Hotznplotzn

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/51708185

Archived

China’s progress in building a modern economy, evident in its kung-fu fighting robots and self-parking cars, is hitting limits as a downturn in its housing industry drags on, small businesses suffer and young people struggle to find jobs.

The gap between Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s high-tech, artificial intelligence-driven ambitions and the hard realities of slowing growth is the backdrop for the annual meeting of the country’s largely ceremonial national legislature, the National People’s Congress, which begins Thursday.

During the meetings, which draw about 3,000 deputies to Beijing, top leaders will outline China’s annual target for growth and the congress will endorse a five-year blueprint of policy priorities until 2030.

“What we’ll see is the trade-off between whether it’s going to be industry and tech, or looking after domestic demand,” said Alexander Davey, an analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies. “These are the two priorities that are juggling for Xi Jinping right now.”

China’s economy is losing momentum

In a city in southern China’s Guangdong, families were cutting back on big purchases during last month’s Lunar New Year holidays. Even for auspicious houseplants like orchids, used as a symbol of abundance and prosperity, prices were slashed by as much as 40% from last year.

The penny pinching has small business owners complaining about hard times.

[...]

The relatively robust pace of growth was supported by strong manufacturing as exports surged, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes and other disruptions to trade.

[...]

“Hitting the 2025 growth target is hardly reassuring as the Chinese economy is losing growth momentum, with rising imbalances and enormous structural problems being papered over by a surge in export-driven growth,” Eswar Prasad, a professor of economics and trade policy at Cornell University, told The Associated Press in emailed comments.

[...]

A downturn in China’s housing market began several years ago and piecemeal efforts to revive the industry have made only fitful progress. Dozens of property developers defaulted on their debts as authorities cracked down on excessive borrowing. With overall home prices down 20% or more from 2021, a recovery remains elusive.

The meltdown in one of the country’s biggest industries eliminated hundreds of thousands of jobs and with 12.7 million graduates entering the job market this year, more than 16% of young Chinese are unemployed. Some just are giving up and opting out of the rat race, or “lying flat.”

Families whose main assets are their homes have grown cautious about spending, weakening consumer demand and confounding longstanding efforts to shift the economy to greater reliance on domestic investment.

[...]

China sticks to exports

Reliance on exports is what help keeps China’s economy buzzing, at least for now. China recorded a $1.2 trillion trade surplus in 2025, as exports kept its factories humming. Despite the China-U.S. trade war, it has been shipping more to regions including Europe and Latin America. But it’s facing pushback from its trading partners.

Under leader Xi, China has prioritized developing advanced technologies such as AI, robotics, computer chips, electric vehicles and renewable energy. Massive state support has companies churning out more EVs, TVs, solar panels and other products than China and its trading partners need.

“To achieve those goals, the government is going to have to continue to provide subsidies and preferential support for high-tech and strategic industries,” said Leah Fahy, a China economist at Capital Economics. “(That) will, in turn, continue to fuel overcapacity.”

[...]

Over the past few decades, China’s transformation into a manufacturing superpower was underpinned by booming construction of homes, office buildings, roads, ports and railways. But tech supply chains are narrower, providing fewer jobs. So the trickle down effect is much weaker, said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING Bank.

“If anything, the more successful the so-called future industries become, the more they will draw resources away from the traditional sectors that still provide the bulk of employment and livelihoods for most people,” said Henry Gao, a professor of law at Singapore Management University.

[...]

Xi is expected to consolidate more power

The annual congress is an impressive show. Thousands of delegates fill the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing. A military band performs and delegates from various ethnic groups attend in traditional clothing.

For all the pomp, the meeting is largely a set piece. The congress lasts only one week and its near-unanimous votes on the final day formalize decisions made ahead of time by party leaders. It’s a show of unity reaffirming the polices and direction they have set.

Increasingly that leadership has centered on one person, Xi, who has consolidated power since taking the helm in 2012. Now 72, he is one of modern China’s most powerful leaders. Some analysts think Xi will emulate Mao Zedong, the revolutionary leader who founded communist China, and rule for life.

Annual reports presented at the congress are replete with references to the party’s crucial role, “with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core.”

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/51708185

Archived

China’s progress in building a modern economy, evident in its kung-fu fighting robots and self-parking cars, is hitting limits as a downturn in its housing industry drags on, small businesses suffer and young people struggle to find jobs.

The gap between Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s high-tech, artificial intelligence-driven ambitions and the hard realities of slowing growth is the backdrop for the annual meeting of the country’s largely ceremonial national legislature, the National People’s Congress, which begins Thursday.

During the meetings, which draw about 3,000 deputies to Beijing, top leaders will outline China’s annual target for growth and the congress will endorse a five-year blueprint of policy priorities until 2030.

“What we’ll see is the trade-off between whether it’s going to be industry and tech, or looking after domestic demand,” said Alexander Davey, an analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies. “These are the two priorities that are juggling for Xi Jinping right now.”

China’s economy is losing momentum

In a city in southern China’s Guangdong, families were cutting back on big purchases during last month’s Lunar New Year holidays. Even for auspicious houseplants like orchids, used as a symbol of abundance and prosperity, prices were slashed by as much as 40% from last year.

The penny pinching has small business owners complaining about hard times.

[...]

The relatively robust pace of growth was supported by strong manufacturing as exports surged, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes and other disruptions to trade.

[...]

“Hitting the 2025 growth target is hardly reassuring as the Chinese economy is losing growth momentum, with rising imbalances and enormous structural problems being papered over by a surge in export-driven growth,” Eswar Prasad, a professor of economics and trade policy at Cornell University, told The Associated Press in emailed comments.

[...]

A downturn in China’s housing market began several years ago and piecemeal efforts to revive the industry have made only fitful progress. Dozens of property developers defaulted on their debts as authorities cracked down on excessive borrowing. With overall home prices down 20% or more from 2021, a recovery remains elusive.

The meltdown in one of the country’s biggest industries eliminated hundreds of thousands of jobs and with 12.7 million graduates entering the job market this year, more than 16% of young Chinese are unemployed. Some just are giving up and opting out of the rat race, or “lying flat.”

Families whose main assets are their homes have grown cautious about spending, weakening consumer demand and confounding longstanding efforts to shift the economy to greater reliance on domestic investment.

[...]

China sticks to exports

Reliance on exports is what help keeps China’s economy buzzing, at least for now. China recorded a $1.2 trillion trade surplus in 2025, as exports kept its factories humming. Despite the China-U.S. trade war, it has been shipping more to regions including Europe and Latin America. But it’s facing pushback from its trading partners.

Under leader Xi, China has prioritized developing advanced technologies such as AI, robotics, computer chips, electric vehicles and renewable energy. Massive state support has companies churning out more EVs, TVs, solar panels and other products than China and its trading partners need.

“To achieve those goals, the government is going to have to continue to provide subsidies and preferential support for high-tech and strategic industries,” said Leah Fahy, a China economist at Capital Economics. “(That) will, in turn, continue to fuel overcapacity.”

[...]

Over the past few decades, China’s transformation into a manufacturing superpower was underpinned by booming construction of homes, office buildings, roads, ports and railways. But tech supply chains are narrower, providing fewer jobs. So the trickle down effect is much weaker, said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING Bank.

“If anything, the more successful the so-called future industries become, the more they will draw resources away from the traditional sectors that still provide the bulk of employment and livelihoods for most people,” said Henry Gao, a professor of law at Singapore Management University.

[...]

Xi is expected to consolidate more power

The annual congress is an impressive show. Thousands of delegates fill the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing. A military band performs and delegates from various ethnic groups attend in traditional clothing.

For all the pomp, the meeting is largely a set piece. The congress lasts only one week and its near-unanimous votes on the final day formalize decisions made ahead of time by party leaders. It’s a show of unity reaffirming the polices and direction they have set.

Increasingly that leadership has centered on one person, Xi, who has consolidated power since taking the helm in 2012. Now 72, he is one of modern China’s most powerful leaders. Some analysts think Xi will emulate Mao Zedong, the revolutionary leader who founded communist China, and rule for life.

Annual reports presented at the congress are replete with references to the party’s crucial role, “with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core.”

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/51708185

Archived

China’s progress in building a modern economy, evident in its kung-fu fighting robots and self-parking cars, is hitting limits as a downturn in its housing industry drags on, small businesses suffer and young people struggle to find jobs.

The gap between Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s high-tech, artificial intelligence-driven ambitions and the hard realities of slowing growth is the backdrop for the annual meeting of the country’s largely ceremonial national legislature, the National People’s Congress, which begins Thursday.

During the meetings, which draw about 3,000 deputies to Beijing, top leaders will outline China’s annual target for growth and the congress will endorse a five-year blueprint of policy priorities until 2030.

“What we’ll see is the trade-off between whether it’s going to be industry and tech, or looking after domestic demand,” said Alexander Davey, an analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies. “These are the two priorities that are juggling for Xi Jinping right now.”

China’s economy is losing momentum

In a city in southern China’s Guangdong, families were cutting back on big purchases during last month’s Lunar New Year holidays. Even for auspicious houseplants like orchids, used as a symbol of abundance and prosperity, prices were slashed by as much as 40% from last year.

The penny pinching has small business owners complaining about hard times.

[...]

The relatively robust pace of growth was supported by strong manufacturing as exports surged, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes and other disruptions to trade.

[...]

“Hitting the 2025 growth target is hardly reassuring as the Chinese economy is losing growth momentum, with rising imbalances and enormous structural problems being papered over by a surge in export-driven growth,” Eswar Prasad, a professor of economics and trade policy at Cornell University, told The Associated Press in emailed comments.

[...]

A downturn in China’s housing market began several years ago and piecemeal efforts to revive the industry have made only fitful progress. Dozens of property developers defaulted on their debts as authorities cracked down on excessive borrowing. With overall home prices down 20% or more from 2021, a recovery remains elusive.

The meltdown in one of the country’s biggest industries eliminated hundreds of thousands of jobs and with 12.7 million graduates entering the job market this year, more than 16% of young Chinese are unemployed. Some just are giving up and opting out of the rat race, or “lying flat.”

Families whose main assets are their homes have grown cautious about spending, weakening consumer demand and confounding longstanding efforts to shift the economy to greater reliance on domestic investment.

[...]

China sticks to exports

Reliance on exports is what help keeps China’s economy buzzing, at least for now. China recorded a $1.2 trillion trade surplus in 2025, as exports kept its factories humming. Despite the China-U.S. trade war, it has been shipping more to regions including Europe and Latin America. But it’s facing pushback from its trading partners.

Under leader Xi, China has prioritized developing advanced technologies such as AI, robotics, computer chips, electric vehicles and renewable energy. Massive state support has companies churning out more EVs, TVs, solar panels and other products than China and its trading partners need.

“To achieve those goals, the government is going to have to continue to provide subsidies and preferential support for high-tech and strategic industries,” said Leah Fahy, a China economist at Capital Economics. “(That) will, in turn, continue to fuel overcapacity.”

[...]

Over the past few decades, China’s transformation into a manufacturing superpower was underpinned by booming construction of homes, office buildings, roads, ports and railways. But tech supply chains are narrower, providing fewer jobs. So the trickle down effect is much weaker, said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING Bank.

“If anything, the more successful the so-called future industries become, the more they will draw resources away from the traditional sectors that still provide the bulk of employment and livelihoods for most people,” said Henry Gao, a professor of law at Singapore Management University.

[...]

Xi is expected to consolidate more power

The annual congress is an impressive show. Thousands of delegates fill the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing. A military band performs and delegates from various ethnic groups attend in traditional clothing.

For all the pomp, the meeting is largely a set piece. The congress lasts only one week and its near-unanimous votes on the final day formalize decisions made ahead of time by party leaders. It’s a show of unity reaffirming the polices and direction they have set.

Increasingly that leadership has centered on one person, Xi, who has consolidated power since taking the helm in 2012. Now 72, he is one of modern China’s most powerful leaders. Some analysts think Xi will emulate Mao Zedong, the revolutionary leader who founded communist China, and rule for life.

Annual reports presented at the congress are replete with references to the party’s crucial role, “with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core.”

[...]

Archived

China’s progress in building a modern economy, evident in its kung-fu fighting robots and self-parking cars, is hitting limits as a downturn in its housing industry drags on, small businesses suffer and young people struggle to find jobs.

The gap between Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s high-tech, artificial intelligence-driven ambitions and the hard realities of slowing growth is the backdrop for the annual meeting of the country’s largely ceremonial national legislature, the National People’s Congress, which begins Thursday.

During the meetings, which draw about 3,000 deputies to Beijing, top leaders will outline China’s annual target for growth and the congress will endorse a five-year blueprint of policy priorities until 2030.

“What we’ll see is the trade-off between whether it’s going to be industry and tech, or looking after domestic demand,” said Alexander Davey, an analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies. “These are the two priorities that are juggling for Xi Jinping right now.”

China’s economy is losing momentum

In a city in southern China’s Guangdong, families were cutting back on big purchases during last month’s Lunar New Year holidays. Even for auspicious houseplants like orchids, used as a symbol of abundance and prosperity, prices were slashed by as much as 40% from last year.

The penny pinching has small business owners complaining about hard times.

[...]

The relatively robust pace of growth was supported by strong manufacturing as exports surged, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes and other disruptions to trade.

[...]

“Hitting the 2025 growth target is hardly reassuring as the Chinese economy is losing growth momentum, with rising imbalances and enormous structural problems being papered over by a surge in export-driven growth,” Eswar Prasad, a professor of economics and trade policy at Cornell University, told The Associated Press in emailed comments.

[...]

A downturn in China’s housing market began several years ago and piecemeal efforts to revive the industry have made only fitful progress. Dozens of property developers defaulted on their debts as authorities cracked down on excessive borrowing. With overall home prices down 20% or more from 2021, a recovery remains elusive.

The meltdown in one of the country’s biggest industries eliminated hundreds of thousands of jobs and with 12.7 million graduates entering the job market this year, more than 16% of young Chinese are unemployed. Some just are giving up and opting out of the rat race, or “lying flat.”

Families whose main assets are their homes have grown cautious about spending, weakening consumer demand and confounding longstanding efforts to shift the economy to greater reliance on domestic investment.

[...]

China sticks to exports

Reliance on exports is what help keeps China’s economy buzzing, at least for now. China recorded a $1.2 trillion trade surplus in 2025, as exports kept its factories humming. Despite the China-U.S. trade war, it has been shipping more to regions including Europe and Latin America. But it’s facing pushback from its trading partners.

Under leader Xi, China has prioritized developing advanced technologies such as AI, robotics, computer chips, electric vehicles and renewable energy. Massive state support has companies churning out more EVs, TVs, solar panels and other products than China and its trading partners need.

“To achieve those goals, the government is going to have to continue to provide subsidies and preferential support for high-tech and strategic industries,” said Leah Fahy, a China economist at Capital Economics. “(That) will, in turn, continue to fuel overcapacity.”

[...]

Over the past few decades, China’s transformation into a manufacturing superpower was underpinned by booming construction of homes, office buildings, roads, ports and railways. But tech supply chains are narrower, providing fewer jobs. So the trickle down effect is much weaker, said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING Bank.

“If anything, the more successful the so-called future industries become, the more they will draw resources away from the traditional sectors that still provide the bulk of employment and livelihoods for most people,” said Henry Gao, a professor of law at Singapore Management University.

[...]

Xi is expected to consolidate more power

The annual congress is an impressive show. Thousands of delegates fill the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing. A military band performs and delegates from various ethnic groups attend in traditional clothing.

For all the pomp, the meeting is largely a set piece. The congress lasts only one week and its near-unanimous votes on the final day formalize decisions made ahead of time by party leaders. It’s a show of unity reaffirming the polices and direction they have set.

Increasingly that leadership has centered on one person, Xi, who has consolidated power since taking the helm in 2012. Now 72, he is one of modern China’s most powerful leaders. Some analysts think Xi will emulate Mao Zedong, the revolutionary leader who founded communist China, and rule for life.

Annual reports presented at the congress are replete with references to the party’s crucial role, “with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core.”

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/51706982

Archived

Women are now among the thousands of migrants from Central Asia serving in Russia’s military, including on the front lines in Ukraine. The Uzbek human rights organization Ezgylik has received letters from the parents of young women from the region serving prison sentences in Russia who say that their daughters are being offered 2 million rubles ($26,000) for one year of military service in Ukraine.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has been sending women to Ukraine to fill a range of military roles for the past four years. Some were among the tens of thousands of women already serving in the Armed Forces when full-scale war began in February 2022, while a small number of women with medical training were called up in the partial mobilization that September.

[...]

So far Russia has not sought to draw attention to the participation of women in military roles in its war in Ukraine. This is in sharp contrast to the attitude shown by the Ukrainians, who quickly opened all military roles to women, including combat roles, and proudly point to the presence and contribution of women soldiers as a symbol of the country’s commitment to gender equality.

[...]

In Russia, though, the reality that there are women in the military serving side by side with men contradicts the image that President Vladimir Putin wants to present of Russia as a bastion of conservative values, where men and women perform traditional gender roles. In his ideal Russia, military service, especially in wartime, is the experience that creates real men.

The current, modest, increase in the numbers of women in uniform, including the women from Central Asia looking for a way to avoid lengthy prison sentences, is just one aspect of Russia’s efforts to ensure a steady flow of new soldiers for the war effort. The approach that Russia has taken to the war in Ukraine treats soldiers as disposable, low-value assets. It is widely believed that Russian casualties (deaths, missing soldiers and serious injuries) in Ukraine reached 1 million in the summer of 2025.

[...]

[The reality is that] Russia’s war is not being fought, by and large, by young Russian men motivated by patriotism. Instead, it is being fought by a mixture of foreigners, former prisoners and older Russian men who have so few viable alternatives in the civilian economy that they are willing to risk their lives for a reliable salary and a package of benefits that will ensure their families’ prosperity. Russia’s reliance on women serving in uniform is also increasing, although the numbers continue to be relatively small.

[...]

So far Russia continues to paper over the cracks in the façade that it presents of a state that promotes and cherishes traditional family values. But the sharp rhetorical distinction that Putin’s Russia makes between suitable wartime roles for men and women risks being undermined by the reality of women’s presence on the front lines, whether that presence is acknowledged and celebrated or kept hidden away.

Archived

Women are now among the thousands of migrants from Central Asia serving in Russia’s military, including on the front lines in Ukraine. The Uzbek human rights organization Ezgylik has received letters from the parents of young women from the region serving prison sentences in Russia who say that their daughters are being offered 2 million rubles ($26,000) for one year of military service in Ukraine.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has been sending women to Ukraine to fill a range of military roles for the past four years. Some were among the tens of thousands of women already serving in the Armed Forces when full-scale war began in February 2022, while a small number of women with medical training were called up in the partial mobilization that September.

[...]

So far Russia has not sought to draw attention to the participation of women in military roles in its war in Ukraine. This is in sharp contrast to the attitude shown by the Ukrainians, who quickly opened all military roles to women, including combat roles, and proudly point to the presence and contribution of women soldiers as a symbol of the country’s commitment to gender equality.

[...]

In Russia, though, the reality that there are women in the military serving side by side with men contradicts the image that President Vladimir Putin wants to present of Russia as a bastion of conservative values, where men and women perform traditional gender roles. In his ideal Russia, military service, especially in wartime, is the experience that creates real men.

The current, modest, increase in the numbers of women in uniform, including the women from Central Asia looking for a way to avoid lengthy prison sentences, is just one aspect of Russia’s efforts to ensure a steady flow of new soldiers for the war effort. The approach that Russia has taken to the war in Ukraine treats soldiers as disposable, low-value assets. It is widely believed that Russian casualties (deaths, missing soldiers and serious injuries) in Ukraine reached 1 million in the summer of 2025.

[...]

[The reality is that] Russia’s war is not being fought, by and large, by young Russian men motivated by patriotism. Instead, it is being fought by a mixture of foreigners, former prisoners and older Russian men who have so few viable alternatives in the civilian economy that they are willing to risk their lives for a reliable salary and a package of benefits that will ensure their families’ prosperity. Russia’s reliance on women serving in uniform is also increasing, although the numbers continue to be relatively small.

[...]

So far Russia continues to paper over the cracks in the façade that it presents of a state that promotes and cherishes traditional family values. But the sharp rhetorical distinction that Putin’s Russia makes between suitable wartime roles for men and women risks being undermined by the reality of women’s presence on the front lines, whether that presence is acknowledged and celebrated or kept hidden away.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/51706028

This is an op-ed by Martin Moore, senior lecturer in Political Communication Education and Director of the Centre for the Study of Media, Communication, and Power at King’s College London; and Thomas Colley, senior visiting research fellow in War Studies at King’s College London and senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

Archived

US President Donald Trump thrives on unpredictability. One day he will warn the world that the United States is about to impose punishing tariffs. The next he will send American troops to depose a foreign leader. The one after he will threaten to attack the territory of an ally [...] If his ambiguous threats and arbitrary punishments disorient, confuse, and cow other nations, so his logic goes, they will increase America’s power.

[...]

Yet the real beneficiary is China because Trump’s belligerent, volatile, chaotic approach fits perfectly with the narratives that the Chinese Communist Party has been nurturing for years. For over a decade, China has pursued a systematic and global campaign to “tell its story well.” The hero of its story is the CCP, portrayed as an enlightened ruler that has brought order and prosperity to China and more recently to the world. In diplomacy it professes no desire to interfere with state sovereignty (providing its own is respected) and only seeks “win-win outcomes” through partnership and trade. Across state news outlets, social media, and even state-approved children’s bedtime stories, China brings peace and prosperity; its international investments through the Belt and Road Initiative are the benevolent Xi Jinping’s “gift to the world.”

In the CCP-constructed version of reality, the United States is the global villain. Washington is a militaristic, destabilizing international actor that seeks not partnership but subjugation. Its political system is not democratic but plutocratic (ruled for the 1 percent, not the 99). When it does not get its way internationally, it imposes it by force—be it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, or more recently Venezuela.

[...]

The CCP’s propaganda wins extend to domestic US politics too, where every street protest, ICE killing, or government shutdown reinforces Beijing’s claims that its political system brings stability and growth while US-style democracy brings dysfunction and division. In Trump’s reality, that disorder is a means to an end—an authoritarian-populist doom loop in which he portrays “American carnage” so that he can position himself as the country’s only savior. But for Beijing, it is ammunition for an alternative reality that it has been promoting enthusiastically: that China is now the preeminent force for global order and the “democracy” the world should emulate.

[...]

To many this may read as Orwellian Doublespeak—dictatorship = democracy. By most indicators—freedom of expression, judicial independence, individual human rights, repression of minorities—China is a world-leading dictatorship, not a world-leading democracy. Yet the CCP claims that, unlike the US, China’s political system is genuinely responsive to people’s needs. The party says that it maintains a constant dialogue with the public and is always sensitive to public sentiment. So even if Chinese citizens cannot vote for their leaders (apart from local elections where they can select from a clutch of party-approved CCP candidates), democracy with “Chinese characteristics” is superior to US democracy because the CCP actually represents the Chinese people.

[...]

The result of this is unlikely to be that global citizens start believing that China is democratic. But that is not the CCP’s priority. What it wants more—and appears to be achieving—is to minimize international criticism of its political system and its actions. Across much of the Global South, and indeed in the West, it is becoming increasingly rare to read news about domestic repression in China, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, or popular protests across China’s vast hinterland. People are more likely to read about the latest Trump threat or his latest slur about their country than news critical of Beijing.

Yet Trump risks giving China an even greater victory. One of the CCP’s longstanding aims has been to marginalize Western ideas like individual human rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly in Chinese political discourse and international diplomacy. In showing open contempt for these values at home and abroad, Trump is giving China a bigger propaganda victory than the CCP’s often bland propaganda could ever have achieved by itself. In Trump’s reality he is making America great again. But in actual reality he is doing far more to make China great again.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/51706028

This is an op-ed by Martin Moore, senior lecturer in Political Communication Education and Director of the Centre for the Study of Media, Communication, and Power at King’s College London; and Thomas Colley, senior visiting research fellow in War Studies at King’s College London and senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

Archived

US President Donald Trump thrives on unpredictability. One day he will warn the world that the United States is about to impose punishing tariffs. The next he will send American troops to depose a foreign leader. The one after he will threaten to attack the territory of an ally [...] If his ambiguous threats and arbitrary punishments disorient, confuse, and cow other nations, so his logic goes, they will increase America’s power.

[...]

Yet the real beneficiary is China because Trump’s belligerent, volatile, chaotic approach fits perfectly with the narratives that the Chinese Communist Party has been nurturing for years. For over a decade, China has pursued a systematic and global campaign to “tell its story well.” The hero of its story is the CCP, portrayed as an enlightened ruler that has brought order and prosperity to China and more recently to the world. In diplomacy it professes no desire to interfere with state sovereignty (providing its own is respected) and only seeks “win-win outcomes” through partnership and trade. Across state news outlets, social media, and even state-approved children’s bedtime stories, China brings peace and prosperity; its international investments through the Belt and Road Initiative are the benevolent Xi Jinping’s “gift to the world.”

In the CCP-constructed version of reality, the United States is the global villain. Washington is a militaristic, destabilizing international actor that seeks not partnership but subjugation. Its political system is not democratic but plutocratic (ruled for the 1 percent, not the 99). When it does not get its way internationally, it imposes it by force—be it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, or more recently Venezuela.

[...]

The CCP’s propaganda wins extend to domestic US politics too, where every street protest, ICE killing, or government shutdown reinforces Beijing’s claims that its political system brings stability and growth while US-style democracy brings dysfunction and division. In Trump’s reality, that disorder is a means to an end—an authoritarian-populist doom loop in which he portrays “American carnage” so that he can position himself as the country’s only savior. But for Beijing, it is ammunition for an alternative reality that it has been promoting enthusiastically: that China is now the preeminent force for global order and the “democracy” the world should emulate.

[...]

To many this may read as Orwellian Doublespeak—dictatorship = democracy. By most indicators—freedom of expression, judicial independence, individual human rights, repression of minorities—China is a world-leading dictatorship, not a world-leading democracy. Yet the CCP claims that, unlike the US, China’s political system is genuinely responsive to people’s needs. The party says that it maintains a constant dialogue with the public and is always sensitive to public sentiment. So even if Chinese citizens cannot vote for their leaders (apart from local elections where they can select from a clutch of party-approved CCP candidates), democracy with “Chinese characteristics” is superior to US democracy because the CCP actually represents the Chinese people.

[...]

The result of this is unlikely to be that global citizens start believing that China is democratic. But that is not the CCP’s priority. What it wants more—and appears to be achieving—is to minimize international criticism of its political system and its actions. Across much of the Global South, and indeed in the West, it is becoming increasingly rare to read news about domestic repression in China, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, or popular protests across China’s vast hinterland. People are more likely to read about the latest Trump threat or his latest slur about their country than news critical of Beijing.

Yet Trump risks giving China an even greater victory. One of the CCP’s longstanding aims has been to marginalize Western ideas like individual human rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly in Chinese political discourse and international diplomacy. In showing open contempt for these values at home and abroad, Trump is giving China a bigger propaganda victory than the CCP’s often bland propaganda could ever have achieved by itself. In Trump’s reality he is making America great again. But in actual reality he is doing far more to make China great again.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/51706028

This is an op-ed by Martin Moore, senior lecturer in Political Communication Education and Director of the Centre for the Study of Media, Communication, and Power at King’s College London; and Thomas Colley, senior visiting research fellow in War Studies at King’s College London and senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

Archived

US President Donald Trump thrives on unpredictability. One day he will warn the world that the United States is about to impose punishing tariffs. The next he will send American troops to depose a foreign leader. The one after he will threaten to attack the territory of an ally [...] If his ambiguous threats and arbitrary punishments disorient, confuse, and cow other nations, so his logic goes, they will increase America’s power.

[...]

Yet the real beneficiary is China because Trump’s belligerent, volatile, chaotic approach fits perfectly with the narratives that the Chinese Communist Party has been nurturing for years. For over a decade, China has pursued a systematic and global campaign to “tell its story well.” The hero of its story is the CCP, portrayed as an enlightened ruler that has brought order and prosperity to China and more recently to the world. In diplomacy it professes no desire to interfere with state sovereignty (providing its own is respected) and only seeks “win-win outcomes” through partnership and trade. Across state news outlets, social media, and even state-approved children’s bedtime stories, China brings peace and prosperity; its international investments through the Belt and Road Initiative are the benevolent Xi Jinping’s “gift to the world.”

In the CCP-constructed version of reality, the United States is the global villain. Washington is a militaristic, destabilizing international actor that seeks not partnership but subjugation. Its political system is not democratic but plutocratic (ruled for the 1 percent, not the 99). When it does not get its way internationally, it imposes it by force—be it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, or more recently Venezuela.

[...]

The CCP’s propaganda wins extend to domestic US politics too, where every street protest, ICE killing, or government shutdown reinforces Beijing’s claims that its political system brings stability and growth while US-style democracy brings dysfunction and division. In Trump’s reality, that disorder is a means to an end—an authoritarian-populist doom loop in which he portrays “American carnage” so that he can position himself as the country’s only savior. But for Beijing, it is ammunition for an alternative reality that it has been promoting enthusiastically: that China is now the preeminent force for global order and the “democracy” the world should emulate.

[...]

To many this may read as Orwellian Doublespeak—dictatorship = democracy. By most indicators—freedom of expression, judicial independence, individual human rights, repression of minorities—China is a world-leading dictatorship, not a world-leading democracy. Yet the CCP claims that, unlike the US, China’s political system is genuinely responsive to people’s needs. The party says that it maintains a constant dialogue with the public and is always sensitive to public sentiment. So even if Chinese citizens cannot vote for their leaders (apart from local elections where they can select from a clutch of party-approved CCP candidates), democracy with “Chinese characteristics” is superior to US democracy because the CCP actually represents the Chinese people.

[...]

The result of this is unlikely to be that global citizens start believing that China is democratic. But that is not the CCP’s priority. What it wants more—and appears to be achieving—is to minimize international criticism of its political system and its actions. Across much of the Global South, and indeed in the West, it is becoming increasingly rare to read news about domestic repression in China, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, or popular protests across China’s vast hinterland. People are more likely to read about the latest Trump threat or his latest slur about their country than news critical of Beijing.

Yet Trump risks giving China an even greater victory. One of the CCP’s longstanding aims has been to marginalize Western ideas like individual human rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly in Chinese political discourse and international diplomacy. In showing open contempt for these values at home and abroad, Trump is giving China a bigger propaganda victory than the CCP’s often bland propaganda could ever have achieved by itself. In Trump’s reality he is making America great again. But in actual reality he is doing far more to make China great again.

[...]

This is an op-ed by Martin Moore, senior lecturer in Political Communication Education and Director of the Centre for the Study of Media, Communication, and Power at King’s College London; and Thomas Colley, senior visiting research fellow in War Studies at King’s College London and senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

Archived

US President Donald Trump thrives on unpredictability. One day he will warn the world that the United States is about to impose punishing tariffs. The next he will send American troops to depose a foreign leader. The one after he will threaten to attack the territory of an ally [...] If his ambiguous threats and arbitrary punishments disorient, confuse, and cow other nations, so his logic goes, they will increase America’s power.

[...]

Yet the real beneficiary is China because Trump’s belligerent, volatile, chaotic approach fits perfectly with the narratives that the Chinese Communist Party has been nurturing for years. For over a decade, China has pursued a systematic and global campaign to “tell its story well.” The hero of its story is the CCP, portrayed as an enlightened ruler that has brought order and prosperity to China and more recently to the world. In diplomacy it professes no desire to interfere with state sovereignty (providing its own is respected) and only seeks “win-win outcomes” through partnership and trade. Across state news outlets, social media, and even state-approved children’s bedtime stories, China brings peace and prosperity; its international investments through the Belt and Road Initiative are the benevolent Xi Jinping’s “gift to the world.”

In the CCP-constructed version of reality, the United States is the global villain. Washington is a militaristic, destabilizing international actor that seeks not partnership but subjugation. Its political system is not democratic but plutocratic (ruled for the 1 percent, not the 99). When it does not get its way internationally, it imposes it by force—be it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, or more recently Venezuela.

[...]

The CCP’s propaganda wins extend to domestic US politics too, where every street protest, ICE killing, or government shutdown reinforces Beijing’s claims that its political system brings stability and growth while US-style democracy brings dysfunction and division. In Trump’s reality, that disorder is a means to an end—an authoritarian-populist doom loop in which he portrays “American carnage” so that he can position himself as the country’s only savior. But for Beijing, it is ammunition for an alternative reality that it has been promoting enthusiastically: that China is now the preeminent force for global order and the “democracy” the world should emulate.

[...]

To many this may read as Orwellian Doublespeak—dictatorship = democracy. By most indicators—freedom of expression, judicial independence, individual human rights, repression of minorities—China is a world-leading dictatorship, not a world-leading democracy. Yet the CCP claims that, unlike the US, China’s political system is genuinely responsive to people’s needs. The party says that it maintains a constant dialogue with the public and is always sensitive to public sentiment. So even if Chinese citizens cannot vote for their leaders (apart from local elections where they can select from a clutch of party-approved CCP candidates), democracy with “Chinese characteristics” is superior to US democracy because the CCP actually represents the Chinese people.

[...]

The result of this is unlikely to be that global citizens start believing that China is democratic. But that is not the CCP’s priority. What it wants more—and appears to be achieving—is to minimize international criticism of its political system and its actions. Across much of the Global South, and indeed in the West, it is becoming increasingly rare to read news about domestic repression in China, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, or popular protests across China’s vast hinterland. People are more likely to read about the latest Trump threat or his latest slur about their country than news critical of Beijing.

Yet Trump risks giving China an even greater victory. One of the CCP’s longstanding aims has been to marginalize Western ideas like individual human rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly in Chinese political discourse and international diplomacy. In showing open contempt for these values at home and abroad, Trump is giving China a bigger propaganda victory than the CCP’s often bland propaganda could ever have achieved by itself. In Trump’s reality he is making America great again. But in actual reality he is doing far more to make China great again.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/51673073

Here is the original report.

Russia has planned or carried out at least 151 hostile operations in Europe since invading Ukraine in February 2022, according to a report by the Netherlands-based International Center for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) this week.

The figure includes only cases in which completed investigations or available evidence allow responsibility to be “confidently” attributed to Moscow, the report said. As a result, incidents are often identified and added to the tally with significant delay.

“As such, it is reasonable to assume that the actual number of incidents, particularly in the most recent period investigated, is likely higher,” the authors wrote.

German security agencies alone recorded 320 suspected sabotage attempts in 2025, including repeated sightings of unidentified drones near airports and military facilities, though conclusively identifying those responsible remains difficult, the report said.

Similar drone incursions have been reported across Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and the Baltic states.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/51673073

Here is the original report.

Russia has planned or carried out at least 151 hostile operations in Europe since invading Ukraine in February 2022, according to a report by the Netherlands-based International Center for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) this week.

The figure includes only cases in which completed investigations or available evidence allow responsibility to be “confidently” attributed to Moscow, the report said. As a result, incidents are often identified and added to the tally with significant delay.

“As such, it is reasonable to assume that the actual number of incidents, particularly in the most recent period investigated, is likely higher,” the authors wrote.

German security agencies alone recorded 320 suspected sabotage attempts in 2025, including repeated sightings of unidentified drones near airports and military facilities, though conclusively identifying those responsible remains difficult, the report said.

Similar drone incursions have been reported across Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and the Baltic states.

[...]