In today’s China Daily:

“Members of the People’s Liberation Army Navy perform in front of a domestically built guided-missile destroyer… in Shanghai during the PLA Navy’s 75th founding anniversary celebrations.”

What did they sing?

The Taiwan Strait looks so tiny on a map — but it seems enormous on the 8 hour long ferry from Matsu (near China’s Fujian province) to Keelung (on Taiwan’s main island). This about half way.

1/A year ago, Chinese scientists published data from samples collected at a Wuhan market at the heart of the COVID outbreak - startling many, given it happened years ago. Then the data got retracted.

Maria Cheng and I tried to find out why. Our findings:
apnews.com/article/china-…

I love this teleprompter story in Michael Smith’s sign off piece.

He’s been a star on the round — first in Shanghai, finally in Tokyo, with a stint in diplomatic protection in-between. Go well! afr.com/world/asia/jap…

Commander-in-chief Xi Jinping, and a big flag, on the front of today’s China Daily with some PLA news:

“The announcement also marked the first time China has confirmed the existence of the Space Force and the Cyberspace Force…”

Modeled on Japan's Shinkansen and covered in Kanahei’s small animals, the Japanese influence is strong on Taiwan’s high speed rail.

This one a bit cutesy for my tastes, but I suspect I’m in the minority on that.

Australia’s chief of navy, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, will in coming days head to Qingdao for a conference hosted by China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy.

He’ll travel in the wake of Beijing’s latest outburst at Canberra: “Stop buzzing about China” theaustralian.com.au/world/beijing-…

A robot just served me lunch in Tainan.

I knew about robots in hotel foyers — but when did they come to noodle restaurants? I would never say it to its robot-face, but it was kind of creepy.

Great opportunity here for a 🇦🇺$40,000 fellowship for up-and-coming Australia-China relations scholars.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz reassured Chinese students in Shanghai that they did not have to smoke cannabis if they studied in Germany and that Germany had legalized cannabis hoping that consumption would go down reut.rs/3xM01kw

There are those in #Washington who are currently proposing an escalation of the cold war with #China , to seek an ultimate “victory”. Here’s an article making this argument. It’s being criticised but it’s important to see that these arguments exist. foreignaffairs.com/united-states/…

This weekend’s Financial Times Life & Arts front page is an essay from me on how my family came to the UK, my forthcoming book (link in bio!), and the untold human stories of China’s economic boom - plus some 90s baby pics for good measure 📸 on.ft.com/3U00uHo

“To understand China’s future, we need to understand what it feels like to be living through its present.”

Great closing comment by Yuan Yang and helpful corrective to the notion that all that needs to be known about China can be gleaned from reading speeches and statements.

China puts a lot of work into covering up repression in Xinjiang, wheeling out party-approved imams and diplomats from Iran, Russia and other allies to declare that Islam is flourishing. Here’s some on the ground reporting from Xinjiang this week 1/ economist.com/china/2024/04/…

Amazing end to this GT video interview where former President Duterte says “we will always be friends” even if China “hits” the Philippines:

“It’s because the Americans are here.”

Here’s New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on China, relations with Canberra and more in today’s The Australian:

“Our view is that AUKUS is very good for our region,” says the Kiwi PM theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/shaki…

Not many places the president of Suriname — and leaders of other small, developing states — get this reception:

“Xi rolled out the red carpet for Santokhi… at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, in a pomp-filled ceremony that included a guard of honor and a 21-gun salute”

The deepening of 🇨🇳🇷🇺 alignment is one of the most consequential geopolitical outcomes of Russia's war against Ukraine. How so, and why is this important? I wrote about it in a new essay for Foreign Affairs. Some key takeaways in a🧵1/20 foreignaffairs.com/china/putin-an…

Beijing to Canberra and Back (25 Mar. to 7 Apr.):
1️⃣ 🇨🇳 removes 🍷 duties + trade restrictions on 🦞 & 🥩 to go
2️⃣ 🇦🇺 likely to maintain cautious 🇨🇳 policy in 2024
3️⃣ What would 🇦🇺’s 🇨🇳 policy look like if the Coalition wins the next federal election?
beijing2canberra.substack.com/p/trade-relati…

As tensions in the South China Sea heated up, I headed out to Thitu Island, in the Spratlys, on one of the most interesting reporting trips I've ever done.

I had one question: what is it like to live on a tiny, contested island?
npr.org/2024/04/11/124…