Another huge scoop from James Pomfret & Greg Torode Beijing rejected a proposal by #HongKong leader Carrie Lam to withdraw the extradition bill and ordered her not to yield to any of the protesters’ other demands reuters.com/article/us-hon…

The death of a North Korean refugee single mother and her young son in Seoul has resonated in South Korea, but none more so than among fellow North Koreans here for whom her struggle was personal. I spent some time with them -- here are their stories: latimes.com/world-nation/s…

Wonder if EAS looks any more tempting now? Chile cancels international conference where Trump hoped to sign trade deal with China washingtonpost.com/politics/chile…

🎉Issue 60! November!🎉 It is with extreme excitement I'm sharing Issue 60 of The Diplomat magazine -- rounding out FIVE YEARS(!!!) for the mag with style, substance and wow I'm filled with such pride in the work we've published. magazine.thediplomat.com/#/issues/-Ls0v…

Great overview of stalled cross-border cooperation between China and North Korea from 38 North (link is to part 1 of 2) 38north.org/2019/10/tcleme…

BREAKING: We uncovered a worldwide network of 265 fake media outlets in 65 countries, targeting the US, Canada, Brussels, Geneva and many more, which all serve Indian lobbying interests. (1/9) Thread 👇 Summary: disinfo.eu/2019/11/13/unc… Interactive map: google.com/maps/d/edit?mi…

My first take on the US-China trade deal announcements: thediplomat.com/2019/12/the-us…

Spokesperson for Legal Affairs Committee of China’s People’s Congress announced that the legislative body was considering gay marriage in its civil code revision. Topic is trending on China’s Weibo with overwhelming online support for gay marriage. #gaymarriage #china

One of Asia’s most vibrant democracies heads to the polls to elect a new president this Saturday. Shannon Tiezzi and I discuss the stakes in #Taiwan’s upcoming elections, the state of cross-strait ties, and more on the latest podcast. Listen here: thediplomat.com/2020/01/taiwan…

Best thing I've read yet on the shaky source of the "Debt Trap Diplomacy" meme: The Hambantota Port Deal: Myths and Realities The Diplomat thediplomat.com/2020/01/the-ha…

Every year the #Chinese Foreign Minister makes his first overseas trip to #Africa... but why chooses to go to certain countries doesn't always make a whole lot of sense, at least to outside observers. Don't miss Cobus van Staden's latest column. chinaafricaproject.com/analysis/chine…

Su Tseng-chang's performance as premier, after the uneven tenure of now-VP William Lai, played a huge role in Tsai Ing-wen and the DPP recovering from dismal approval ratings in early 2019 to win big in #Taiwan2020 elections focustaiwan.tw/politics/20200…

ICYMI, an outline of the political calculations behind Prague's sister city agreement with Taipei: thediplomat.com/2019/12/whats-…

This is an important insider's perspective on the work of Atajurt, a Kazakh organization that's worked very hard to bring to light the tragedy in Xinjiang -- please take time to read it

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Breaking:One of the first whistleblower of #corononavirus , Wuhan doctor Lee-WenLiang(#李文亮), is confirmed dead. His final post on Weibo is on 1/31. (Lee was arrested by the police on 1/3 for “spreading rumors” ) Read this document from 1/3:

This "close contact app" developed by Chinese state surveillance giant, CETC, lets you search for people who have been in touch with those diagnosed with (or suspected of) the coronavirus. news.mydrivers.com/1/671/671948.h… 1/6

Following UN sanctions in 2016-2017, China has accounted for most of the trade with the #DPRK. While Chinese Customs’ statistics only tell part of the story, Daniel Wertz discusses the evidence and trends found in the recent trade data. bit.ly/2PpXWC2