Maura Elizabeth Cunningham

Thanks for joining me this week.

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China Stories

Chinese leaders often proclaim that “the East is rising and the West is declining”; some U.S. leaders now also seem to accept this forecast as inevitable. Arriving at such a broad conclusion, however, would be a grave mistake. China’s progress and power are substantial. But it has liabilities on its balance sheet, too, and without looking at these alongside its assets, it is impossible to evaluate the United States’ real position. Even the most formidable geopolitical rivals have hidden vulnerabilities, making it crucial for leaders to more keenly perceive not only the strengths but also the weaknesses of their adversaries.

— Jude Blanchette and Ryan Hass, “Know Your Rival, Know Yourself: Rightsizing the China Challenge”

Chang Che, “The man making a business out of China’s burnout generation”

Rachel Pannett and Vic Chiang, “Carter took pride in warming U.S.-China ties — in a very different D.C.”

Step into one of Hong Kong’s signature four-door Toyota Crown Comfort cabs and you will most likely be (what is the opposite of greeted?) by a man in his 60s or older with a phalanx of cellphones mounted along his dashboard — used sometimes for GPS navigation and other times to track horse racing results. Pleasantries will not be exchanged. Expect the gas pedal to be floored.

— David Pierson and Berry Wang, “Hong Kong’s Cabbies, Long Scorned and Frustrated, Face the End of an Era”

Lingling Wei, “Xi Jinping Muzzles Chinese Economist Who Dared to Doubt GDP Numbers”

Wanderings Around the World

Raja Abdulrahim, with photographs by Laura Boushnak, “In Damascus, Syrians Reclaim Freedoms Off Limits Under al-Assad”

Peter Crimmins, “This painting found in a Glenside thrift store came out of Philly’s 19th-century Black cultural elite”

Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Kelsey Ables, “Why South Korean protesters are using U.S. flags and a pro-Trump slogan”

Erum Salam, “‘The tyrant is gone and the nightmare is done’: Syrian exiles hope for a brighter future”

Damisola Sulaiman, “Detty December Is Pricing Nigerians Out of the Salon Chair”

Standout Story

Tibetan rights activists, as well as experts working for the United Nations, have said that the party is systematically separating Tibetan children from their families to erase Tibetan identity and to deepen China’s control of a people who historically resisted Beijing’s rule. They have estimated that around three-quarters of Tibetan children age 6 and older — and others even younger — are in residential schools that teach largely in Mandarin, replacing the Tibetan language, culture and Buddhist beliefs that the children once absorbed at home and in village schools.

— Chris Buckley, “Boarding Schools in Tibet Reshape the ‘Souls of Children’”

Catching Up

Featured photo: A partially frozen Huron River, Ann Arbor, MI, January 9, 2025.