WKCR, Columbia U’s station, reports such a surge in listeners tuning in on line to their terrific live coverage that they had to go off air for a sec to switch to lower sound quality to accomodate the demand on the stream. If you can switch to FM signal, they recommend it: 89.9

The Chinese state says it protects freedom of religion and that Uyghurs and others still celebrate Ramadan in Xinjiang. But that wasn’t what David Rennie 任大伟 saw when he visited. Listen to our “Drum Tower” podcast econ.st/44gfS7k 🎧

Must-listen for #CentralAsia watchers: on-the-ground reporting on the state of Islam in #Xinjiang #China from The Economist Drum Tower podcast w David Rennie 任大伟 Alice Su 蘇奕安 - echoes of Karimov's #Uzbekistan until recently + Rahmon's #Tajikistan now (subscribers)
economist.com/podcasts/2024/…

“Since Kim Jong Un’s life experiences are a trifle unusual—he was raised to be a god-king and can have anyone who annoys him put to death—this does not always yield content to which normal people can relate.” economist.com/culture/2024/0…

Who is responsible for rising settler violence in the West Bank? New @HRW research. A 🧵: hrw.org/news/2024/04/1…

Palestinian paramedics said Israel gave them safe passage to save a 6-year-old girl in Gaza. They were all killed.

No paywall here, so read every word of this sweeping and convincing investigation wapo.st/4aCoCqA

We visited the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir, where Israeli settlers killed a Palestinian man, wounded dozens, burned houses, killed animals, and fired on medics and firefighters. Residents say and video shows the IDF did little to stop the violence. washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/…

Chinese professor at a Japanese university goes missing on a trip home, sparking worries about detention. Two other Japan-based Chinese scholars disappeared while visiting home in 2013 and 2019. They turned out to have been detained for alleged spying
japan.thenewslens.com/article/5889

How China, Russia and Iran are forging closer ties economist.com/finance-and-ec…

Xi Jinping has urged bankers to develop a new financial culture with “Chinese characteristics”. This week on our “Drum Tower” podcast, Alice Su 蘇奕安 and David Rennie 任大伟 analyse this shift and ask: where does this idea come from? econ.st/3IAKwOE 🎧

Highly recommend David Rennie 任大伟 & Alice Su 蘇奕安's latest
episode of Drum Tower. On the falling out between Xi Jinping and the stock market.
economist.com/audio/podcasts…

完整版视频
现场警察以“太危险了”为由打断了直播

How does China control 1.4bn people with a surprisingly small police force? On “Drum Tower”, Alice Su 蘇奕安 and David Rennie 任大伟 reveal the secret of the country’s surveillance state econ.st/49FlQQX 🎧

Nostalgia for China’s boom years is common today, as the economy continues to slow. On “Drum Tower” Alice Su 蘇奕安 and David Rennie 任大伟 watch a film that shows a darker side of this period. Listen to the podcast econ.st/3Icwd2N 🎧

“Lost in Beijing” captures the essence of booming late-2000s China. On “Drum Tower” Alice Su 蘇奕安 and David Rennie 任大伟 discuss what the film reveals about the dynamics of money, gender and power econ.st/3wyFWxF 🎧

Will China be able to harness the power of generative AI? On our “Drum Tower” podcast Alice Su 蘇奕安 and Don Weinland discuss Ernie Bot, its answer to ChatGPT econ.st/48pWyF2 🎧

1/A few days ago, files from a contractor for Chinese police quietly dumped online went viral. But though analysts thought the files authentic, they weren't 100% confident.

Now, after a visit to the company's offices, I can confirm the leak is real:
apnews.com/article/china-…

New regulations on religion in Xinjiang is the latest attempt to suppress Uyghurs. The revisions aim to forcibly transform religious practice to be consistent with Chinese Communist Party ideology—to do otherwise risks imprisonment. See latest by Human Rights Watch hrw.org/news/2024/01/3…

Absolute must-read by ⁦Don Weinland⁩ about approx 110m affluent (not super-rich) Chinese who’ve been huge beneficiaries of decades of growth, endlessly rising house prices etc but who are now on the wrong side of Xi Jinping’s remaking of the economy economist.com/briefing/2024/…

This year investors in Chinese stocks have been on a hair-raising ride. Far from embracing the need for broad change, Xi Jinping is making things worse econ.st/4bvWYMN