Has “Zero COVID” Abolished China’s Social Contract?
President Xi Jinping’s “Zero COVID” policy rewrote the underlying bargain that people in China would find stability and comfort in exchange for limits on political freedoms.
Limitations still abound, with little stability. According to one estimate, some 530 million people – about 40 percent of the population – were under some form of lockdown at the end of November. People have gone hungry, or died because of delayed medical care, and veterans have faced work interruptions or layoffs.
The result has been growing disillusionment and the most widespread protests China has seen since the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989.
Quotable: “It used to be, for most people you didn’t really feel the situation very much in your daily life,” said one law professor. “Now, of course, the state is everywhere.”
Outlook: If China can limit the impact of future outbreaks as it loosens restrictions, a sense of shared grievance could erupt – but Xi’s determination to control may persist with his expanding security apparatus Is.
End of Iran’s morality police
Iran has abolished the morality police after months of protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman being held by the force for allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress laws.
The decision, which was announced by Iran’s attorney general in comments carried on state media, appeared to be a significant victory for the protest movement that has consumed Iran since Amini’s death in September.
The movement is one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s authoritarian clerical system in decades. Security forces have responded with a crackdown that has left hundreds dead and nearly 14,000 arrested, according to rights groups.
Understand the protests in China
The absence of any official statement from the government on disbanding the force left some questions as to where the policy actually stood. But as of late Sunday, officials had not even issued a rebuttal to state media outlets.
Context: The primary role of the morality police was to ensure that women covered their bodies with long, loose clothing and their hair with head scarves or hijabs. Enforcement has always been uneven and arbitrary.
The result: The attorney general said Thursday that officials were reviewing the head scarf rules and would issue a decision within 15 days, but protesters are now pursuing more than dress law reforms.
Russia vows to defy oil price cap
After the Group of 7 nations agreed on Friday to impose a price cap on Russian oil, Moscow insisted it would not sell oil that is subject to the cap, adding to the question of whether the plan would affect Russia in Ukraine. would succeed in slowing down the U.S. war effort.
The Group of 7 expressed hope that capping the price of Russian crude oil at $60 a barrel would ease the Kremlin’s finances while still leaving enough Russian oil on the market to avoid global price shocks. The $60-per-barrel figure was a settlement closer to what major buyers of Russian oil are currently paying.
Russia threatened to only work with countries that meet the market price of its oil, even if it meant halting production. Even before Russia’s announcement, whether or not the plan could be implemented remained unclear, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed concern that the price cap was insufficient to deter Russian aggression.
In other war news, a Ukrainian resident of occupied Kherson returned a lost, dazed pilot to the Russians. Ukraine accused him of treason.
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Asia Pacific
Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, is “one of the most thoroughly instrumented volcanoes in the United States,” according to one volcanologist.
Its eruption, for the first time in decades, offers a fascinating opportunity to understand the inner workings of a giant mountain’s exhalation.
lived a life
Noodle the pug became a TikTok star, and a mood ring of sorts, through the simple act of getting up or falling off his dog bed.
Higher education
Trying to Look “Less Asian” for College
Major in Chess? Talented at piano? Proficient in Chinese?
Many Asian American applicants have sometimes suggested activities at top colleges may be viewed as “Asian” by college admissions counselors. Asian Americans are an extremely diverse group, but many Asian American students in high-stakes college admissions are acutely aware of what should not happen, and the rumor that students may appear “too Asian” is a kind of Have become rigid in the knowledge gained.
And a lawsuit has confirmed what many Asian American teens have quietly wondered. In October, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit that accused Harvard University of systematically discriminating against Asian American applicants. Plaintiffs said that, compared to other racial groups, applicants of Asian descent consistently received lower “personality ratings” – a subjective score for traits such as confidence, likability and kindness.
Harvard University and proponents of affirmative action have argued that there is no such thing as a penalty for Asians, that race is one factor among the many factors used to evaluate applicants, and that the number of Asian American applicants admitted has increased over the decades. There has been a steady increase.
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