Since the start of Syria’s uprising in March 2011, Russia has vetoed 12 UN Security Council resolutions concerning the conflict. Among other things, these resolutions covered human rights violations, indiscriminate aerial bombing, the use of force against civilians, toxic chemical weapons, and calls for a meaningful ceasefire. Russia’s behaviour at the Security Council is not motivated by
China announced it would reduce tariffs on textile products and metals, including steel, as it runs low on ammunition in its tariff war with the United States. Tariffs on textile and metals will be lowered to 8.4 percent from 11.5 percent, starting Nov. 1, China’s Finance Ministry stated on Sept. 30. The announcement came six
A discussion with John Jordan, former senior Navy intelligence officer The Chinese Communist Party heavily focuses on race in its espionage recruitment. That’s so that when issues arise with prosecuting Chinese spies, the “race card” can be played, triggering sensitivity about discrimination, according to a former senior U.S. Navy intelligence officer. The CCP uses two
“China’s non-state-owned firms are facing their most difficult situation in the past 40 years,” says Chen Shouhong, an economist in Hong Kong and China. With recent reports of the Chinese regime increasing state interference in the private sector—from state officials to widely circulated essays hinting at more central planning—Chinese leader Xi Jinping sought to reassure private businesses
When we think of parliaments in non-democratic states, we often think of a room full of raised hands. This compelling image of unanimity conveys a simple idea: that these assemblies are stuffed with loyal servants of the ruling elite. Rather than scrutinise, challenge, amend, and block initiatives from the government, they provide guaranteed support. Rather
The recent cancellations of train service in and out of the Xinjiang region are fueling conjecture about the fate of local Uyghurs who are locked up in concentration camps set up there by the Chinese regime. Xinjiang’s railway department will stop selling train tickets leaving and arriving in Xinjiang, as well as for local train
At least three separate Chinese intelligence organizations are collecting information on Taiwan’s military officers, according to a new book by a former Taiwanese military intelligence official that reveals how extensively the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has conducted espionage. Lieutenant General Weng Yen-ching, a former deputy director of Taiwan’s Military Intelligence Bureau, says in his book,
WASHINGTON—“‘Did we get China wrong?’ The issue to me is resoundingly ‘yes,’” says Bill Gertz, senior editor of the Washington Free Beacon and one of the leading journalists on national-security issues. “The good news is, there has been a major shift by the Trump administration in its focus on China,” Gertz said while speaking at
Since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the US, Islam has become central to debates about social cohesion and national security in Australia. Restrictions on Muslim immigration have been openly discussed – most recently by Senator Fraser Anning in his maiden speech to parliament – and many believe another terrorist attack in the name of “Islam” is inevitable. Confronted with
By Sebastian Sim In this time and age, how does a more affluent country seek control of another less-developed but sovereign country, without so much as a squeak from the latter? Well, the affluent country can offer loans to the less-developed country to build lots of infrastructure, which the latter cannot afford or does not
