I’ve been back in the UK for just over a week now, having spent the last 13 months predominantly in China, but post-Corona in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Philippines. Obviously I knew what I was flying back to, and I knew that soon after hastily returning, the country was going to go into full lockdown. But lockdown is a last resort, not … Continue reading One virus. Two continents. Two very different responses.
For the last nine months I have been living in Shenzhen, where I can see the mountains of Hong Kong from my apartment building. I cross the boarder about once a month, and each time I go it is looking more and more like a war zone. When I first visited Hong Kong back in March, it reminded me a lot of London. The infrastructure … Continue reading Hong Kong heading somewhere scary
I’ve been living in China for the last five months. Here are a few potentially interesting things I’ve observed (about Shenzhen at least – a huge city in the south that makes up a tiny part of this mega country): 1.) When it comes to technology, these guys are a step ahead. This is particularly notable here in Shenzhen. Back in the UK I had … Continue reading A few potentially interesting things about China
There’s no country on Earth quite like North Korea. In America and Europe, the reaction to the country, when there’s any reaction at all, is divided fairly equally between nervousness and mockery. It is a controversial force between the myth and reality of what life is really like inside North Korea. Most people would have difficulty naming any city in the country other than Pyongyang. … Continue reading North Korea: Understanding the Pariah State
Two years ago, the Conservatives won by a majority. A year later, early 2016 and Tony Blair is beside himself. Baffled at the thought of Jeremy Corbyn. His confusion is to be expected, he had warned Labour that “if you’re heart is with Jeremy, get a transplant.” But since Blair left office, the world has been changing, one regime at a time, and he is … Continue reading The birth of New Labour and demise of the Blairites
