand-off with Kim Jong-Un, the optimistic argument goes that China will eventually step in to restrain its North Korean neighbour. But, KATHARINE MOON argues, this is wishful thinking. Pyongyang won’t kowtow to Beijing Those who want to end North Korea’s nuclear threats often […]