China's year of unpredictability

April 12, 2022

China's Year of Unpredictability | Putin, COVID & Xi’s 3rd Term | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Russia's war in Ukraine has put China in an awkward spot: they condemn the invasion, but not the invader.

Still, it's not really a "limitless" partnership because Xi Jinping has many reasons to be careful about supporting Vladimir Putin, his toxic BFF.

On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer speaks to Melinda Liu, Newsweek's veteran Beijing bureau chief, who describes the relationship between the two autocrats as a "marriage of convenience."

More broadly, she explains why Xi's biggest problem right now is not Putin, but rather COVID — more specifically China's zero-COVID policy, which has 26 million people under lockdown on Shanghai.

Also, why will it be so hard to prosecute alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine? We explain what is classified as a “war crime” under international law.

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Strategic abroad, shaky at home: Friedrich Merz’s first 100 days

Friedrich Merz, leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, gives a statement after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sacked Finance Minister Christian Lindner, before a session of the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, in Berlin, Germany, November 7, 2024.

Reuters/Liesa Johannssen

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It has passed very strongly. #PUPPETREGIME

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China's year of unpredictability

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Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

More from GZERO Media

In this episode of Ian Bremmer’s Quick Take, Ian discusses the upcoming meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska.

In a first-of-its-kind deal, Nvidia and AMD will hand 15% of revenues from AI chip sales to China over to the US government in exchange for export licenses.

Friedrich Merz’s first 100 days as chancellor of Germany have marked an assertive shift in the country’s role on the European and global stage.

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO Media's newsletter: Signal

Harvard Law professor Noah Feldman discusses rising antisemitism—and what he sees as the Trump administration’s weaponization of it to attack higher education.

As Trump targets elite universities with lawsuits and funding cut threats, Harvard law professor Noah Feldman warns that critical scientific research— not to mention the pursuit of truth itself—may be on the line.

Harvard Law's Noah Feldman unpacks the Trump administration’s legal and political escalations with elite US universities.

It has passed very strongly. #PUPPETREGIME

Twelve days of war earlier this summer demonstrated that Iran has little capacity to defend its cities or its nuclear facilities from Israeli and US strikes. But it still likely retains some uranium supplies, so it has options.