East Asia

Death Knell for Big Carbon? Globally, All New Electricity Demand was Met by Renewables in first 1/2 of ’22, with Fossil Fuels Flat

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In the first half of 2022, there was no increase in the world’s use of fossil fuels, and all new electricity demand was met by renewables. The world is nearing a tipping point, estimated by the International Energy Agency to come in 2025, after which all new electricity demand will […]

China

One City in China Plans More Offshore Wind Capacity by 2030 than the Entire United States

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Shenzhen Daily reports that the city of Chaozhou in China’s southern Guangdong Province is planning the world’s largest offshore wind farm, at 43.3 gigawatts. The United States has almost no offshore wind now, but the Biden Administration has a goal of 30 gigawatts by 2030 and the Interior Department […]

China

The New Cold War Heats Up Asia: China and the U.S. Face an Unprecedented Crisis

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – If the world is indeed entering a new Cold War, it bears little resemblance to the final years of that global conflict with its frequent summits between smiling leaders and its arms agreements aimed at de-escalating nuclear tensions. Instead, the world today seems more like the perilous first decade of that […]

China

The World’s Other Nuclear Flashpoint: Mounting Tensions Over Taiwan

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Thanks to Vladimir Putin’s recent implicit threat to employ nuclear weapons if the U.S. and its NATO allies continue to arm Ukraine — “This is not a bluff,” he insisted on September 21st — the perils in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict once again hit the headlines. And it’s entirely possible, as ever […]

Europe

As Falls Russia, So Falls the World: Exceptionalism Goes Global

John Feffer

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Here’s a nightmare scenario: Unable to recruit enough soldiers from the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin takes North Korean leader Kim Jong-un up on his recent offer to send 100,000 North Koreans to join the Russian president’s ill-fated attempt to seize Ukraine. Kim has also promised to send North Korean workers to […]

China

New Hawkish UK PM Liz Truss is Spoiling for Confrontations with Russia and China

Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

London (Special to Informed Comment) – The United Kingdom has announced its third Prime Minister since Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU) in 2016. Although former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was the man to guide Brexit, those who assisted in his post-Brexit vision could further Britain’s controversial path. On September 6, Liz Truss […]

censorship

China: New UN Report Urges Accountability for Uyghurs, Alleges Crimes Against Humanity

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Geneva) – A groundbreaking United Nations report published on August 31, 2022, says the Chinese government has committed abuses that may amount to crimes against humanity targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic communities in the Xinjiang region, Human Rights Watch said today. The report by the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human […]

China

Climate Emergency hits China: Historic droughts trigger power Shortages in the Yangtze Basin

China Dialogue

( China Dialogue ) – Since mid-June, China has been facing the most intense and enduring heat waves since records began in 1961, according to the National Climate Centre. In the past week, the middle and lower Yangtze River basin has experienced exceptionally hot and dry spells in what is supposed to be the flood […]

Japan

The Unbearable Weight of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Where We Stand on August 6 and 9, 2022

H. Patricia Hynes

August 6 and 9 mark the 77th year since the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, annihilating instantly an estimated 170,000 women, men and children and sentencing tens of thousands more to eventual death from radiation poisoning and injuries. Article continues after bonus IC video United Nations Institute […]