When Xi Jinping moved to lift term limits on his presidential office last week, many of his people spotted an unflattering precedent: Yuan Shikai, the first president of the Republic of China, who tried to make himself emperor in 1915 and was forced to back down. The Chinese authorities aren’t keen on the comparison, and have duly banned it from social media. Isabella Jackson explains what Xi has in common with his over-ambitious predecessor.
Rex Tillerson is soon to touch down in Africa for the first time as Donald Trump’s secretary of state. John Stremlau argues that whatever hopes his hosts might have, they’ll probably be disappointed. A look at Tillerson’s itinerary indicates that counterterrorism is top of the agenda – and possibly the only thing on his mind.
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Yuan Shikai in 1915.
Wikimedia Commons
Isabella Jackson, Trinity College Dublin
There's a very unflattering historical parallel for Xi Jinping's move to lift term limits. The Chinese Communist Party is having none of it.
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Environment + Energy
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William J. Kinsella, North Carolina State University
During the Cold War, the US built nuclear weapons at a network of secretive sites across the nation. Some are still heavily polluted and threaten public health today.
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Cameron Fioret, University of Guelph
Farmer-led development work can improve people's lives, provide access to food and water - and re-connect them to nature.
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Arts + Culture
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Liani Maasdorp, University of Cape Town
The decision by South Africa's Film and Publication Board to ban the film Inxeba has been widely criticised.
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Politics + Society
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John J Stremlau, University of the Witwatersrand
The US Secretary of State's mission to Africa will produce few benefits for the continent or for US-Africa relations.
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Nicholas Biddle, Australian National University; Francis Markham, Australian National University
What may appear to be slow progress or steady outcomes for the whole Indigenous population may be masking worsening results.
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