PREFACE
I always assumed that history moved in a linear fashion, ever reaching toward an almost predestined horizon. But sometimes history can surprise us and double back on itself, as if pulled by some powerful, old field of gravity from which it cannot break free.
Indeed, as the Winter Olympics in Beijing drew near, I had just such a sense watching the International Olympic Committee (IOC) pull out of discussions it had been having with the Coalition to End Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region. The rights group had been pressing the IOC to assure the world that official Games merchandise was not being made with prison labor, especially from Xinjiang province where Uyghur Muslims are now being held in new versions of China’s old style “reform through labor (劳动改造)” laogai prison camps.
China’s new Xinjiang detention camps have been well-documented by investigative research and satellite imagery. For instance, scholars from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute
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Why is one of Taiwan's largest media groups — Want Want China Times Media Group — spreading anti-U.S. rhetoric? Largely because its billionaire owner, Tsai Eng-meng, is known to sympathize with the Chinese Communist Party and favors unification with the mainland. Now, with Taiwan gearing up for a critical presidential election, Want Want’s efforts are picking up and helping to normalize CCP talking points.
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The author and academic talks about how trade has actually changed over the last 40 years; why China's rise is linked to Asia's regionalization; and why international supply chains are efficient and resilient.