A string of the professor's Facebook posts - showing the youngsters wearing their elaborate creations - garnered thous
ands of likes in a matter of days,
and attracted coverage from Fili
pino media outlets. But Xi's China is not Mao's China -
and Xi's ambition for himself
and for his country far exceeds anything Mao ever dreamed of.
irannews.ru “
The Saudis have emphasised in recent years that they seek to avoid entanglement in what is referred to in the US as ‘great power competition’,” Gerald Feierstein, a former US ambassador to Yemen and the Middle East
Institute’s senior vice president, told Al Jazeera. “
Their interests, the Saudis have made clear, have focused on maintaining strong relations
with their main security partner, the US; their number one economic partner, China; and their key partner in OPEC+, Russia.” China was getting richer faster than any other country in history. But that unleashed other forces. Economic growth has shrunk to 2%, the lowest in more than three decades. China's property market is in free fall. Youth unemployment is running at around 20%. A trade war
with the US is not helping. And anger has been brewing. Others donned hats, helmets or Halloween masks to fulfil the brief. Tory MP Sir Roger Gale, who is supporting Penny Mordaunt, says he's “more than hopeful” she will secure the backing of 100 MPs by today's 14:00 deadline.
These South China Sea islands are only the most daring and visible of Xi's moves to take control of the near abroad. Taiwan could be next.
