Your Monday briefing: Shining in Beijing
Blinken arrives in China
Antony Blinken arrived in China yesterday — the first visit by a US Secretary of State to China since 2018 — in hopes of slowing the downward spiral of relations between Beijing and Washington.
Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang for five and a half hours, an hour longer than scheduled. The two men and their assistants then went for a walk together and a working dinner for two hours.
The official Chinese summary of the meeting was bleak. Qin claimed that US-China relations were at their lowest point since the start of normal diplomatic relations in 2019. He also pointed out that the Taiwan issue was the biggest risk to China-US relations.
According to the US summary, Blinken said the US would champion the interests and values of the American people “and work with its allies and partners to advance our vision for a world that is free, open and upholds international rules. based sequence.”
What the US wants: Officials have stressed that restoring high-level diplomacy is their priority. Security issues are likely to weigh heavily, and Blinken plans to talk to Chinese officials about global issues, including climate change and global economic stability.
Chinese approach: China is expected to bring forth a litany of grievances during the two-day visit, reflecting Beijing’s view that the US is a declining hegemony determined to stay in power by containing China.
GOP response: Leading congressional Republicans denounced Blinken Friday for traveling to China. They accused him of undermining national security by trying to normalize diplomatic relations with Beijing while pushing for a tougher approach.
There are indications that Russia blew up the Ukrainian dam
The Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine is designed to withstand almost any outside attack imaginable. Evidence reviewed by The New York Times clearly suggests that Russia blew it up from the inside.
The dam, which is controlled by Russia, was built during Soviet times, which meant Moscow had the engineering drawings of the structure and knew about its Achilles’ heel: a small passage under the dam that was accessible from the engine room. This passageway, the evidence suggests, is where an explosive charge detonated and destroyed the dam.
Details: Seismic sensors in Ukraine and Romania detected the telltale signs of major explosions on the day of the collapse, and US intelligence satellites picked up infrared heat signals that also pointed to an explosion. In addition, as the water level dropped, the collapsed portion was no longer visible above the waterline — strong evidence that the foundation had suffered structural damage, engineers said.
nuclear: The UN’s top nuclear official recently visited the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and said it still had water for “several months” to cool the reactors and spent fuel rods, and that authorities there had begun taking steps to replenish supplies.
Other updates from the war:
Bangladesh coal-less coal power plant
Bangladesh has spent $2 billion to build the Maitree Power Plant, one of the world’s newest coal-fired power plants. It was commissioned in December, but stood still for weeks. The reason: no coal to burn.
Maitree is experiencing these temporary closures due to a shortage of currency to import coal from Indonesia. The problems facing the power plant are a glimpse of the risks other new coal plants around the world may face in the coming years as renewable energy sources such as wind and solar become cheaper.
Coal in Asia: China continues to build new coal plants, but other countries are closing old plants or canceling new planned projects. For example, Bangladesh recently canceled plans to build 12 coal-fired power stations. India said it would suspend new coal-fired power plant projects for the next five years.
What’s special about the food in your hometown?
I love to talk about the food of New York City, where I was born and raised. But it’s not just bagels and pizza. Instead, when friends visit me, I let them try the flavors of Mine the city of New York.
I thought of the taste of home as I read about some of New York City’s most distinctive restaurants. My colleagues’ recommendations left me wondering: What would you all feed a visitor to give them a taste of your hometown? Why is this food especially for you?
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THE LAST NEWS
Asia Pacific
Around the world
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ART AND IDEAS
Egypt is collaborating with a Dutch Museum
A new exhibition in the Netherlands explores how black musicians – Beyoncé, Tina Turner, Nas and others – draw inspiration and pride from the idea that ancient Egypt was an African culture. The exhibition is intended as a helpful correction to centuries of cultural erasure of Africans.
But what may sound powerful in the US and thought-provoking in the Netherlands is anathema to the Egyptian government and many of its people, who have flooded the museum’s Facebook and Google pages with complaints – sometimes racist – about what they seen as Western appropriation. of their history.
Many Egyptians do not see themselves as African at all and identify much more closely with the predominantly Arab and Muslim nations of the Middle East and North Africa. Many look down on dark-skinned Egyptians and sub-Saharan Africans. Some feel that their culture and history are being erased in the Western quest to correct historical racism.