China | Chaguan

China’s authoritarian approach won’t save the environment

A truly sustainable future needs more than order and rules

IT IS TIME that civic-minded Chinese become better acquainted with rubbish, suggests Chen Yu, a retired publisher from Shanghai, at the end of a Saturday spent counting litter on the banks of the Yangzi river. This afternoon’s survey has a scientific purpose. Undaunted by the muggy heat and mosquitoes of late summer, Mrs Chen and three dozen other volunteers sort river debris on a concrete breakwater, before weighing and recording each pile on a smartphone app. The heap of takeaway food packaging is dismayingly large, and there are a surprising number of shoes.

This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “More red than green”

Office politics: The fight over the future of work

From the September 12th 2020 edition

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Wegovy hits the People’s Republic, at last

China mainlines “Musk’s miracle medicine”, at a fraction of the cost in America

China’s government is badgering women to have babies

It is testing an expanded pro-natalist playbook


Police officers and a police dog are on guard around the Japanese school in Shenzhen, Chin

China suffers eruptions from its simmering discontents

Amid random violence and increasing protests, fears mount for social stability 


Trump, trade and feeding China’s pigs

As a trade war looms, China looks to cut its reliance on America

Helping America’s hawks get inside the head of Xi Jinping

China’s leader is a risk-taker. How far will he go in confronting America?

Snuffing out the flame of freedom in Hong Kong

Dozens of pro-democracy activists are thrown into jail for up to a decade