"There’s another reason why new-era localists do not recognise 1 July 1997: it’s because the negotiations between Beijing and London and the resulting agreement they reached at no point entertained the wishes of the actual people of Hong Kong. When Great Britain delivered Hong Kong to the Communists it merely transferred sovereign control over the territory. In other, less bland, words, 1 July 1997 marks the second colonisation of Hong Kong."

"Such talk of a unique Chinese cultural subjectivity, and of the national need for “self-confidence,” may sound like a simple act of affirmation. But it also harbors, even as official China speaks about its desire to be respected and loved globally, a hostility to a broad-brushed notion of the West that invites misunderstanding. And as Zhang Weiwei’s [high profile academic who addressed a Politubro collective study session in May 2021] most recent remarks in Shanghai demonstrate, this hostility can turn on domestic society in China in ways that are darkly reminiscent of the purges in the country’s past...[In Zhang's words:] 'One of the most common forms of Western discourse and cultural infiltration of China is to instill certain ‘aesthetic standards’ (审美标准) into Chinese intellectual elites through various forms of exchange or awards, and then to use these Westernized intellectual elites to monopolize Chinese aesthetic standards, and even Chinese standards in the humanities, arts, and social sciences – in this way achieving a kind of ‘cultural training’ and ‘ideological hegemony’ (意识形态霸权) over China.'"

"In the eyes of CCP leaders, a proper understanding and definition of contradictions is essential to securing the party’s political position and ensuring stability in the country. Certainly, a consensus exists that the government should be a guarantor of common prosperity. However, when it comes to determining optimal methods to implement this approach, the debate is far from over. Watching the domestic discussions there are two camps that are ready to do battle. The first group is the more anti-globalist movement, which is driven by anti-American sentiment and whose preferred way forward is to manage the domestic contradiction behind a closed door with a strict zero-COVID policy. In the opposite corner is an internationalist-oriented group, which hopes to keep China’s door open or at least ajar. Should the first group emerge from the 20^th Party Congress in the driver’s seat it may seek to explain away policy deficiencies by utilizing anti-foreign rhetoric that portrays China as a besieged fortress with the ultimate goal of securing Xi’s central position. The “open-door” group, which prefers collective leadership, while also proactively managing an economic downturn and de-globalization, sees China as part of global value chains and a member of the international economic community. As far as China’s economic stance is concerned, the die is not yet cast."

"Sanxingdui — an archaeological site in Sichuan province brimming with artifacts dating back 5,000 years — challenges China's dominant founding myth and the idea that the Chinese people arose from a single point of origin."

"In June 1855, it rained heavily in Henan province. This was, of course, not unusual. The rain poured into the Yellow River, already swollen by seasonal flooding thanks to the snowmelt in the far-off Tibetan Plateau. On June 19, the relentless pressure overwhelmed the levee at Tongwaxiang, near Kaifeng. Within a day, a breach three miles wide released raging muddy waters onto the surrounding plain. The river deposited the silt it had accumulated as it traversed north China, burying whole villages in mud. For weeks, wave after wave of floodwaters laid waste to the area. More than 200,000 people died; seven million lost their homes."

"over the past decade, Beijing has taken back personnel, financial, judicial and supervisory powers from local governments, tilting the central-local balance of power to the central government, and ultimately the hands of the top leaders. At the same time, the mainland [China] has continued to emphasise decentralisation at the grassroots level, such as in the areas of land approval, legislature, and in streamlining administration and delegating powers to lower levels."

"In China’s anti-monopoly law enforcement blitz last year, the authorities used traditional economic theories such as market structure, market share and market dominance to ascertain the monopolistic nature of platform companies, leading to questionable conclusions and effects.

But both the government’s anti-monopoly law enforcement report and the new measures implemented to develop the platform economy did not reflect...Neither did the authority revise the now obsolete anti-monopoly law on the basis of such reflections...

Market behaviours that are not conducive to orderly development will inevitably emerge. But these unhealthy market behaviours are not the monopolistic practices of platform companies and it is thus necessary for the government to delink general unhealthy market behaviours from monopolistic practices when governing and supervising platform companies."

"As ever, Hong Kong people were not given credit for their intelligence and were resolute in backing the democracy movement. They most certainly did not need foreign forces to tell them what to do or what to think. Indeed there is no evidence that these forces were even marginally involved in the protests. Yet authoritarian government specialises in creating its own reality. History must always be made to serve contemporary needs."

"the future of Taiwan’s CPTPP membership depends critically on the following two factors. First is the ability to lock in support from key CPTPP members such as Japan and Australia; The recent call for collective action against China’s economic coercions voiced by Canada, Australia and Japan potentially provides additional impetus to achieve this. Second is the demonstration of Taiwan’s CPTPP readiness, such that negotiation with Taiwan is considered low-hanging fruit. Finally, ensuring current members that Taiwan’s accession is purely economically motivated to dilute geopolitical sensitivity is equally crucial."