China
Kylian Mbappé and Mao-Maoing the Flak Catchers
It’s been a bad couple of days for Kylian Mbappé, the French soccer superstar and Real Madrid forward who was, until yesterday, still being…
An examination of current trade policies leaves us a bit short-changed
No one disputes that globalisation has created dependencies; but Ed Conway could have dug deeper into the tensions between free trade and mercantilism
Terrorism nearly always fails – so where does that leave the ‘freedom fighter’?
If his aim is in practice unachievable, this must surely torpedo any attempted justification for murder
China is trying to corner the global economy
The way US prosecutors tell it, Huawei is a bunch of racketeers whose crimes range from stealing technology to evading sanctions against Iran.…
Don’t blame climate change for the Himalayan flash flood
The tragic and terrifying Himalayan flash flood was caused by a chunk of mountain collapsing into a narrow gorge, sending…
‘We pretend to teach, they pretend to learn’: the reality of lecturing Chinese students
Shanghaiing, the practice of drugging and kidnapping men on the US West Coast for service on ships bound for China,…
Can General Bessent win the war?
At a much-anticipated press conference Monday, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent minced no words. The United States, he said, is…
There’s still time to save the West
When The Spectator asked me whether I would write an essay on ‘Why we need to strengthen the West’, I was delighted…
Politicians’ contempt for the press is contempt for the public
I was hacked by the Chinese a few years ago. Security at News UK, where I was employed on the…
Why does anyone take Ai Weiwei seriously?
When Ai Weiwei (b.1957) arrived in Europe in 2015, fresh from state-imposed house arrest, he was greeted as a hero.…
Who funds the DSA?
On July 18, Hasan Piker – a Twitch streamer who has made millions denouncing capitalism – addressed the national convention…
The West has become its own worst enemy
America’s post-Cold War decision to share its technological innovations with the rest of the world has spectacularly backfired, says Steve Feldstein
China has Russia over a barrel
Vladimir Putin just can’t keep away. Having visited Beijing in May on the heels of Donald Trump, it has been announced that…
Why Elbridge Colby’s NATO warning shots will backfire
It is hardly news that US relations with the rest of NATO (“rNATO” hereafter) are at an unprecedentedly low ebb.…
The real Chinese election plot
China’s political interference is in many ways worse than President Trump asserts, but the true nature and scale of Beijing’s…
Trump looks like a spent force
Pete Hegseth has announced that the US military will test soldiers over 30-years old for low testosterone. But judging by…
Britain will need China to survive the AI revolution
Professional players of Texas hold ’em, the most popular variant of poker, go to great lengths to play a balanced,…
The joy of willow-pattern ceramics
My granny used Spode willow-pattern crockery for everyday use. There was another grander service for Sunday lunch, also blue-and-white chinoiserie:…
A grandmother’s twisted mind: The Passage of Roses, by Tie Ning, reviewed
An ambitious, controlling matriarch will do anything to curry favour during the Cultural Revolution – even to the extent of deliberately harming her vulnerable young granddaughter
The real ‘Thucydides Trap’ Beijing and Washington must avoid
These are good times to be a scholar of the classical world. Last summer, Donald Trump issued an order that…
The humiliating truth about the way we think
We overrate our capacity for rational deliberation, says Turi Munthe, when weather, soil, climate and geography are what really determine of our opinions and beliefs
The rise of the Orienfluencers
The term “Orientalism” has always implied some kind of caricature of the eastern world. It was originally coined as a…
The global ramifications of China’s economic crisis
Whilst Britain’s Labour government continues its war on the price mechanism, Communist China wrestles with the ill effects of an…
Portrait of the week: Streeting resigns, HS2 stalls and ebola spreads to Uganda
Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, found his position challenged after Wes Streeting resigned as Health Secretary. At the…
No, I’m not a CIA spy in Greenland
The Danish media has accused me of being a US spy. They say I’m involved in a covert influence operation…
