China watchers: Moving with the timesBy FRANK CHINGhome/Opinion/Op-Ed Columns/China watchers: Moving with the timesTHE Soviet Union’s status as a superpower is no more, though Russia still has weapons capable of destroying the world many times over. Up to the 1970s, China watchers only had available the official People’s Daily newspaper, which they pored over to extract scraps of information, such as which officials were present on what occasion, and whose name preceded whose. The trade war started in spring 2018 and textual analysis of the People’s Daily yields quite dramatic findings. Another noticeable difference as the year progressed was a toning down of the boastfulness in the official Chinese media. This surely surpasses the dreams of China watchers in Maoist times.

Source: Manila Times January 21, 2019 16:22 UTC