China

Feb 21: The Myanmar junta refused to cooperate with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) terms for discussion on Thursday (Feb 18), Ecuador’s National Assembly approved regulations to allow women and girls access to abortions in cases of rape on Thursday (Feb 17), Russia conducts nuclear exercises on Saturday (Feb 19) as the conflict with Ukraine heats up. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that his country would disregard Russian provocation.

14 Feb: Thousands of Ukrainians marched across the capital of Kyiv last Saturday (Feb 12) to show unity as fears of an invasion from Russia Looms. US President Joe Biden issued a warning last Thursday (Jan 10) to Americans in Ukraine to leave within 48 hours as Russia continues to threaten an invasion. Iran’s nuclear deal talks restarted last Tuesday (Feb 8) in Vienna, where delegates from Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany, UK and Use to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal.

Jan 31: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suspends Burkina Faso following the military coup, Russia deploys massive military equipment and troops throughout Belarus, North Korea allegedly fires the most powerful missile tested since United States President Joe Biden took office.

Jan 24: Indonesia names new capital “Nusantara”, Barbados holds its first elections after officially transitioning to a republic, with the incumbent party winning in a landslide victory, Britain warns against Russia and China that the West will not tolerate dictatorial aggression and coercion.

Jan 17: The US Coast Guard pulled 176 Haitians from an overloaded, unseaworthy boat approaching Florida’s coast last Monday (Jan 10). A former Syrian colonel was sentenced to life in prison by a German court last Thursday (Jan 14) for atrocities committed in Syria under the Assad regime. Uganda reopened its schools last Monday (Jan 10) after 83-week closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In September 2021, gas prices in Europe began to surge, leading to fears of gas shortages for energy supply for the winter. The Gazette’s Ryan Toh has dug deeper into the issue to shed light on what led to Europe’s energy crisis and how they plan to approach future energy policies.

Dec 27: More than thirty people, including children, killed in Myanmar by state military, NASA launches $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope, World Food Program “forced” to cut aid to Yemen amid fund shortage.

Dec 20: The French flag in Mali’s military base was lowered last Tuesday (Dec 14) after their forces left the city of Timbuktu after nine years, Two police officers and a suspected attacker were killed in bomb blasts at Colombia’s airport, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party suffered a massive loss during the recent by-election last Friday (Dec 17).

Dec 13: The EU and US have coordinated efforts against Russia should Moscow proceed with an invasion of Ukraine, Cambodia’s Hun Sen expressed that he will “work with” the Myanmar Junta, Nicaragua formally breaks diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of Beijing’s “One China” policy.

The Asia 2021 Public Diplomacy Conference provided a detailed review of China’s emerging digital public diplomacy tactics. Using positive and constructive media to further their “waixuan” (external propaganda) goals; waixuan allows China to remake itself to a whole new audience. In this article, Aneesha from the IAS Gazette examines China’s public diplomacy operations on two social media platforms, Weibo and Twitter, to demonstrate this.