36 Thursday November 11 2021 | the times
World
Alabama baby breaks
premature birth record
United States A boy from
Alabama, who was born after his
mother went into labour at 21
weeks and one day of gestation,
has been certified by Guinness
World Records as the most
premature baby to survive.
Michelle Butler gave birth to
Curtis Means on July 5 last year,
which was 132 days early, as well
as a twin who did not survive. He
weighed just under 15oz. (AP)Station charged over
gay kiss in TV comedy
Russia A television station has
been charged with broadcasting
“gay propaganda” after two men
kissed in a comedy sketch. The
TNT channel could be banned
from broadcasting for 90 days
after complaints from MPs in
President Putin’s ruling party.
Homosexuality is not illegal in
Russia but promoting “non-
traditional sexual relations” to
minors is outlawed.Boy jailed for criticising
PM fights on for father
Cambodia A teenager vowed to
fight on to free his father, Kak
Komphear, a senior member of
the opposition jailed for speaking
against the prime minister, after
serving his own five-month term
for making comments on social
media criticising the government.
Kak Sovannchhay, 16, who has
autism, shouted “Long live
Cambodia” and hugged his
mother on his release. (AP)One step closer to first
female prime minister
Sweden Stefan Lofven resigned as
prime minister, clearing the way
for Magdalena Andersson, the
finance minister, to become the
country’s first female leader. She
replaced Lofven, who revealed
that he intended to step down
earlier this year, as head of the
Social Democrats last week and is
likely to be the speaker
of parliament’s first choice to
form a government. (Reuters)Floods leave 16 dead
and 5,000 displaced
Sri Lanka At least 16 people have
died in floods and mudslides after
more than a week of heavy rain.
At least 5,000 have moved in with
relatives or to government-run
shelters, according to Sri Lanka’s
disaster management centre. Most
of the deaths were the result of
drowning or lightning strikes.
Many parts of the country have
had an unusually high level of
rainfall this year. (AP)Dalai Lama criticises
‘narrow-minded’ China
Japan The Dalai Lama has said
that China’s leaders do not
“understand the variety of
different cultures” in the country.
Tibet’s spiritual leader, who is 86,
said that he respected his
“Chinese brothers and sisters”
and he broadly supported the
values that lay behind
communism. He told an online
news conference anchored in
Tokyo that China consisted not
only of the ethnic Han people.
“Regarding Tibet and also
Xinjiang, we have our own
unique culture,” he said. “So the
more narrow-minded Chinese
Communist leaders, they do not
understand the variety of
different cultures.” (Reuters)President Xi’s portrait can be seen all
over China — on the front of the
People’s Daily, on the walls of new
homes and adorning souvenirs sold
around Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Only Mao Zedong, the founding
father of the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP), has ever gazed out on the square
itself, his giant portrait replaced over
the years by fresh copies.
Yet this week Xi seeks to cement his
place in history alongside Mao and, to a
lesser extent, Deng Xiaoping as the
natural heir to the revolution.
Hundreds of top Chinese Commu-
nist Party members have been meeting
behind closed doors in Beijing since
Monday, preparing to pass a “history
resolution” that not only rewrites the
past but maps out a future that may lead
to Xi ruling for life.
It is the last such meeting before next
Xi to take his place alongside Mao
in China’s pantheon of premiers
year’s congress at which Xi is expected
to win a third, potentially unlimited,
term after successfully pushing to abol-
ish such restraints in 2018.
The resolution amounts to an official
reassessment of the CCP’s 100-year
history, glossing over its most brutal
mistakes, from the Great Leap Forward
famines of 1958-62 to the Tiananmen
Square massacre in 1989. A picture of
China’s rise to greatness will be present-
ed, capped by the achievements of Xi.
It will shape China’s politics and
society and the way its modern history
is taught for years. However, it is less
about China’s history than its future
leadership under what critics contend
is a burgeoning personality cult.
Only two such proclamations have
ever been made — by Mao in 1949 and
Deng in 1981. Both came at critical
junctures. Xi is not expected to repudi-
ate any of the party’s history but to gloss
over its failings.
Official documents point to the re-
solution’s likely contents. They presentthe thesis of a three-stage rise to great-
ness: Mao is depicted as leading the
people in the battle against oppression,
Deng as the bringer of prosperity
thanks to his economic reforms, and Xi
as consolidating their achievements in
an era of geopolitical power.
The CCP politburo said: “The Chi-
nese nation has ushered in a great leap
from standing up and getting rich to
becoming strong. The great rejuvena-
tion of the Chinese nation has entered
an irreversible historical process.”
The avoidance of criticism is calcu-
lated. Xi has often cited the example of
the Soviet Union as a warning to China.
That it has taken Xi a decade to get
such a resolution tabled may be evi-
dence that his power grab is not without
controversy. The left of the party still
worships Mao, others on the right
worry about the slide back to a dictato-
rial personality cult. Accordingly, Bei-
jing’s propaganda machine has pumped
out gushing tributes to Xi’s leadership:
Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency,published a six-part series framing Xi’s
place in history.
Some of his decisions seem to be evolv-
ing, however. In 2017 Xi became the first
Chinese leader to appear at the World
Economic Forum in Davos, champion-
ing globalisation and the liberal eco-
nomic order.
Since then China has been through a
bruising trade war with the United
States and the coronavirus pandemic.
Xi’s desire to play a starring role on the
world stage has been thrown into ques-
tion by his failure to attend several
high-level gatherings, including the
G20 in Rome and the Cop26 climate
change conference in Glasgow.
Xi’s reaction to international hostili-
ty has been to double down for the sake
of domestic cohesion. A China that is
still closed off to a world only visible
through its Great Firewall may be even
more receptive to Xi’s propaganda.
No one, however, can doubt his claim
to join the CCP pantheon of transform-
ative leaders. It is Xi’s China now.China
Catherine Philp
Diplomatic Correspondent
A nation remembers Members of the Crow Nation perform at the centennial commemoration at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery
ALEX BRANDON/GETTY IMAGESBeijing flexes muscles as US delegates visit Taiwan
expected to speak to President Tsai
about security, bilateral trade and pro-
Taiwan legislation in the US congress.
They were also expected to meet with
the island’s defence officials.
The four senators — Mike Lee, John
Cornyn, Tommy Tuberville and Mike
Crapo — were with Jake Ellzey, one of
the congressmen. The other was yet to
be identified.
Tan Kefei, a spokesman for China’s
defence ministry, issued a statement in
protest. He said: “We solemnly urge the
US side to stop provocative acts, to stopall activities that can cause escalation
in tensions in the Taiwan Strait and not
to send wrong signals to Taiwan separa-
tist forces.”
China’s foreign ministry said that the
visit violated the One China policy,
under which the government in Beijing
claims authority over Taiwan.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
announced that it had organised a joint
patrol “in the direction of the Taiwan
Strait” to further “test the combat
capabilities of multiple forces”. Shi Yi, a
PLA spokesman, said that the militaryexercise was in response to the “seri-
ously wrong words and deeds of some
relevant countries on the Taiwan issue”.
President Xi and President Biden are
gearing up for their first virtual meeting
next week. They have only spoken on
the telephone since Biden took office.
Although the US officially respects
the One China policy, Biden said re-
cently said that he was committed to
defending Taiwan from attack. In the
face of rising pressures from Beijing,
Washington has stepped up its support
for the island.Ta i w a n
Didi Tang Beijing
China staged military exercises near
Taiwan and warned the United States
against further “provocative acts” after
it emerged that senior American politi-
cians were visiting the island.
Mirror Media, a news outlet based in
Taiwan, reported that the US delega-
tion of 13, including four senators, two
congressmen and at least two army
officials, arrived in a military transport
aircraft last night. The Americans were