After more than 200 million infections and over 4 million deaths and counting, the COVID-19 pandemic has raged across the globe, writes Jaushieh Joseph Wu from Taiwan. This has created a profoundly devastating socio-economic impact on our interconnected world, with virtually no countries spared. The pandemic has disrupted global trade, exacerbated poverty, impeded education, and…
While the focus in the EU is on the New Green Deal and making sure that the policies and regulatory framework are in place to help the EU members on the pathway to net zero, on the EU’s borders the commitment to renewables and decarbonisation is less clear, writes Jock Mendoza Wilson. To the east…
The first indication we get from King Mohammed VI’s speech on the 22nd anniversary of Throne Day is that Morocco is a country of institutions, writes Abdelkader Filali Each event merits the time and space it deserves. A speech of wisdom, foresight, and fidelity to history, and geography. King Mohammed VI expressed, in frank and…
The European Parliament has criticised Pakistan’s controversial Blasphemy Laws and called for a review of the status quo, writes Philippe Jeune. Pakistan is a major beneficiary of the trading opportunities offered by the EU Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP). From January 1st 2014 Pakistan has benefited from generous tariff preferences (mostly zero duties on two…
July 12, 2021 The Cuban people have suffered 62 years of totalitarian communist dictatorship. During all this time, the island’s regime has wanted to blame the United States for the misery Cubans experience. However, the one that has blocked the possibility of farmers from selling the food they produce to the people is the regime….
Remembering the Tank Men of Tiananmen Square June 4 marks the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, in which thousands of civilians were brutally murdered by the Chinese Communist Party’s death squads, writes Jianli Yang. Thirty-two years later, most of the survivors, including myself, have become parents and grandparents. But despite the passage of time,…
Leading Experts And Human Rights Defenders Condemn And Ridicule The Award Of Vienna’s Highest Honour To The Chinese Ambassador, writes Peter Zoehrer. The award of the State of Vienna’s Great Gold Medal to Chinese Ambassador Li Xiaosi has drawn sharp criticism from leading experts on human rights and religious freedom in China. “We are astonished and embarrassed by this…
Since 2018, the EU has pursued a “Connectivity Strategy” with Asia, seeking to strengthen its connection with the region and promote cooperation in areas including transport, digital economy, energy, and human networks, write Andrey Kovatchev and Ming-Yen Tsai. In January of this year, the European Parliament also passed a report on “Connectivity and EU-Asia relations”…
The threat that emerging infectious diseases pose to global health and the economy, trade, and tourism never ceases. Pandemics can spread rapidly around the world due to international aviation and transport, writes Dr. Shih-chung Chen. As of March 2021, a novel form of pneumonia that first emerged in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019…
The European Union must apply a “tough love” approach to the Sahel, linking continued financial support for Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger to the implementation of long-promised governance reforms to prevent a further destabilisation of the fragile region, a new Friends of Europe report says. In “Crossing the Wilderness: Europe and the Sahel”,…
