Ukrainian firefighters extinguish a blaze at a warehouse after a bombing in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 17, 2022. Credit: Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo
It's worth keeping track of China's media these days to get the full measure of the moral and factual gulf that separates China from most of the rest of the world over the war in Ukraine. A few days ago, for example, when Russia was intensifying its attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, the Global Times, the Communist Party's English-language mouthpiece, had this to say on the way the war is being waged by the Russians:
“They are a little hesitant between realizing military goals and preventing civilian casualties. They are very cautious about using heavy weapons as they don't want to offer excuses for the West to accuse them of bombing civilian areas.”
That Vladimir Putin is “hesitant” to use heavy weapons, and is exercising humanitarian restraint to avoid civilian casualties, will no doubt be news to Ukrainians whose homes, schools and hospitals have been bombed, even as Russia has blocked evacuation routes for civilians trying to escape these bombardments.
Welcome
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
When China announced it was ending quarantine requirements for incoming travelers, Chinese people collectively picked up their phones to search popular travel apps like Ctrip and Qunar. Owned by travel giant Trip.com, these apps helped Chinese travelers explore the world pre-pandemic and facilitated the human-to-human interactions that drove China's rise. But many of today's travelers seem to be sticking closer to home, and their hesitation to get back to the jetsetting habits of the past 20 years has far-reaching implications — especially for Trip.com.
The professor talks about China's real estate bubble; if China can develop a modern financial system without rule of law; and why it's not China that is reshaping the global order, but the world's response...