How the World Trade Organization lost control of its two most important members — and became irrelevant in the process.
On November 30, 2020, in a small classroom in Geneva, Switzerland, one of the world’s most powerful courts withered into nothing.
That day, Dr. Hong Zhao, the last remaining member of the World Trade Organization’s Appellate Body, stepped down. For 25 years, the seven-person committee had provided the final say in trade disputes between the WTO’s member countries, acting in many ways as the referee of globalization. As of 2022, 98 percent of the $25 trillion global trade market to
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Bob Fu's relationship with China has gone through phases. First, he thought money would solve his problems there; then he joined protesters at Tiananmen Square, thinking the politics could change. In the end, he determined, only God could save China, and he's been fighting for religious freedom in China ever since he resettled in Texas. With his nonprofit, ChinaAid, prospering like never before, he says the U.S. is finally catching on.
A podcast about how the two nations, once friends, are now foes.
Hear why things are so complicated now. Host Jane Perlez, former New York Times Beijing bureau chief, talks with diplomats, spies, cultural superstars like Yo Yo Ma, and more to understand why the dangers are so high, and why relations went awry.