Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

International Affairs

December 14, 2021

China and Russia don’t know why they were excluded from the “Summit for Democracy”

Presidential summits tend to focus on PR rather than substance. The Biden administration’s “Summit for Democracy” looks no different. Its objectives were worthy. As the State Department explained it, President Joe Biden planned to “bring together leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action.” Continue Reading...
December 01, 2021

Episode of ‘The Simpsons’ is erased from Disney+ lineup in Hong Kong

The streaming service Disney + made its long-awaited debut in Hong Kong this month, although with one episode from an extremely popular TV series missing. An episode from The Simpsons, which ridicules Chinese government leadership and pokes fun at the nation’s censorship of any mention of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, was removed from the show’s lineup in Hong Kong, confirming citizens’ fear of increasing government control and elimination of free speech. Continue Reading...
November 30, 2021

Xi Jinping manipulates history on his way to a third term

China’s Xi Jinping has already served longer than any U.S. president other than Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And Xi is likely to pass FDR in just a couple years. The Chinese president and Chinese Communist Party general secretary has secured the support necessary for a third term—expected to be followed by a fourth and even fifth one, should Xi, currently 68, live long enough. Continue Reading...