Chinese officials keep their distance from US election drama showing no clear favorite between candidates. Social-media in China leans pro-Trump‚ but Beijingʼs top brass stays strictly hands-off (calling everything “internal affairs“)
The governments approach to US democracy shows through state-medias portrayal which often presents elections as messy events: this fits into Beijings wider push against multi-party systems. Unlike previous years theres less focus on China-related campaign rhetoric
- Phone-tapping of campaign staff
- Focus on state-level races
- Limited social-media interference
- Information gathering from security experts
A surprising prisoner-swap happened bout 2 months ago when Chinese-American pastor David Lin got released after being locked up since 06. The exchange raises questions as the Chinese prisonerʼs identity remains unclear - though some think its Xiaolei Wu who got caught harassing democracy supporters in US
Former state-media boss Hu Xijin just came back to social platforms after disappearing for 3 months; his problems started when he wrote bout private business – a touchy subject with Xi Jinpingʼs state-control ideas
In science news: Shi Zhengli (a top virus expert) works with global scientists on corona-virus research; its a good sign for world cooperation. Meanwhile tech-wars heat up: US drone-maker Skydio cant get Chinese batteries after mid-oct sanctions which shows how supply-chains get stuck between both countries