Brics Buster!

BEING a white South African didn＇t make Sara Blecher part of a privileged community even during, apartheid. ＂On my grandfather＇s side we are Lithuanian Jews and he was the only one who escaped while the rest of the family was murdered during World War Ⅱ,＂ she said. ＂Even though I am white, I am on the wrong side of history.＂

Back on Track

The founder of a financial consultancy weighs in on the impact of China’s re-opening and other hot issues.EMMANUEL Daniel’s connection with China is undeniably strong and long,stretching all the way to Antarctica.When he decided to usher in the new year by traveling below the Antarctic circle-where the mean winter temperature varies between-20 and-40 degrees Celsius-the 100-odd passengers on the cruise ship included eight Chinese and he was able to practice his Chinese even on the seventh continent.

Should the World Lose Sleep over China’s Foreign Relations Law?

AS China’s Foreign Relations Law came into effect on July 1,it was interesting to note the reactions preceding it.They seemed to mainly belong to three schools of thought:The new law is“sweeping”and intended to act against deemed threats,according to CNN.

Fishing in Troubled Waters

SEPTEMBER 1 denotes a special place in Japan’s calendar and this year,the day was observed even more intensely,being the centenary of a massive earthquake.The Great Kanto Earthquake struck the Kanto Plain on Honshu Island in 1923,killing over 100,000 people and wiping out more than a third of Japan’s gross national product at that time.

Treading on Solid Ice

THIRTY years ago when Michael Berger went to ski in Heilongjiang,China’s northeasternmost province,it was an underdeveloped region shivering from icy winds from Siberia and far from being a bustling tourist destination.But when Michael Berger,now Dr.Berger,and the commercial counselor at the Austrian Embassy in China,recently visited a string of new ski resorts in northeast China,which is comprised of Heilongjiang,Jilin,and Liaoning,he was stunned by what he calls the“incredible development and quality of these modern installations.”

Where There’s Business, There’s a Way

The Ukraine crisis may disrupt the Belt and Road but an old China hand sees it re-energizing the China-EU trade relationship.IF not the world,Asia is definitely Chris Devonshire-Ellis’s oyster.By his own admission,he likes to spend winters in Sri Lanka and summers in Mongolia and Russia.When I caught up with him,he was in his office in Singapore.In China,he founded his company,Dezan Shira&Associates,in Shenzhen in 1992 and today,it is a behemoth with 25 offices in seven countries and regions across Asia.

Keeping Trade Shipshape

Hamburg remains a key platform to bring China and Europe together.WHILE every new year brings changes in its course,in 2022 there is certainly one change that we can already put a face to:Germany has a new chancellor after 16 years of Angela Merkel’s stewardship.

Conversation on a Green Conversion

TEN years ago,no one would have believed that on a Saturday evening,considered prime entertain­ment and social enjoyment time,over 50,000 people would be watching something that was neither a football match nor a blockbuster film,not even a top pop concert,but a roundtable where officials and experts talked about the importance of going green,doing it together,and China’s role in it.Yet that’s exactly what happened at a recent conference themed“A Green Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)and Green Shared Future”hosted by the BRI International Green Devel­opment Coalition(BRIGC)and China Global Television Net­work.The event was anchored in Beijing but the viewers were from different parts of the world-the United States,Ethiopia,Pakistan,and beyond.

In Good Spirits

Australia’s loss of the China wine market has been South Africa’s gain.But can it be sustained?AROUND the time the Chinese celebrate the Spring Festival,a time of family reunions and feasting,South Africa celebrates the birth of its wine industry.It is a happy serendipity as the South African wine industry has found a rising market in China,and the Spring Festival is the time when it surges higher still.On February 2,South African vintners raised a toast for the 363rd birthday of their wine industry,the only one in the world to have an official historical birthday for the industry.The record of the first wine made in South Africa is found in the diary of Johan Anthoniszoon van Riebeeck,an employee of the Dutch East India Company,who arrived in 1652 to take up his post.

A Tone-Deaf Approach

Why the EU-China Summit failed to meet the EU’s expectation...and so would other such talks.T was both extraordinary and incredible to hear EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borell,who along with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took part in the 23rd EU-China Summit on April 1,describe the meeting as"a dialogue of the deaf."No doubt from the European Union’s point of view the dialogue with Chinese President Xi Jinpingand Premier Li Keqiang was fruitless and unsatisfactory but to equate lack of results to communication with the hearing impaired smacks of a medieval mindset not expected from its top diplomat.If this is the language of diplomacy,then no wonder the EU has been so singularly inept at negotiating a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine crisis.

A Merck of Partnership

IF Willy Merck had not decided to take a trip around the world in 1887 and then land on the Chinese main­land the following year in the course of that journey,the story of Merck,one of the oldest pharmaceutical companies in the world,might have been vastly dif­ferent.But the then 28-year-old,a scion of the chemical manufacturing firm E.Merck in Germany’s“city of science”Darmstadt,made the visit,and with the characteristic business acumen of generations of Mercks,spotted the po­tential of the China market even then.One of his letters showed a prescience of the future,“A time will come when we too in Europe will have to watch out for the Chinese,”he wrote.“For my part,I absolutely believe that China,should it wish to,shall become considerably more powerful than any other nation.”

BRICS Prevails Over Blocs

The New Development Bank and other collaborations of BRICS show how pragmatism can overcome political differences Some people might be disappointed with the BRICS Summit held in June without sensational news.Before that,U.S.President Joe Biden,with his Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment,announced a$600 billion global infrastructure initiative guaranteed to grab all the headlines,but left behind the confusion about where all that money would come from.

In Good Spirits

Australia’s loss of the China wine market has been South Africa’s gain. But can it be sustained?Around the time the Chinese celebrate the Spring Festival, a time of family reunions and feasting, South Africa celebrates the birth of its wine industry. It is a happy serendipity as the South African wine industry has found a rising market in China, and the Spring Festival is the time when it surges higher still.

Service Before Celebration

A doctor's contribution to normalization of life Guo Wei's wish for the Year of the Ox is stunningly simple.And probably universal."I wish life would return to normal."he said simply as he sat in front of a screen monitoring heart beats."I wish people can go about their normal activities once more and production and other economic activities resume.Not only in China but worldwide."

Homegrown Remedies

FOR Samson Soyoye, 2016 was a year of twolandmarks. He says his son got married, exiting from the ＂Bachelors＇ Association,＂ and two batches of students graduated from＇the African College of Traditional Medicine （TM）, the organization he founded in Nigeria＇s Ogun State almost two years ago.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

WHEN Chinese pharmacologist Tu Youyou received the Nobel Prize in medicine bast year for rediscovering artmisinin, the herbal drug used in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） to treat malaria Dr. Zoubida Rabehi had a sense of personal satis-faction.

The Bridge Builder

TH EY may not know her by face but hundreds of people can instantly recognize Chen Lianying＇s name, and her vivacious voice, In the African countries where Kiswahili is spoken, the 68yearold from Suzhou City in east China＇s Jiangsu Province is regarded as the ＂voice＂ of the language, thanks to her nearly five decades＇ enadevor to present China to the world through the win dow of Kiswahili and also spread the language in China, ＂It stood me in good stead when I went shopping in the markets of Dares Salaam,＂ she said laughingly,

A New Chapter

Guinea seeks to brand itself as a literary haven after its UNESCO World Book Capital 2017 status.

Raising Their Voices

THE line from Beijingto Juba is bad. It takes several attempts to connect and even after the call goes through, the voices on the other end keep on disappearing and the tenuous link breaks. Then Monique comes on the line. She has just finished school for the day and is on her way to choir practice. She launches into a full-throated rendition of Christ is born in Bethlehem. the traditional Christmas carol that she will be singing in church and at festive season events, and the magic of her beautiful voice triumphs over the reluctant line.

One Belt,One Law

THERE was a giant map unfurled beside him and as Lawrence Muiruri Ngugi spoke, he kept on gesturing at it for illumination. The CEO of the Nairobi Center for International Arbitration （NCIA） in Kenya traced the pathways of some of the biggest infrastructure projects in Nairobi： a mammoth oil pipeline, a highway and a standard-gauge railway （SGR）.