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
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Northern Currents –: Don’t just blame the anti-vaxxers, blame our political elites too
Justin Trudeau has chosen to place all of the blame on the unvaccinated for the current spike in cases and hospitalizations. The problem is, this is only a half-truth. It is political scapegoating. The other half of the problem is Trudeau himself – and the rest of Canada’s political elites
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The coronavirus pandemic: Not good news for anyone, but probably worse news for the West than China
The novel coronavirus hit China first. Today was the first day China reported no new local infections since the global pandemic officially began in Hubei province in the fall of 2019. No new local infections means that while there were 34 cases reported in China in the previous 24 hours,
Continue readingTaiwanese Choose Freedom and Democracy
Last Saturday the Taiwanese re-elected President Tsai Ing-Wen. Tsai won more votes than any presidential candidate since Taiwan began holding direct elections for president in 1996. Her party also maintained a majority in the legislature. The landslide was not only a strong voice of support for the incumbent, but an
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: He’s Wrong. He Has to Be Wrong. Tell Me He’s Got It Wrong.
The interval since the US election on November 8th has brought us multiple examples of the buffoonery of America’s president-elect. From the angry tweets about SNL to how he may or may not structure his business affairs to his phone call to the Taiwanese president that has China in an
Continue readingThings Are Good: Taiwan is About to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage
Taiwan might be the first Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage. The country is working on legislation that will permit people who love each other and are of the same sex to marry, which is a great thing to see! Let’s hope that other places in the region follow suit
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Democracy Blooming at the Margins: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine and Taiwan
From OpenDemocracy.net, yesterday. Jasmin Mujanović 14 April 2014 The terrifying spectre in these countries is not of ravenous foreign capital, though there is plenty of experience with this too, but of the persistent suffering of being an oft bloodied geopolitical borderland. Blockade and occupation of Taiwan’s legislature enters day seven.
Continue readingWorld Headlines Review: China: Fear of its Rise is Fear of Ourselves
A recent Economist article, The dangers of a rising China, leads a 14 page report loosely discussing the dangers posed to the world by China’s eclipsing of the USA’s international economic and military order. The article attempts to draw parallels in the power-balance shift between Britain and Germany which led
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