“Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday urged a unit of the country’s plainclothes militia to step up action against protesters, in remarks that could escalate a crackdown on months-long anti-regime unrest,” Bloomberg reports.
Xi Has Few Good Options to End Historic Covid Protests
“The protests that erupted against China’s Covid Zero strategy represent one of the most significant challenges to Communist Party rule since the Tiananmen crisis more than 30 years ago. How Xi Jinping responds to it may end up being just as pivotal for the country’s future,” Bloomberg reports.
“From the capital Beijing to the far western outpost of Kashgar, Chinese residents frustrated by lockdowns and mass-testing campaigns have taken to the streets in recent days to urge change. In Shanghai — stricken by a grueling two-month Covid clampdown earlier this year — one crowd called for Xi to step down, defying the risk of a long prison term. Demonstrations ranged from a few people to street rallies of hundreds.”
Yuan Yang: “Beijing could wait out the protests. But on everything else, time is against it. The healthcare system is creaking under the mass testing of millions of people every day, and people’s livelihoods are eroding as the economy stalls. Yet lifting restrictions could lead to more than 1mn Covid deaths, due to the low vaccination rate among the elderly.”
U.S. Still Talking to Russia About Prisoner Swap
The United States is still talking to Russia about a deal to free jailed Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan but Moscow has not provided a “serious response” to any of its proposals, Reuters reports.
China Eases Covid Rules After Protests
“Authorities eased anti-virus rules in scattered areas but affirmed China’s severe ‘zero- Covid’ strategy Monday after crowds demanded President Xi Jinping resign during protests against controls that confine millions of people to their homes,” the AP reports.
“The government made no comment on the protests or criticism of Xi, the most widespread display of opposition to the ruling Communist Party in decades. There was no official word on how many people were detained after police used pepper spray against protesters in Shanghai and struggled to suppress demonstrations in other cities including Beijing, the capital.”
Wall Street Journal: “Demonstrations occurred throughout the weekend in both Beijing and Shanghai. According to eyewitness accounts, there were also protests in the eastern city of Nanjing and in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the pandemic. Video footage and photos circulating on social media, which The Wall Street Journal wasn’t able to independently verify, suggest protests broke out in several other cities, including Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.”
Associated Press: “Demonstrators poured into the streets over the weekend in numerous cities including Shanghai and Beijing, chanting slogans and confronting police. A number of university campuses also experienced protests.”
Blank Sheets of Paper Become Symbol in China Protests
“Chinese protesters have turned to blank sheets of paper to express their anger over Covid-19 restrictions in a rare, widespread outpouring of public dissent that has gone beyond social media to some of China’s streets and top universities,” Reuters reports.
“Images and videos circulated online showed students at universities in cities including Nanjing and Beijing holding up blank sheets of paper in silent protest, a tactic used in part to evade censorship or arrest.”
Twitter Grapples with Chinese Spam
“Twitter’s radically reduced anti-propaganda team grappled on Sunday with a flood of nuisance content in China that researchers said was aimed at reducing the flow of news about stunning widespread protests against coronavirus restrictions,” the Washington Post reports.
“Numerous Chinese-language accounts, some dormant for months or years, came to life early Sunday and started spamming the service with links to escort services and other adult offerings alongside city names.”
“The result: For hours, anyone searching for posts from those cities and using the Chinese names for the locations would see pages and pages of useless tweets instead of information about the daring protests as they escalated to include calls for Communist Party leaders to resign.”
Belarusian Foreign Minister Found Dead
Belarus Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei “died suddenly” on Saturday but few other details were made available, the Washington Post reports.
U.S. and NATO Scramble to Arm Ukraine
New York Times: “Now, nine months into the war, the West’s fundamental unpreparedness has set off a mad scramble to supply Ukraine with what it needs while also replenishing NATO stockpiles. As both sides burn through weaponry and ammunition at a pace not seen since World War II, the competition to keep arsenals flush has become a critical front that could prove decisive to Ukraine’s effort.”
Washington Post: Pressure builds to step up weapons tracking in Ukraine.
China’s Economy Faces Challenges
“China’s recent steps to adjust Covid-19 controls and revive activity in the beaten-down property market stirred hopes that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is putting fresh emphasis on measures to support the economy, potentially leading to a strong rebound in growth next year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“But economists warn the moves so far haven’t amounted to a broad shift in Mr. Xi’s policies, and the messaging out of the recent Communist Party Congress only reinforced that the Chinese leader planned to stick to his goals of achieving economic self-sufficiency and ‘common prosperity’—even at the cost of lower growth rates.”
“While China’s economy is expected to recover somewhat in 2023 after a major slump this year, most economists doubt it will return to the heady expansion of prepandemic days soon, if ever.”
Hardship and Hope in Kyiv
Associated Press: “Bundled up against the cold, everyone then troops out of the dark, unheated theater, barely lit with emergency generators. They head back to the hard realities of Ukraine’s capital — a once comfortably livable city of 3 million, now beginning a winter increasingly shorn of power and sometimes water, too, by Russian bombardments.”
“But hope, resilience and defiance? Kyiv has all those in abundance. And perhaps more so now than at any time since Russia invaded Ukraine nine months ago.”
Wall Street Journal: Russian strikes hit Southern Ukraine as country scrambles to restore electricity.
U.S. Soccer Scrubs Islamic Emblem from Iran Flag
“The U.S. soccer federation is displaying Iran’s national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic, saying it supports protesters in Iran ahead of the two nations’ World Cup match Tuesday,” the AP reports.
“The federation said in a statement Sunday that it decided to forego the official flag on social media accounts to show ‘support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights.’”
Brazilian Protests Intensify
Associated Press: “Since his election loss, Bolsonaro has only addressed the nation twice, to say that the protests are legitimate and encourage them to continue, as long as they don’t prevent people from coming and going.”
“Bolsonaro has not disavowed the recent emergence of violence, either. He has, however, challenged the election results — which the electoral authority’s president said appears aimed at stoking protests.”
Biden Eases Venezuela Sanctions
“The Biden administration on Saturday eased some oil sanctions on Venezuela in an effort to support newly restarted negotiations between President Nicolás Maduro’s government and its opposition,” the AP reports.
“The Treasury Department is allowing Chevron to resume ‘limited’ energy production in Venezuela after years of sanctions that have dramatically curtailed oil and gas profits that have flowed to Maduro’s government.”
Washington Post: U.S. grants Chevron license to pump oil in Venezuela.
Sanctions Catch Up with Russian Economy
Washington Post: “Recent figures show the situation has worsened considerably since the summer when, buoyed by a steady stream of oil and gas revenue, the Russian economy seemed to stabilize.”
Russia Firing Aging Cruise Missiles
Russia is firing ageing cruise missiles stripped of their nuclear warheads at Ukrainian targets because Vladimir Putin’s stocks are so depleted, the Guardian reports.
An intelligence update from Britain said the desperate improvisation by the Russian president’s struggling forces are “unlikely to achieve reliable effects.”
Chinese Protest Covid Lockdowns
“Authorities in China’s western Xinjiang region opened up some neighborhoods in the capital of Urumqi on Saturday after residents held extraordinary late-night demonstrations against the city’s draconian ‘zero-Covid’ lockdown that had lasted more than three months,” the AP reports.
“The displays of public defiance were fanned by anger over a fire in an apartment compound that had killed 10, according to the official death toll, as emergency workers took three hours to extinguish the blaze — a delay many attributed to obstacles caused by anti-virus measures.”
A New Foreign Policy Headache for Biden
“The Biden administration is grappling with how to deal with a new Israeli government that will be the most right-wing in that country’s history and may stand in the way of core U.S. goals for the Middle East,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“The new government will be led by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving prime minister, who was ousted from the job just a year ago and is on trial for corruption. To regain the position, Netanyahu formed an alliance with controversial political figures known for their extreme anti-Arab views, likely dooming any peace deal with Palestinians.”
Russia Rains Missiles on Recaptured Ukrainian City
Associated Press: “A barrage of missiles struck the recently liberated city of Kherson for the second day Friday in a marked escalation of attacks since Russia withdrew from the city two weeks ago.”
“The city was shelled 17 times before midday Thursday, and strikes continued into the evening, killing at least four people and injuring 10, according to Kherson’s military administration. Soldiers in the region had warned that Kherson would face intensified strikes as Russian troops dig in across the Dnieper River.”
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