Table.Briefings

Opinion

The big rumor mill

China's lockdown-plagued citizens are using the Internet to express their discontent publicly. Online protests and political jokes (段子) are all the rage. Behind their temporary tolerance lies Beijing's calculation. After all, they also serve as an outlet to let off steam dangerous to the regime.

By

Stefan Sack

Stefan Sack: 'Change through trade' was a successful strategy for China

For years, economic cooperation with China was motivated by the idea of "change through trade". The noble hope behind it: The People's Republic would open up by integrating deeper into the international community and increasingly adapt democratic elements in its political system. The former Vice President of the European Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, Stefan Sack, draws a sobering conclusion. "Change through trade" has worked out, he says, but not at all in the way Germany and Europe had hoped. Instead, we are the ones who have adapted our behavior to Chinese preferences due to the "dependencies of our supply chains and the greed for new growth markets.

By Marcel Grzanna

Bertrand Badré über den Ukrainekrieg, Unternehmen und die ESG-Kritierien

Will the Ukraine war upend the sustainability agenda?

First the pandemic, now the war: With the pressure from the crises, the climate targets are fading into the background. To achieve them regardless, business and civil society must first and foremost expand and refine the ESG criteria.

By Redaktion Table

True men on China's Great Wall

Xi Jinping cultivates a veritable cult around China's Great Wall. Yet Mao Zedong considered the ancient structure to be a feudal relic. But that did not stop him from creating a ritual: Foreign dignitaries on a visit to Beijing outdo each other with the length of their walks along the monument.

By

Maurice Obstfeld über den Umgang der G20-Mitglieder mit Russland.

The G20 must speak in plain language with Putin

The members of the G20 are not united in their dealings with Russia. A sign of greater credibility is urgently needed, since the threat of war to people and economies worldwide is immense. At the upcoming meeting, the finance ministers should at least agree on the source of the problem.

By Redaktion Table