What's interesting is that Mr. Zhang's first doubts about what he was being asked to do occurred during the pandemic, when he was subjected to long quarantines in dismal conditions. That experience seems to have had this sort of effect on quite a few people in China. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/b...

He Helped China Repress Uyghurs. He Says He’s a Victim, Too. (Gift Article)

After nearly 10 years carrying out Chinese government repression in Xinjiang, a former police officer is now seeking asylum in Germany.

nytimes.com

A good report, and fodder for thought for those who claim that "AI anxiety" isn't as widespread in China. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Could AI take your job? Some workers in China already know the answer

Across the country, workers are fearful about the impact of AI on their livelihoods in an increasingly fragile labour market

theguardian.com

Incredible how many people's reaction to the news of the complex crisis going on in Ceuta is to claim this must be an Israeli plot against Spain. Antisemitism has really broken a lot of people's brains.

Apart from everything else I could say about this hogwash (no jaywalking in China?), the sight of a far-left politician going on about how cheap stuff is in China without the slightest self-awareness is really something to behold. Galloway truly represents the worst of the Western left.

I'm sure Elon Musk is a brilliant man in his way, but the moment he talks about anything political or social he becomes the worst kind of bigoted moron. He should stick to his field of expertise.

Mark Chadbourn@chadbourn.bsky.social · 2w ago

Musk was humiliated in his interview with The Economist editor Zanny Minton Beddoes. She called him out on his bullshit, pointed out his lies and ignorance and extreme prejudice. We need more interviews like that. This is the response of the world’s thinnest-skinned man.

I must say, I think the reaction to this "Italians in the BTS" incident has gone too far. Apart from the teenager who gave the woman his middle finger, none of them really did anything that could be considered injurious or a crime. www.facebook.com/KhaosodEngli...

But but I had been assured that China has perfect infrastructure. That they're already living in 2050.

Went to the last day of the Thailand-China Cooperation Expo in Bangkok today. Not a lot of people. A robot dog and a few dancing humanoid robots were the centrepieces. I also spotted politician Yodchanan Wongsawat, nephew of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was always close to China.

substack.com/@capitalinth...

Gabriel (@capitalinthenorth)

An American who’s lived in Hong Kong for decades left an insightful comment on my Facebook page after reading my substack post on my trip back to Beijing: “From the late nineties until 2019, I got u...

substack.com

Why do I imagine some of the American students lending themselves to this are among the ones who would scream "cultural appropriation" at anyone doing something similar in the US? x.com/ChineseEmbin...

I'm in Phetchaburi for the weekend. It's a really nice little provincial capital, the nicest one I've been to in Thailand so far. Quiet, non-touristy, and yet it has stuff to see and nice places to eat, and it's pleasant to walk around.

I recently went to China for three weeks. China is a country that changes particularly fast, and after just a few years away, things on the ground can feel quite different. It’s now been over three years since I last lived there. capitalinthenorth.substack.com/p/conversati...

Conversations in Beijing

Snapshots from a trip to China

capitalinthenorth.substack.com

www.straitstimes.com/asia/rights-...

Rights groups urge Thailand not to deport Chinese journalist to China

BEIJING, July 16 - Two human rights groups have urged Thailand not to deport a Chinese journalist who investigated corruption in China, warning he would risk political persecution and torture back hom...

straitstimes.com

Spoke with a Malaysian-Chinese woman yesterday. Someone intelligent and well-informed on China. She was still surprised when I told her that during my trip to Beijing there were no drones delivering my food, no driverless taxis, no humanoid robots... their propaganda has been really successful.

I watched the England match in a bar in Bangkok. There was a middle-aged English man sitting next to us. This guy reminded me of the sort of English people who I tried to avoid when I lived in England, and who I rarely meet in Asia, thank goodness. He basically spoiled the night for us.

This series of Thai cookery books needs a new name...

Some Americans are still very keen on letting the world know that they just don't get football. If it's all just a matter of luck, why do the same countries always win the world cup in the end? quillette.com/2026/07/08/w...

Why Soccer Feels Boring: The Science of Luck and Skill

How the beautiful game convinced the world that boredom is sophistication.

quillette.com

The Turkish government hosted a forum on decolonization, intended as an attack on the West. Among the speakers was Mireille Fanon Mendès, daughter of Frantz Fanon, who dared to say that Turkey should be self-critical about the Kurds. This wasn't appreciated. theamargi.com/posts/decolo...

Decolonization, but not in my backyard

On May 11, Istanbul’s newly renovated Atatürk Cultural Center hosted the first World Decolonization Forum. The event was organized by a coalition of Turkish institutions such as the NÛN Foundation for...

theamargi.com

A notorious apologists engages in more of the "come and see with your own eyes" rhetoric, this time about Xinjiang. Truth is, if you don't speak Chinese or a local Turkic language and don't know much about the situation, visiting as a tourist will not help you understand anything much.

I find this talking point particularly stupid. China's a superpower that affects us all, of course people will talk about it without having been there. Also, short visits to China are probably counterproductive in terms of actually understanding the place. x.com/WhatNowPodca...

What Now? with Trevor Noah (@WhatNowPodcast) on X

One of the biggest problems with how the world talks about China? A lot of the loudest voices have never actually been there. Alice Han breaks down why understanding China requires more than headline...

x.com

So in the end, out of 9 African teams in the round of 32, only 2 (Morocco and Egypt) have made it to the round of 16. Same as last world cup. In the end, Europe and South America continue to reign supreme in the world of football.

Somewhat unfortunate that this has become the main international talking point regarding China's Ethnic Unit Law. The real consequences are going to be for minorities in China. I wrote about it here: capitalinthenorth.substack.com/p/from-auton...

From "autonomy" to assimilation

How a profound shift in China's ethnic policy took shape

capitalinthenorth.substack.com

Reuters@reuters.com · last mo.

China says it has a right to target people overseas with new ethnic unity law reut.rs/4eD9mgr

The demand to only see the world through the lens of US power and the refusal to see PRC power and the PRC system is the Australian political left's version of the monoculture.

Mark Harrison@mhar4.bsky.social · last mo.

AUKUS has many issues but @davidshoebridge.bsky.social wants a national security policy that assumes that an authoritarian party-state under the control of one man will be a rational actor and believes that Australia can remain isolated from the effects of China going to war with Taiwan.

Bangkok is voting for its new governor today. As is customary, this has meant that the sale of alcohol has been banned in the whole city from 6 pm yesterday until 6 pm today. Here are a couple of the electoral posters in my neighbourhood.

This has become a typical way of thinking in China over the past 10 years. The rest of the world is a dangerous mess, full of crime, violence and terrorism, while only China is controlled and safe.

Gabriel Corsetti@gabrielcorsetti.bsky.social · last mo.

"A middle-aged woman who was staring at the building from the street said she was shocked by the incident. “This kind of thing wouldn’t happen in Beijing. This is Beijing… It’s pretty common abroad, but in China, it shouldn’t happen,” she told AFP." hongkongfp.com/2026/06/27/p...

"A middle-aged woman who was staring at the building from the street said she was shocked by the incident. “This kind of thing wouldn’t happen in Beijing. This is Beijing… It’s pretty common abroad, but in China, it shouldn’t happen,” she told AFP." hongkongfp.com/2026/06/27/p...

Plane appears to crash into Beijing's tallest building

A small plane appeared to have crashed into a building in Beijing on Friday, with witnesses reporting plane debris at the skyscraper's base.

hongkongfp.com

How can you possibly say the Chinese system is secretive and impenetrable when they are doing their best to spread a book by Xi Jinping whose entire point is to be spread as propaganda? The usual silly arguments from this paid propagandist.

“We’ve only had 114 years to do something, let our kids sort it out!”

This is deranged www.internazionale.it/ultime-notiz...

China says it has a right to target people overseas with new ethnic unity law

BEIJING, June 24 (Reuters) - China has a right to target people outside of its borders who contravene its new law on ethnic unity, a senior official said on Wednesday, ad… Leggi

internazionale.it

Funny how a world that obsesses over the conflict in the Middle East is so indifferent to this. A country of 50 million torn apart in the heart of peaceful Southeast Asia. A military government, with the support of a superpower, bombing civilians from the sky and cutting off aid. Over 100,000 dead.

Gabriel Corsetti@gabrielcorsetti.bsky.social · last mo.

Myanmar's junta, strongly supported by China, is sending soldiers on paragliders to throw explosives into rebel-held areas. The effects are devastating. Civilians and children are killed as they sleep. "Double tap" attacks take place. But does the world care? www.theguardian.com/global-devel...