President Xi Jinping

World Politics
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Highest inequality in decades underpins Hong Kong protests

Hong Kong will soon mark 20 years since Britain returned the former colony to China and Chinese state media is touting the milestone by promoting the city’s greater prosperity under its “one country, two systems” strategy. But few Hong Kongers are feeling very prosperous or celebratory given that recent data has revealed the wealth gap is now the widest it’s been since the city began tracking income equality 46 years ago.

Human Rights
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U.S. absent as 11 countries rebuke China for torture of human rights lawyers

Eleven countries have jointly called on the Chinese government to investigate “credible claims of torture” against human rights lawyers, the Globe and Mail reported yesterday. In a letter dated Feb. 27 – which the Canadian newspaper said has not been made public – the signatories also condemned China’s practice of detaining suspects in secret locations for long periods of time.