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China street style

China moves to ban funky clothes

It’s been decades since China has felt the need to roll out new security laws, but in a post-COVID moment of sluggish economic growth, Chinese authorities are placing new emphasis on rules meant to keep people from rocking the boat. One proposed law in particular has drawn a big reaction across Chinese social media. Apparently, clothes really can hurt a nation’s feelings.

The draft of this law makes it a crime to wear, or force others to wear, clothing that “undermines the spirit or hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation.” Wearing clothes that authorities consider insufficiently Chinese could land you a 15 day jail sentence and a fine of the yuan equivalent of $680.

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Gang members wait to be taken to their cell after 2000 gang members were transferred to the Terrorism Confinement Center, in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Handout distributed March 15, 2023.

Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via REUTERS

What We’re Watching: El Salvador’s lingering state of emergency, Northern Ireland on alert, Alibaba’s breakup, Greek election matters

El Salvador’s state of emergency one year later

This week marks one year since El Salvador’s bullish millennial president, Nayib Bukele, introduced a state of emergency, enabling his government to deal with the scourge of gang violence that has long made his country one of the world’s most dangerous.

Quick recap: To crack down on the country’s 70,000 gang members, Bukele’s government denied alleged criminals the right to know why they were detained and access to legal counsel. The arrest blitz has seen nearly 2% of the adult population locked up.

Despite these draconian measures and Bukele’s efforts to circumvent a one-term limit, he enjoys a staggering 91% approval rating.

Bukele has also sought to distinguish himself as an anti-corruption warrior, which resonates with an electorate disillusioned by years of corrupt politicians (Bukele’s three predecessors have all been charged with corruption. One is in prison; two are on the run.)

Externally, relations with the Biden administration have been icy under Bukele, with San Salvador refusing to back a US-sponsored UN resolution condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine.

What matters most to Salvadorans is the dropping crime rate, which is why Bukele will likely cruise to reelection next year.

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Hugely popular TikTok unlikely to be banned by US Congress
Half of the US uses TikTok but Congress may ban it anyway | US Politics In :60 | GZERO Media

Hugely popular TikTok unlikely to be banned by US Congress

Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, DC shares his perspective on US politics:

Is Washington going to ban TikTok?

If you used the social media app TikTok over the past week, you've probably noticed that a lot of your favorite creators are starting to sound the alarm about a potential nationwide ban on the wildly popular application. Over half of US states and the federal government have already banned TikTok from some or all government-issued devices, and Congress is now mulling further actions, with Republicans and Democrats endorsing legislation that could directly or indirectly lead to a blanket ban on its operating in the United States.

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TikTok is the ultimate propaganda tool, says tech expert Scott Galloway
Is TikTok the ultimate propaganda tool? | GZERO World

TikTok is the ultimate propaganda tool, says tech expert Scott Galloway

Social media has revolutionized the way we connect with each other, but at what cost? On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer speaks to tech expert and NYU Professor Scott Galloway, who thinks that Facebook and Meta are the ultimate espionage tools, collecting vast amounts of data that even intelligence agencies couldn't have dreamed of. He also suspects that the reason Facebook hasn't been regulated yet is that there may be some secret deal between them and the government security guys.

But when it comes to TikTok, Galloway thinks that the widely popular app, developed by a Chinese company, is the ultimate propaganda tool. He thinks the Chinese Communist Party would be dumb not to "put their finger on the scales" and adjust the content to make the West look bad. The scary thing is, we might not even know we're being played.

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How China is overtaking the US as top world power (according to an  investor)
How China is Overtaking the US as Top World Power (According to an Investor) | GZERO World

How China is overtaking the US as top world power (according to an  investor)

The 21st century kicked off with a more open China, hungry for foreign investment in the heyday of globalization. Things have changed since.

For emerging markets investor Antoine van Agtmael, China has become "much more closed, and [...] developed to have a real sense of itself as a world power." Meanwhile, the US has become more defensive about its global superpower status.

That means we're moving from the American century to the Chinese century, he tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.

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Podcast: What if China’s power keeps growing?

Transcript

Listen: As China's leader Xi Jinping begins an unprecedented third term in office, it's fair to ask: how much will China's future affect the whole world? On the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer speaks to global markets expert and investor Antoine van Agtmael, who believes that this will be the "Chinese century."

They discuss the future of globalization and whether the term “emerging markets”— a term coined by Agtmael himself to describe nations transitioning to developed economies – still applies to much of the world. Some of those economies are in decline, but some like China have gone beyond that category. In fact, China is now the second largest economy in the world and is set to surpass the largest, that of the United States.

Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.
Xi Jinping tightens his grip on China
Xi Jinping, the All-Powerful | GZERO World

Xi Jinping tightens his grip on China

Who's the most powerful person on the planet right now? Xi Jinping, who just got a third term as boss of China's ruling Communist Party and got all his loyalists appointed to the CCP's top decision-making body.

But having so much power comes with big tradeoffs.

Zero-COVID is devastating the Chinese economy. And Xi is feeling the heat from his increasingly muscular foreign policy.

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Xi Jinping shaping China's chilling future
China's Chilling Future | Quick Take | GZERO Media

Xi Jinping shaping China's chilling future

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi everybody. Ian Bremmer here. A Quick Take to kick off your week. All sorts of things going on, but I want to focus on China because that is the most world-changing of the issues that are on our plate right now. Xi Jinping, breaking through term limits, securing for himself, not surprisingly, a third term as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. He is today, without question, the most powerful human being on the planet. And that should concern us in the sense that the system is incredibly opaque.

There are increasingly not effective checks and balances on his authority. It is also not aligned with the future that so many in the world are hoping for when it comes to the way that political and economic systems should function - rule of law, transparency, human rights. And I'm not suggesting that the United States has always been a shining example of all of those things, but certainly, you don't have the level of concentration of power in the US or any democracy that you presently have in authoritarian regimes, and particularly right now in China.

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