Where hundreds of guests used to come in and out each day, the doors are now locked most of the time: The Pudong Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai is now a quarantine hotel. General Manager Gregor Wateler hopes the luxury establishment can resume normal operations by the end of the month. Frank Sieren spoke with Wateler.
By Frank Sieren
The German city of Nuremberg will present its International Human Rights Award to Sayragul Sauytbay on Sunday. The Chinese woman with Kazakh roots was the first to publicly testify about human rights violations in Xinjiang. Despite Chinese threats of economic consequences, the ceremony will take place.
By Marcel Grzanna
Joe Biden will travel to Asia for the first time since he took office as US president. Despite the Ukraine war, the dispute with China remains an important element of US policy. Washington wants to prevent China from attacking the Western-dominated "rules-based order". To its allies in the region, Washington wants to make new economic cooperation palatable.
By Christiane Kuehl
The hype surrounding China's vaccine deliveries to poorer countries has subsided. The EU now exports more doses and is an equally popular partner. The mood has also tipped because China charged for the shipments, while the products proved ineffective.
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China's zero-Covid policy brings tough restrictions for companies. But they also benefit from measures that would be unimaginable in the West: Workers are isolated from the outside world. They stay overnight and live in or directly at the factories so that they do not catch Covid-19 during their commute or at home. First protests are mounting against this practice.
By Nico Beckert
Hong Kong's Cardinal Joseph Zen has been a thorn in the side of both the Vatican and the Communist Party over the past few years. He supported the city's protest movement and criticized the Catholic Church for a "bad deal" with the People's Republic. On Wednesday, the 90-year-old was arrested on charges of conspiring with foreign forces - just three days after former Security Chief John Lee was elected as the city's next Chief Executive.
By Marcel Grzanna
China could find a new friend in the central European EU state of Slovenia. The right-wing populist Janez Janša, who recently went toe-to-toe with Beijing, has been voted out of office. Foreign policy played virtually no role in the election campaign, and the designated government under Robert Golob is primarily focused on economic growth.
By Amelie Richter
Beijing faces a Covid lockdown. Omicron thus reaches the political heart of China. And the costs of this policy rise considerably - economically, socially, and increasingly politically. Yet China indulges in vaccine nationalism. Why does Xi Jinping continue to cling to zero-Covid?
By Michael Radunski
Supplying the population with food is not only a challenge in the lockdown of Shanghai, a metropolis with a population of 25 million. It has been a headache for China's leadership for quite some time. The problem of contaminated farmland is bigger than anywhere else in the world.
By Ning Wang
While Xi Jinping resolutely sticks to his zero-covid strategy on the mainland, Hong Kong is gradually lifting Covid measures. The newly-elected Chief Executive John Lee intends to reopen the international border as quickly as possible. This could soon make it easier to enter the country from Europe than from the People's Republic.
By Redaktion Table
