New podcast #43 and this week's China news brief
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Podcast
The latest episode of the podcast discusses the launch, height, and fizzling out of the Third Front campaign, a covert industrialisation movement that took place between 1964 and 1972 in China's remote, mountainous interior. This little-discussed campaign formed a crucial part of China's Cold War policy strategy, preparations for war with either the US, the Soviet Union, or their allies in the region, especially after the US joined the Vietnam War in mid-1964.
This military-industrial campaign gives us another lens through which to view Chinese history, one which relies less on social history and a Maoist lens, and takes into consideration external factors that caused major shifts in the sentiments of the CCP leadership even during major domestic events such as the Cultural Revolution.
I relied very heavily on a book Mao's Third Front: The Militarization of Cold War China by Covell Meyskens, which I highly recommend if you want to learn more about the topic in your own time, as the episode is more like a brief overview. You can purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maos-Third-Front-Militarization-China/dp/1108489559
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News
NYT, ‘A Form of Brainwashing’: China Remakes Hong Kong [paywall]: If you haven’t heard about the closure of Hong Kong’s iconic Apple Daily newspaper by now, you live under a rock my friend. It’s all anyone’s really been talking about for the past 2 weeks, including myself. This article in the New York Times gives a good overview not only of the latest big news, but also the more covert strategies Beijing has employed over the past year since the Nat Sec Law was introduced to bring HK to heel.
(By the way, to get around a paywall just press the ‘x’ in the top left and corner before the page has finished fully loading. Alternatively, press ‘ctrl + p’ really quickly and save the page as a pdf.)
The Guardian, Fire at martial arts school in China kills 18 children: Another accident that has claimed the life of children has caused outrage among parents and online communities in China. At least 18 children between 7 and 16 have died and around 16 injured in the fire last Friday. The Zhenxing Martial Arts Centre in Henan had apparently not gone through the proper safety checks, and several arrests have been made.
Parents interviewed said that they were not being told the full story, and many are saying that news of the incident is being suppressed. Some people believe that this is part of the party’s aim to suppress any bad news during the celebrations of the 100 years of the Chinese Communist Party founding.
Reuters, Factbox: A hundred years on, how the Communist Party dominates China: Also, the Chinese Communist Party is celebrating 100 years since its founding! This handy Reuters article gives an overview of the party and how it operates in modern day China. You can also check out this article [paywall/log in required] to see how exactly China plans to celebrate throughout the year.
Bloomberg, The Last—And Only—Foreign Scientist in the Wuhan Lab Speaks Out [paywall/article limit]: Danielle Anderson, the only foreign scientist to have worked at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, discusses whether or not the virus was leaked, and the possibility of it being man-made. Non-paywall summary here
Financial Review, Universities ignore Beijing’s threats to Chinese students: Finally, reports are slowly emerging about the harassment and intimidation faced by Chinese students and academics in Australian universities. Chinese students make up around 10% of enrollment, and still seem to be subject to censorship and reporting by their fellow classmates and authorities back home. Some argue that this is part of Chinese government attempts to suppress academic freedom worldwide.
I feel like I’ve used the word ‘suppress’ a lot in this newsletter…
Have a great week everyone!
Edi