Perhaps the most famous border in the world is the one along the Rio Grande that separates Mexico from the United States. It is almost certainly the most popular. U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered over 200,000 migrants attempting to enter the country last November alone. About two-thirds were apprehended and
Continue readingTag: Xi Jinping
Views from the Beltline: Xi puts women in their place
When President Xi Jinping introduced his Politburo Standing Committee at the 20th Communist party congress in Beijing, one thing stood out. Of the seven, none were women. Furthermore, of the 24-member Politburo itself, for the first time in 25 years none were women. The Standing Committee is the small group
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: How fares the emperor?
Xi Jinping has it all: general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, chairman of the Central Military Commission, commander-in-chief of the People’s Liberation Army, and the Politburo Standing Committee filled with his own hand-picked loyalists. He is, in all but title, the emperor of China. For a dictator, this is
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Nancy P’s Asian adventure
On first hearing about U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s planned visit to Taiwan it struck me as a rather, shall we say, stupid idea. It would infuriate the Chinese, who claim the island as part of China, and the Americans hardly need a fight with another nuclear power
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The international macho fraternity
Macho men have throughout history dominated societies—kings, warlords, military leaders and assorted demagogues. Despite the advance of democracy in the past few centuries, modern societies still have their share. Three good examples today, presidents all, are Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil. These
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Big climate promises at the UN … but
The United States and China, rivals on the world stage and also the two biggest economies and the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases made some big climate promises at the UN this week. Chinese president Xi Jinping promised China will stop building coal-fired power plants abroad, a big deal
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The China dilemma—global warming or human rights?
If anything scares China’s formidable president, Xi Jinping, it’s probably democracy. The idea of the Chinese people choosing their own president must be nightmarish to the new emperor. His current suppression of democracy in Hong Kong is testament to his intolerance of any such notions among the masses. Indeed, he
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: China has a soft power shortage
Now would seem to be the moment for China’s star to shine. It has gained control of the coronavirus pandemic rapidly and effectively, and it is the only member of the G20 whose economy is expected to grow this year. At the same time, its major rival on the world
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Democracy embarrassed
As a committed democrat, I would dearly love to be able to convince doubters of democracy’s superiority by pointing to its leaders. And in the past that has often been easy. Today, not so much. This came home to me the other day as I followed the speeches at the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: We still need the U.S.
Reading The Guardian last week, two articles captured my attention. Set side by side were “A ‘tyrant-clown’ has destroyed my love affair with America” by Robert McCrum and “‘Chairman Xi’ seeks only to purge and subjugate. That is his weakness” by Simon Tisdall. In the first, McCrum talks about his
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The likely future history of the Keystone XL Pipeline: Yes, Alberta! The answer is still No!
Who can forget Nov. 6, 2015, the day that will live in infamy? Just about everybody, as it turned out. Jason Kenney and Stephen Harper (Photo: Facebook). That was the day that U.S. President Barack Obama decided to pull the plug on the Keystone XL Pipeline, declaring that it was
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: What Jinping, Putin, Trump have in common.
Why are we surprised if American president Trump wants to be named president for life? The man hardly wants less than his counterparts, Xi Jinping, president for life of China, Vladimir Putin, president for life of Russia. They are men of enormous egos. They live in make-believe worlds, where all
Continue readingFrom Emperors to Emperors and Tsars to Tsars—Plus ça change
The French proverb plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same) most aptly describes what has been happening at the pinnacle of government in China and Russia. Two years ago, the Chinese Communist Party, completely dominated by its 64-year-old president
Continue readingThe EU Declares War
I apologize for the alarmist headline. The European Union hasn’t actually declared war, more a case of having recognized a war, a shadow war. Vera Jourova, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, claims Russia and China are engaging in a “digital war” with fake news and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Another week in the Annals of Diplomacy: in stormy times, half a loaf is better than none
From the sublime to the ridiculous, it would appear, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government will do anything to keep Donald Trump sweet. Consider the dissimilar cases of Meng Wanzhou and Stephanie Clifford. The first we won’t allow to leave Canada, the second we won’t allow to visit. Both, obviously, because
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Donald Trump and the Coming War With China
I'm sure we all remember the horrified look on Angela Merkel's face, when she came face to face with the madness of Donald Trump, two weeks ago.Or the rude way he refused to shake her hand.And that's before we found out that Trump reportedly handed Merkel a fake bill for more than
Continue readingThings Are Good: China Cancelling Debt of Developing World
China has announced that it will provide debt relief to the developing world. President Xi Jinping made the announcement at the UN and anticipates the fund to help the developing world will eventually reach $15 billion. presently the fund is set at $2 billion and will have a positive effect
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