We discuss the brewing crisis in Taiwan that has dominated the Asean meeting. Plus: Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán take centre stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a review of the papers and the latest business news.
Tag Archives: China
Headlines: China Live-Fire Military Drills, Politics In Italy, Sri Lanka Economy
China conducts live-fire military drills. Plus: Sri Lanka’s new economic plan, an alliance between Italy’s centre-left and centrists, and Japan’s ‘roll-the-dice train’.
Headlines: Nancy Pelosi Visits Taiwan, New Chinese Military Drills, India 5G
A.M. Edition for Aug. 3. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi concluded a visit to Taiwan today, pledging to preserve democracy on the island in the face of growing threats from mainland China.
WSJ senior China correspondent Brian Spegele says that Beijing’s response to the visit –which includes new military exercises around Taiwan and a ban on certain Taiwanese products – is still just getting underway. Luke Vargas hosts.
Previews: Architectural Record – August 2022
MAD Architects Creates a Volcano-Inspired Stadium in China
For the past three decades, China has been furiously turning farmland into instant cities, transforming a heavily agrarian society into one with nearly 64 percent of its population now urbanized. In recent years, though, affluent Chinese have started to rediscover their culture’s deep roots in the countryside and the lure of the nation’s often dramatic landscapes. Architects like Ma Yansong, who founded MAD Architects in Beijing in 2004, are now busy exploring new ways of connecting the constructed environment to the natural one. Ma often talks of his notions of shanshui culture, referring to the Chinese words for “mountain” and “water” and to design inspired by a reverence for earth and sky. Yet his approach is anything but traditional. Instead, it aims to reinvent nature—for example, crafting an opera house in Harbin to look as if it were sculpted by wind and water and calling a 5 million-square-foot residential complex in Beihai with rolling roofs Fake Hills.
Morning News: U.S.-Russia Prisoner Swap, Military Drills In Taiwan, Kenya
The US weighs a prisoner swap with Russia. Plus: Taiwan’s armed forces step up military drills, we look ahead to Kenya’s general election and get the latest arts and culture news.
Morning News: Financial Protests In China, Ukraine HIMARS Rocket Launchers
Property developers are going belly-up, home-buyers are not paying mortgages, protests after a banking scandal have been quashed. We ask about the instability still to come.
Ukraine’s new HIMARS rocket launchers are proving exceedingly effective against Russian forces. And a look at Britain’s world-leading collection of diseases-in-a-dish.
Morning News: Russia’s New North-South-China Axis, Hydrogen Projects
A.M. Edition for July 18. Russia’s war in Ukraine has isolated it from the West. Now, Russian President Vladimir Putin is betting on building a new diplomatic, economic and security network along the North-South axis, in alliance with China.
Jerry Seib, the WSJ’s former Capital Journal columnist and Washington executive editor, discusses why Russia is shifting strategy and what this will mean for the West. Annmarie Fertoli hosts.
Opinion: Britain’s Perilous State, The Tik Tok Threat, Trumpism’s New DC Army
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, why Britain is in a dangerous state, why the world’s most exciting app is also its most mistrusted (10:49), and Trumpism’s new Washington army (18:38).
Opinion: Fixing The Energy Crisis, Biden-Harris Issues, Mental Health In China
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, how to fix the world’s energy emergency without wrecking the environment, the Biden-Harris problem (10:15), and China’s worsening mental-health crisis (16:45).
Cinematic Short Films: ‘Watchtower Of China’
Directed and Edited by Leonardo Dalessandri
Creating Watchtower of China was a labour of love. I say labour because we, meaning my crew and I, throughout three consecutive summers, visited over seventy cities and travelled countless thousands of kilometers. Everywhere we went, we found ourselves channelling the powerful energy of this great land to find the strength and inspiration to continue our quest along what became life-changing for all of us. When we initially gathered together we were a film crew. By the time we were done, three years later, we had become a family.
I say love, because what we have created is more than just a film. It is a declaration of our love for this Country.
When I set out on this project I wanted to create a visual tribute to China – an honest observation of daily life. Not a surface travelog, but a real and raw representation of the cultural history. An honoring of Chinese culture, identity, and the complex and varied way of living that spans the enormity of the Chinese territory. A window on the dedication and discipline, the craftsmanship and hard work of the Chinese people. They have an energy of moving forward together as they draw power and inspiration from a culture that looks back over thousands of years, yet rushes fearlessly towards a bold future.
I started to feel this intense energy, as though this cultural pride and determination were now moving through me and my camera. The experience of this film buried itself so deeply within me that I can still feel the hard day’s work in my muscles.
It couldn’t have come together without the help of my dear friends, especially Jolien Snyers and Ricky Choy (did you spot Ricky in the film? She’s in multiple shots and sings in the very last taxi shot!)
It is one of my proudest accomplishments.
I hope you love it.
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/leonardodalessandri
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/leonardolucadalessandri
MUSIC by Ezio Bosso
© Sony Music Italy – Buxus Edizioni
eziobosso.com
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