Author of 'Vampire State. The rise and fall of the Chinese Economy'. Longtime foreign correspondent in Moscow, the Indo-Pacific and China @NBCNews@Channel4News
China's troubled but predatory economy remains addictive to some, but also coercive, corrupt and at times surreal. My new book, published by @BirlinnBooks on 5 Sept, shows how CCP ruthlessly bends business to its will - but is fast running out of options birlinn.co.uk/product/vampir…
There was barely a word of criticism, differences were muted, threadbare achievements hyped, praise lavished. As I write in @spectator the US-China summit was all pomp and platitudes with little substance #china#trump#AI#summitspectator.com/article/what-s…
Moments before President Xi Jinping climbed down the steps of his aircraft to be greeted by Donald Trump, US marines were filmed on their hands and knees smoothing out the red carpet, Chinese officials looking down from the top of the steps. It was an uncomfortable image, ridiculed on social media for the symbolism of kowtowing to the emperor. But it set the tone for a summit which so far has been heavy on pomp and ceremony, rich in platitudes, but with very little in the way of substance.
✍️ @ianwill
Article | spectator.com/article/whats-…
Even allowing for Trump’s soft spot for autocrats and political theatre, his fawning treatment of Xi has been cringemaking. As I report in @spectator the returns seem so minimal that it rather begs the question: what was the point?
#trump#xi#summit#AIspectator.com/article/whats-…
Beyond the Chinese tech hype is a troubled, stagnant & predatory economy of heavy subsidies and overproduction. As I argue in @spectator bulldozing foreign markets has become essential for survival spectator.com/article/china-…
“If, as @drdwhitehouse writes, China does beat the US to get its hands on Martian rocks, it will be a Sputnik moment. It will also be the first step in a series of crewed Chinese missions to Mars,” writes @ianwill
Article | spectator.com/article/china-…
What does a 20-year-old Chinese researcher dressed in a red crayfish costume tell us about China's space ambitions? Here's my @spectator piece on Beijing's race for Mars and troubling agenda behind it #mars#china#spacespectator.com/article/china-…
Delighted to see Scottish @Daily_Express pick up on my interview with @BBCScotland on Scottish govt’s extraordinarily naive bid to overturn ban on #China investment in wind turbine factory, which risks handing Beijing control of critical infrastructure
scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/n…
There's no #China at #WorldCup. A country of 1.4 billion has been unable to find 11 players capable of hitting the back of the net. But the Communist Party has produced world class corruption and waste in a failed bid to become a football superpower
dailymail.com/debate/article…
🚨🚨🚨Why are Chinese diplomats in the UK close to To Ming Lam, who owns @RoyalChinaGroup & who Hong Kong’s former chief of criminal intelligence said was known as a 14K triad member?
What's it got to do with a spy trial that just finished in London?
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There have long been links between triads and the Chinese Communist Party, but as I write in the @dailymailUK there is growing evidence that the CCP - like Russia - sees organised crime as a key asset to undermine its opponents
dailymail.com/news/article-1…
Revealed, how Beijing unleashed Triad gangs to wage war on Britain: Crime groups linked to Chinese Communist Party are flooding our streets with killer synthetic opioids, supplying engines for migrant boats, and even masterminding romance frauds trib.al/EN1PyIQ