We are talking about a marathon call between President Biden and Xi Jinping of China, and fears of a recession in the US
A tense call between the leaders of the US and China
President Biden and President Xi Jinping of China talked on the phone for two hours and 17 minutes – first live chat in four months during that time relations between their countries had deteriorated.
China and the US have been at odds over Russia’s war in Ukraine, tariffs and China’s aggressive actions in the Asia-Pacific region. The future of Taiwan, a self-governing island that China coveted and that Biden has said he would defend by force, has become a particularly controversial issueespecially since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is reportedly planning to visit.
China’s foreign ministry said the call was effective, but issued a stern warning against what it saw as US provocations, without mentioning Ms. Pelosi directly.
“Playing with fire will burn yourself,” the ministry statement said.
Analysis: Some U.S. officials think Xi is taking a harder line against the United States to distract the Chinese from domestic problems, “a tried-and-true technique by leaders everywhere.” where”, our colleague Peter Baker wrote.
Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, fell 0.2 percent in the second quarter, after falling 0.4 percent in the first three months of the year, the Commerce Department said. The magnitude of GDP decline so far in 2022 means that by a popular but informal definition, the US economy has entered a recession, just two years after it emerged from the last recession. .
A test of Australian law against foreign interference
A judge in Australia has ruled that a Chinese-Australian man accused of preparing an act of foreign interference will be brought to trial, providing The court’s first trial of a sweeping law is raising concerns about overreach.
The man, Di Sanh Duong, was charged in 2020 after raising money for a Melbourne hospital, which authorities say was used to cultivate a relationship with a federal minister to influence policy in favor of China. According to the law of foreign influence – issued in 2018 amid worries about Chinese influence – he could receive a maximum sentence of 10 years.
The evidence against Duong is largely episodic. His lawyers argued that the prosecution was relying on weak evidence to draw conclusions about future issues and in doing so “stretch every vein of the criminal law”. They say the $26,000 donation is just a way of fighting anti-Chinese racism.
But the judge agreed with the Australian authorities, allowing the prosecution to proceed without evidence that Duong was intending to interfere.
Legal opinion: Sarah Kendall, a legal researcher at the University of Queensland, said the case reflects the wide scope of the law. Accordingly, she said, behavior that could be innocuous in itself could be considered a crime if the police could prove that behind the behavior was a compelling purpose in preparation for foreign intervention. .
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The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, chose Arthur Hughes, who has radial dysplasia, which means he has a shorter right arm and a missing thumb. The company says it’s the first time they’ve cast an actor with a disability to play the character, who describes himself in the opening scene as “disfigured.”
The Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada, played out a different scenario: It cast Colm Feore, who is not disabled, to play a Richard with a deformed spine. And in New York City, the Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park went in a different direction, casting Danai Gurira, a black woman without a disability.
Their divergent approaches come at a time when there is a sharp rethinking of cultural norms around identity, representation, diversity, opportunity, imagination and artistic license. led to heated debates about the conclusion.
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