Interview with Liao Yiwu + Inflation and Growth

The latest images from Shanghai are dreadful, almost unbearable, says Liao Yiwu, shaking his bald head. The meeting in his Berlin apartment was actually supposed to be about his new book, “Wuhan – A Documentary Novel”. But over a cup of steaming Chinese tea, an intriguing conversation about the social situation in the People’s Republic unfolded.

But a critical mind is never at rest: His thoughtful reflections on China’s society contrasted with simple jokes about leading politicians in the People’s Republic. But Liao is a driven protagonist. “I can’t help it. I have to write all this down before the CP rewrites history,” he says, pointing to his shelf packed with his books, essays, and poems. Read what Liao Yiwu has to say about the truth in China, the dangers to foreign countries, and his contribution to it all in today’s briefing.

On Monday, China’s statistics bureau published the latest economic figures: In the first quarter, national GDP grew by 4.8 percent. Given the Covid pandemic and drastic lockdowns in Shanghai and other regions across China, a plus of almost five percent sounds certainly impressive. But Finn Mayer-Kuckuk warns against a premature sense of relief. China’s economy faces profound problems – be it in the retail index or the container situation in its domestic ports. And that’s not all: China’s problems will have a direct impact on Europe.

Finally, I would like to recommend Johnny Erling’s latest column. This time, Erling has turned his attention to China’s longest monumental structure: the Great Wall. Yet China’s Great Helmsman Mao Zedong once scorned it as a decaying relic of feudalistic times. Johnny Erling explains how the Wall experienced a rebirth thanks to the visit of US President Richard Nixon in 1972, why Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, and Helmut Schmidt climbed the stone steps near Badaling, and how Xi Jinping twisted its original purpose.

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Michael Radunski