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He shaped a world of superpowers but to those without power he was ruthless. How did one diplomat hold sway for so long?
Henry Kissinger was a complicated, insecure man who believed the US alone could impose order in a complicated, insecure world. For almost a decade from 1969, at the height of cold war instability, he became the international face of America – a very political diplomat almost as well known as his patron, Richard Nixon, the then president.
Kissinger was also a Harvard academic and self-styled grand strategist, a student of Castlereagh and Metternich who put his amoral theories of “realist” foreign policy into practice with often horrific results. He viewed peoples and nations as movable, disposable pieces on a giant global chessboard. He was the bürgermeister of realpolitik.

Defence minister Richard Marles and counterparts from the UK and US say new technologies will be deployed by militaries
Artificial intelligence, drones, and deep space radar are among the technologies that will be used by Australia and its Aukus allies to counter China’s aggression in the Pacific.
Australia’s defence minister, Richard Marles, met with his counterparts from the United States and United Kingdom – Lloyd J Austin and Grant Shapps – in California on Saturday to announce the second “pillar” of the Aukus deal.

The most powerful secretary of state of the postwar era, he was both celebrated and reviled. His complicated legacy still resonates in relations with China, Russia and the Middle East.

A bipartisan letter asked that the 2024 NDAA include language that addresses outbound investments in China "and ideally strengthen the language." ...

After 12 years in Scotland, pandas to fly home amid ongoing dispute about purpose of zoos and ethics of China’s panda diplomacy
As soon as she heard that Edinburgh’s pandas were about to be flown home, Sarah Greenwood knew she had to see them. “I love everything about pandas,” she said. “I absolutely couldn’t miss it.”
Wrapped in a thick coat and hat to guard against the freezing temperatures and the first snow flurries of winter, Greenwood, an events manager, 52, travelled from Cambridge on Wednesday to watch Tian Tian and her partner, Yang Guang, grazing on bamboo, sleeping and exercising.

Beijing’s strained relations with the west are less easily mollified by loans of cuddly endangered bears
As the UK’s only giant pandas leave Edinburgh zoo , returning to their native country after a 12-year sojourn away from China, the era of panda diplomacy also looks to be coming to an end.
Tian Tian and Yang Guang will board the panda express back to Sichuan less than a month after three giant pandas left the Smithsonian national zoo in Washington DC, ending the zoo’s five-decade panda programme.

Minnie Chan has reportedly been out of contact since travelling to Xiangshan Forum a month ago
Friends and colleagues of a Hong Kong journalist have raised concerns after she failed to return from a defence and security forum in Beijing a month ago.
Minnie Chan, a reporter for the South China Morning Post, has not been in contact since she went to the , Japan’s Kyodo News reported on Thursday. Chan filed several stories from the forum, the most recent of which was published on 2 November.

American fashion blogger Diane Pernet has run A Shaded View On Fashion Film for 15 years. The Chinese fashion film winner at this year’s festival is about immigrant women making garments in the West.

Kenny Yang, the owner of Strings Ramen Shop, has tirelessly worked toward opening his new River West grocery store, Gangnam Market, by bringing in more Chinese, Korean, and Japanese items. Over the ...

Derbyshire woman who bought item said she felt uneasy at find that raises concerns over possible prison labour [update – see footnote]
An ID card that appears to belong to a Chinese prisoner was found inside the lining of a coat from the British brand Regatta, raising concerns that the clothing was manufactured using prison labour.
The waterproof women’s coat was bought online by a woman in Derbyshire in the Black Friday sale. When it arrived on 22 November, she could feel a hard rectangular item in the right sleeve, which restricted the movement of her elbow.

Federal and local prosecutors and advocates for the Asian American community are encouraging crime victims to come forward and file reports, with the goal of reducing hate crimes. Over the summer, ...