Ekaterina Zakharieva can still remember the exact moment she heard about the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was on a trolley bus on the way to school in Pazardzhik, a town in the southwest of Bulgaria with a population of just under 60,000. The news had a very special meaning for Zakharieva, who was […]
Dan Jørgensen can sell politics well, says Linda Kalcher about the designated Energy Commissioner from Denmark. Kalcher is the founder of the Brussels think tank Strategic Perspectives and knows Jørgensen from his time as a Member of the European Parliament. His network extends far beyond Europe’s borders, which is why Jørgensen could possibly give the […]
When China celebrates the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic these days, there is really no way around Frank Dikoetter. The Dutch historian is one of the most renowned chroniclers of the People’s Republic – highly critical, extremely thorough and knowledgeable. To understand what China is celebrating, it is worth picking up […]
Shigeru Ishiba has won the election for leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and is expected to become Japan’s new prime minister. The country’s former defense minister takes over the post at a time of rising inflation, a weak yen and tense regional security.The 67-year-old won at the fifth attempt and also referred […]
“My friends in the UK, locked out of London, call themselves ‘Generation Rent’. My friends in Beijing are ‘Generation Involution’, part of a system that absorbs more and more effort and yields less and less.” When Yuan Yang writes about her experiences in China, she often writes about her own generation, called Jiǔlínghòu (“九零后 – […]
It is his first political office: Stefan Köhler has been a member of the European Parliament for the CSU since the European elections at the beginning of June, where he is a member of the Agriculture and Environment Committees. After it became clear that former CSU MEP and agricultural politician Marlene Mortler would not be […]
Winters in northeast China are dark and harsh. Fortunately, Beatrix Keim had already lived in Beijing for a while during her studies and was also familiar with the pleasant, summery China. When Changchun greeted the recent graduate with icy cold, all she saw was a huge adventure. It was January 1, 1998, and Keim started […]
The Timmermans era is over, commented EPP leader Manfred Weber on Ursula von der Leyen’s personnel tableau after its presentation in Strasbourg. By this, he means that there is no longer an all-powerful Commission Vice-President who dominates EU climate policy. Although von der Leyen has distributed the climate and environment portfolio among many heads, the […]
When Friedrich Merz commented on China in the past, he often accused other politicians of misconduct. He accused German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of not arranging a meeting with ousted former head of state Hu Jintao during his trip to China. The head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) explained at the time that it was […]
Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who caused global outrage in 2018 when he created the first genetically modified babies, is openly considering moving to the United States to work on a gene treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.He made global headlines six years ago when he manipulated the genetic material of two embryos to make them resistant to […]