Tag Archives: China

Should governments ban TikTok? Can they? A cybersecurity expert explains the risks the app poses and the challenges to blocking it

Is a wildly popular social media app a threat to U.S. citizens? AP Photo/Michael Dwyer Doug Jacobson, Iowa State University On May 17, 2023, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed legislation banning TikTok in the state. The law imposes fines of US$10,000 per day on any app store that offers the popular Chinese-owned video social media app, and on the app …

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As longterm partnership with US fades, Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its diplomacy – and recent deals with China, Iran and Russia fit this strategy

Saudi Arabia, to the surprise of many, chose China to broker its deal with Iran in March 2023. Chinese Foreign Ministry/Anadolu Agency via Getty Image Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University The fact that Saudi Arabia entered a rapprochement deal with Iran and chose China to broker it came as a surprise to many international observers. The agreement, officially called the …

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COVID: what we know about new omicron variant BF.7

Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock Manal Mohammed, University of Westminster Since the COVID variant omicron emerged in late 2021, it has rapidly evolved into multiple subvariants. One subvariant, BF.7, has recently been identified as the main variant spreading in Beijing, and is contributing to a wider surge of COVID infections in China. But what is this new variant, and should we be worried? …

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Four scenarios for a world in disorder

David Bach, International Institute for Management Development (IMD) Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s recent speech to the Communist Party Congress could be one of the most consequential of the decade. He told the audience – and the world – that his economic growth-crushing zero-COVID policy is here to stay, and that Beijing is more determined than ever to reunify with Taiwan, …

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Ukraine war and anti-Russia sanctions on top of COVID-19 mean even worse trouble lies ahead for global supply chains

Supply chains were already in disarray thanks to overcongested ports, as in Los Angeles. AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes Tinglong Dai, Johns Hopkins University Francis Fukuyama, the American political scientist who once described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the “end of history,” suggested that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might be called “the end of the end of history.” He meant …

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Ukraine war: Russia’s G20 walkout heightens tensions at fractious summit as China’s rise continues

Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham While G20 foreign ministers were meeting in Bali, Indonesia, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, threatened further escalation in his war against Ukraine, announcing to the world that “by and large, we have not started anything in earnest yet”. What he meant became quickly clear when a missile attack hit an apartment building in Chasiv Yar …

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Ukraine: why China is not yet bailing out Russia

Aglaya Snetkov, UCL and Marc Lanteigne, University of Tromsø As Russia’s war in Ukraine continues, China’s role has been thrown into sharp relief. Prior to the war, some commentators suggested that China would openly side with Russia or seek to act as a mediator – so far Beijing appears to have resisted doing either. As Qin Gang, China’s ambassador to …

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Ukraine: Putin isn’t mad – he’s following a long-established great power playbook for conquest

Alexander Titov, Queen’s University Belfast The Russian invasion of Ukraine has confounded everyone. Given its huge economic, reputational and political costs – not to mention the immense human misery it has already caused – how can anyone in their right mind choose to start such a war? The question of rationality is important when assessing a country’s actions, the likely …

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Africa’s relations with the EU: a reset is possible if Europe changes its attitude

Some African and European leaders at the last AU-EU summit in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, November 2017. Philippe Wojazer/AFP via Getty Images Niall Duggan, University College Cork; Luis Mah, Universidade de Lisboa , and Toni Haastrup, University of Stirling Summits between the African Union and European Union are essential to setting the big picture agenda of contemporary Africa-EU relations. They also …

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