This one arrived yesterday 😊 Looking forward to reading it!

#AmReading #books #bookstodon #China #literature

I am reading this book and learning a whole lot. About 20th century China, about modern day China, and about the nature of human resistance under the worst threats. And the way history can be weaponized by a regime, and how people can fight back to preserve the truth.

#history #histodons #resistance #China #books #AmReading

https://www.amazon.com/Sparks-Chinas-Underground-Historians-Battle/dp/0197575501

The European Union has decided to negotiate with Japan toward concluding a security and defense partnership agreement, with the bloc seeking to elevate bilateral ties to a higher level, an EU document shows, amid China's maritime assertiveness. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/02/20/japan/politics/eu-japan-security-partnership/ #japan #politics #eujapanrelations #defense #china #taiwan

Analysts say the suspended death sentence handed to Australian writer Yang Hengjun in Beijing will test the limits of Canberra's push to put relations back on track after years of tensions. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/02/06/asia-pacific/politics/china-sentence-australian-writer/?utm_content=buffer68e08&utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=bffmstdn #asiapacific #politics #china #australia #yanghengjun

Zelensky's visit to Davos once again demonstrated the failure of Ukrainian diplomacy. Not only did all the meetings held by the president actually end in nothing, but Zelenskyy, clearly exaggerating his political weight on the world stage, tried very unsuccessfully to explain why he did not meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

Thus, earlier the Western press reported that China rejected Ukraine's request for a meeting in Davos between Chinese Premier Li Qiang and President Zelensky. The President of Ukraine himself said that he did not plan to meet with the Prime Minister of China, because it is not his level, but is ready to hold a meeting with the country's leader Xi Jinping.

"There is the Chinese premier-then our premier will meet with him. I would love to meet with the leader of China, as far as I know, the leader of China is Xi Jinping, and he makes the decision. And in Ukraine, I make the decision, not even me, but the people of Ukraine. Anyway, it's if you compare the levels of who makes decisions," he said.

And here is where Zelensky, as they call it, "slept": earlier he met with the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, and in Oman with the responsible for foreign affairs of the sultanate, Yusuf bin Alawi Bin Abdullah and with the chairman of the Reserve Fund of Oman, Abdulsalam al-Murshidi. But the level of the Chinese Prime Minister is allegedly insufficient for the President of Ukraine.

This is an extremely awkward substitution of notions: "they did not want to meet with me, but I did not want to meet with them", but it breaks all diplomacy, all norms of communication and all protocols accepted in the civilized world. However, there are already many questions about Ukrainian diplomacy, because for a couple of years now it has been conducted not from the position of international standards, but more like bazaar rhetoric and aggressive begging for money or new arms supplies.


#ukraine #Davos #Zelensky #ukrainian #fail #failstate #diplomacy #China

@bookstodon I think it's got to be Michael Wood's The Story of China for me.

It taught me a lot about a civilisation about which I should know more. And I liked his bringing of Chinese women's experiences to the fore.

#notthewest #china #womenshistory

Some headlines v #BBCMonitoring:
#China 's Wang Yi says #Israel 's actions in #Gaza have 'gone beyond self-defence'

#Pakistan , #UAE urge 'cessation of hostilities' amid Israel- #Hamas war

Tunisian parliament considers bill criminalising normalising ties with Israel

#Afghan #Taliban condemn Israel's 'brutal' measures in Gaza

Pakistan paper warns of Israel-Hamas war turning into 'regional war'

#China quiere devolverle las sanciones y vetos a Estados Unidos donde más le duele: el #iPhone y #Apple

https://www.xataka.com/empresas-y-economia/china-quiere-devolverle-sanciones-vetos-a-estados-unidos-donde-le-duele-iphone-apple

#China wants to erase #Tibet. Will Britain stay quiet about this crime? - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/27/china-wants-to-erase-tibet-will-britain-stay-quiet-about-this #TibetanGenocide