A few links…

…for those with time to spare.

A ‘reality check’ presentation on how the world’s new amazing almighty superpower is more screwed up than its official line lets on – rural China. Also in the ‘more interesting than it sounds’ category (and indeed in the ‘more screwed up than the official line lets on’ category): an update on Hong Kong’s dolphins.

Not least, a big paper on Beijing’s United Front. Specifically about how the Chinese Communist Party is getting its claws into New Zealand – but applicable to every Western democracy, and other places and milieus as well, including Hong Kong.

An interesting parallel here is with the spread of Wahhabi/Salafi Islamic supremacism in Western countries (let alone elsewhere, like Southeast Asia). Like the CCP’s United Front, the Gulf/Saudi theocratic malevolence systematically exploits Western freedoms to infiltrate diaspora communities and influence broader society and policymaking. Both are aided by Western squeamishness about recognizing ethnic/religious-based threats.

The CCP, at least, is possibly over-reaching itself.

Meanwhile, deep down in the freezing pit of Hell – Maria Cordero mooncakes…