The new guard of Chinese foreign politicians and ambassadors no longer wants to know anything about diplomatic customs. They are so aggressive in their dealings with the outside world that they are internationally known as “wolf warriors“. They owe the nickname to the 2017 cult film “Wolf Warrior 2.” Its star Wu Jing frees Chinese […]
Beijing protested strongly when the pathogen spreading from Wuhan was initially called “the Chinese virus.” The name stigmatized the citizens of the People’s Republic. The World Health Organization (WHO) then named the pathogen Sars-CoV-2. In the meantime, it even declined the Greek alphabet to conceal the geographical origin of all mutations. Instead of British, Brazilian, […]
A macabre funeral party made its way to Beijing’s West Mountains. State security officials escorted the small group of relatives who went to Wan’an Cemetery on June 4 last year. They commemorated their children and decorated their graves with flowers. The police did not let them out of their sight.Duan Changlong’s mother came in a […]
The banknotes are genuine. They show state founder Mao Zedong on the front in all denominations, from the green ¥1 note (15 cents) to the reddish ¥100 note (15 euros). The explosive messages can be found on the back as political slogans or as self-promotion, such as “Falun Gong is good” for the healing teachings […]
On July 1, the Communist Party of China (CPC), founded in 1921, is staging its centenary as a very big spectacle. To mark the occasion, the world’s sole ruling and most populous CP published its new “Short History of the Communist Party of China” (中国共产党简史). Its final chapter on Party leader Xi Jinping as China’s […]
For decades complaints about brazen counterfeiting have been a constant topic of small talk among foreigners in Beijing. China’s judiciary now prosecutes intellectual property theft, but mainly where it involves protecting the innovations and patents of Chinese high-tech companies. Some defrauded businessmen believe that China’s pirates are even culturally encouraged. According to this legend, imitation […]
For five weeks until the end of February, China’s space agency (CNSA) let the public vote on a suitable name for its Mars rover. The vehicle is still waiting to be deployed aboard the lander of China’s Tianwen (天问 question the sky) Mars mission and is scheduled to fly to Mars in mid-May.The rover will […]
A dissident could not have been more adept at getting his message out to the public than China’s former premier Wen Jiabao (2003-2013) is now doing. He was once among the most powerful leaders of the party and state. Their retirement is sweetened with the utmost comfort under secret rules for the nomenclature of officials. […]
During the Spring Festival, I received a sign of life from the highly respected surgeon Jiang Yanyong. (蒋彦永). The world has his courageous actions and medical ethos to thank for the early disclosure and stopping of Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), the lung disease precursor to COVID-19, in 2003 before it could develop into a […]
To describe the climate between the US and China as freezing is a classic understatement. Currently, nearly nine out of ten US citizens (89 percent) see the People’s Republic as an unfriendly competitor and enemy, but not a partner. That was the finding of a representative online poll by the Washington-based Pew Research Center, which […]
