Gu Xuewu on the People’s Congress + How much did Xi know? + Paralympics

This year’s National People’s Congress begins on Saturday. Speaking to Christiane Kuehl, Gu Xuewu, a professor of international relations in Bonn, explains the significance of this major political event. The first point on the agenda is economic policy: The government needs to stimulate the economy while avoiding bubbles and overcapacities. Growth policy remains China’s most important domestic policy.

But the war in Ukraine will also force the People’s Congress to focus more on security matters. Clear words, however, are not to be expected, says Gu. By remaining vague, the Chinese government is holding all options open. He believes that at least “there will be no unequivocal support for ‘Putin’s war’.”

Our analysis also explores the question of China’s position on the war: Did Xi Jinping give his presidential counterpart Vladimir Putin the green light for the invasion? Probably not. Nevertheless, this version of events is currently trending on the Internet. It is probably true that Xi insisted that any action should only be taken after the Olympics. However, it is extremely doubtful whether Putin let his supposed friend in on his plans. After all, China was caught off guard by the scale of the attack. Amelie Richter summarizes all confirmed information about the contacts between China and Russia in the lead-up to the war.

There is more happening in the world than war and geostrategy, and yet hardly any area of life is spared the effects of current events. The Paralympic Games begin in Beijing – and Russia’s athletes are not allowed to participate. Wang Ning spoke with Mark Dreyer of the China Sports Insider about the challenging Paralympics in Beijing.

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Finn Mayer-Kuckuk