Maria Repnikova
@MariaRepnikova
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Assoc. Prof & Endowed Chair @GSUArtSci. Study #Chinese Media #SoftPower #ChinaAfrica, #ChinaRussia; Bylines @NYT @washingtonpost @Atlantic
Atlanta, GA
Joined August 2012
Excited for the new publication in @TheChinaJournal w my grad student and soon incoming @Uva_EAC post-doc @WendyZhou502 on #Chinese public sentiments about #Russia's war in #Ukraine. Free copy for first 50 clicks here: Thread with our arguments below.
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My new work on #ChineseSoftPower is published with #CUP, first in the exciting #GlobalChina series led by CK Lee. Free download of the book is available until March 8th here:
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My new article just out @ForeignAffairs argues that the #US and #China are not directly competing for #SoftPower. Instead, what we are witnessing is #coexistence of their distinct approaches and practices. 1/10.
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In my first collaboration with talented @WendyZhou502 for @TheAtlantic we argue that #China primarily sees the #RussiaUkraine conflict through the prism of the #UnitedStates and more broadly of the #West. 1/11.
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So @CNN “broke” the story of two people talking to each other and they infer #Bernie is lying #DemDebate. We need to reexamine the role of mass media in politics.
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The hardest short piece I have ever written @nytimes: Meet #Chinese #journalist #muckrakers who have braved their way through #coronavirus and reported in brilliant depth and detail everything from cover-ups, to corruption, to eery life in isolated #Wuhan:
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Being a female researcher in the field can mean being asked about your body fat, marriage status, exercise habits and then being mansplained how the world works before discussing even a slice of substance. Yep, it is one of those days. #AcademicTwitter.
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Excited to join the Editorial Board of the @chinaquarterly starting this September. It's a journal I long admired, and look forward to contributing to its many publications.
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Not sure about that. China market is no Russia market - much bigger losses to bear.
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Excited about this new appointment as the William C. Pate Chair in Strategic Communication @GSUCommDept. This position will allow me to complete a new major project that explores #ChinaRussia relations through the lens of #communication and #culture:
Dr. Maria Repnikova @MariaRepnikova has been appointed the Inaugural William C. Pate Chair in Strategic Communication. She will launch a new research project that explores the emergence of the “information nexus” between China and Russia. @GSUArtSci
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Oh god. just when you think things can't get worse. they always do.
A Russian soldier Aleksei Bychkov raped a Ukrainian toddler, filmed the rape and published it in Telegram. When they publish this, one does not even try to imagine what they do with cameras off. @bundeskanzler, @ABaerbock, you are co-responsible. Videos are available on Twitter.
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Thank you for sharing! Happy to send anyone a PDF copy.
In light of recent U.S.-China meetings, take an author's view of the book Chinese Soft Power (@CambridgeUP) by @MariaRepnikova of @GSUArtSci & @TheWilsonCenter, who dives deep into the origins, political motivations & ideologies behind China's #SoftPower:
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Looking forward to my first talk today on the forthcoming @Cambridge_Uni Press Elements book, Chinese Soft Power @USC US-China Institute:
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Major PR disaster unfolding, and mistrust toward #China on public display. Is #Chinese ambassador to #France another #WolfWarrior? Even for this genre of “diplomacy,” his remarks are unusually provocative and extreme.
If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic States don't trust China to "broker peace in Ukraine", here's a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries' borders have no legal basis.
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In this @nytimes piece I argue that the professionalism and courage of #Chinese journalists during #coronavirus is a story in an of itself: @NCUSCR @GeorgiaStateU @GSUArtSci @GSUCommDept.
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Look at this cutie, WWII warrior, Holocaust survivor who is still the boss of the family. My dearest soldier Galina.
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@RudyakMarina Cute. We should do that anyway. I find handshakes awkward. I either over-hug or keep massive distance.
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Three generations: From Belarus to Kyrgyzstan to Latvia to the US.
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Starting my next journey around the sun in Addis. I barely woke up and heard a knock on my door. It’s hotel staff. First thought: maybe there is some trouble? No, it was a surprise birthday greeting with cake and everything. Here is my half awake face with huge smile turning 39.
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Leftist "radicals" giddy about resistance and sacrifice of innocent civilian lives out of the comfort of their homes in the West. Tweeting away their visions of right and wrong over pour over coffees. Unable to contain even rudimentary complexity about geopolitics and humanity.
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CGTN coverage should not be interpreted as a shift in China’s official rhetoric or policy towards #Ukraine.
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Once again a portrait fail: I think I look like a Soviet party administrator here. Though I am a little too smiley for being a party cadre.
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Astounding imagery. In my study of Chinese media, I don't recall public protests directly calling for press freedom in the past two decades. What is very intriguing about these protests is how single-issue focus on #covidlockdown quickly transpired into wider political issues.
Transl:"Chengdu people are passionate. Many young people went to Wangping Street, the video was sent by a friend's daughter. She said: If everyone wants to save their lives or silence, this country will never have hope.". Crowd shouts "Freedom for the news media! 新聞自由,.
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I am at a Zoom conference where I scrolled seven times to see a single female participant, and the fifth keynote speaker now is a man. I don't know how this can still happen in high level conversations on China. Some things don't really change. .
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Wishing everyone to be as strong and resilient as my grandmother Galina (she is 95 years old).
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Anyone else not feeling the New Year vibes, resolutions, and accomplishment mark-ups, and more like a quiet floating on a timeless continuum of the covid era?.
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If there is one thing you read today, let it be this: Inside Xinjiang’s Prison State | The New Yorker
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I am having doubts if US style democracy is good for the US.
I'm having doubts as to whether US style democracy is the best for Nigeria.
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And here is @nytimes paying #TomFriedman to write imaginary interviews. I wonder how long it took to write that, an hour? During midnight dreams?
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It's that time of the year: Just got my book royalties, enough for 18 decent coffees or 14 very high-end ones.
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Honored for the recognition from the @GSU dean of @GSUArtSci.
Congratulations to Dr. Maria Repnikova! She is being awarded the 2020 Dean's Early Career Award for the College of Arts & Sciences. This award recognizes Dr. Repnikova as a "rising star" among the college's faculty.
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Thank you for featuring me! This book should be out by end of the month.
📚 Meet the Author: @MariaRepnikova of @GSUArtSci & @TheWilsonCenter shares about her new book, Chinese Soft Power (@CambridgeUP), which dives deep into history, political motivations, ideologies and more as a lens to view Chinese #SoftPower today:
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In my interview with @jessicacweiss for @monkeycageblog I discuss my current research on #Chinese trainings of #African officials and why they don't amount to an export of the #ChinaModel. Thank you, @jessicacweiss for this opportunity to share my work.
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Every time I visit, she seems to fade a little more, more morbid tales, and today passing down of jewelry. But in this rare moment, I managed to catch a tiny smile from my favorite babushka.
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This is as close as I will get to looking like a Soviet school director.
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I had a very similar revelation going from public high school to fancy college to Rhodes scholarship back to teaching at public university. The path illuminated the facade of meritocracy, and how much “success” is rooted in path dependency and branding with elite markers.
A huge part of me becoming a leftist in college was realizing that meritocracy was a lie, and that many of the rich kids I went to college were mediocrities who had been catapulted into elite academia — and later, prestigious jobs — by money, private school, and connections.
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The highlight of my #ICA19. Very happy to receive this award for the #MediaPoliticsInChina.
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Woah got my book royalties - enough for 15 high end cups of coffee ☕️ or one week of groceries.
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A real shame. My #China research journey started with @FulbrightPrgrm in #Harbin where I spent unforgettable days sharing office with a party official and learning about #China #Russia border relations. Such a wrong move to shut down such experiences for others.
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For my #authoritarianism seminar I usually assign one work of fiction that captures the imagination of living under extreme autocracy. In the past, I assigned Orwell and Zamyatin. Looking to try smth different. What are your favorite dystopia books/fiction articles?.
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My grandmother giving interview to @HolocaustMuseum. Talking about the ghetto, escape, time in the army. Her story has always been my personal project, it’s so meaningful to see it enter the larger flow of collective memory about the #Holocaust and #Jewish life in #USSR
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Grieving the passing of #EzraVogel: At one point on our #PIP China trip he fell down while giving us a lecture in a bus and then he quickly recovered and stood up again. We had to convince him to take a seat and use a microphone. Relentless, beautiful spirit. Already miss him.
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Everything that's wrong with American leftist views on the world in one tweet. By putting #America at the center of everything, you are reasserting #American #imperialism just as you aim to denounce it. #Ukraine is not a passive power, it has its own interests & agendas.
Russia never invaded Ukraine. The U.S. backed a far right coup in Ukraine in 2014 and has been militarizing the region ever since. Don't get it twisted. #RussiaInvadedUkraine #UkraineInvasion.
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Whenever I read “the Russians” or the “Chinese” or any other national generalization combined with political culture as the exclusive explanation, I get suspicious. If you read responses to this thread, it’s justified.
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My new paper on #ChinaRussia #InformationNexus just out with @TheWilsonCenter. It demonstrates the growing cooperation between #China and #Russia in the information space: Short thread.
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Nice to see my work on #SoftPower and my @ForeignAffairs article featured at length in @FareedZakaria @CNN newsletter:
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In my latest article on #China's #communication on #UkraineWar, I demonstrate how it has carried pro-#Russia leaning, rooted in long-standing propaganda patterns. I further analyze mixed implications of this partial alignment for party's legitimacy 1/8.
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After weeks of watching #UkraineWar on #RussianTV grandma came across a #Ukrainian program that features interviews with captured Russian soldiers in #Ukraine. It was through their accounts that she finally saw the war for what it is--the account of shame, remorse and heartbreak.
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Excited to join the Editorial Board of @TheChinaJournal for the period of 2023-2027. Please submit your manuscripts!.
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#EzraVogel is the kind of mentor who offers to write you recommendation letters at the age of 90, while finishing a new book manuscript and living his fullest life. Grateful for a chance to spend time with him. Deeply inspiring and rare human and intellectual. #RIP.
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OK, I skimmed #Friedman article on #ChinaRussia. The title is misleading, but the piece is still riddled with simplifications like "China is a much more serious country than Russia. " Overall, once again, some people are overpaid for enjoying a rhetorical dance with themselves.
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If you have to turn 40, this is how you do it :) Hello new decade, let’s dance through tribulations.
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Happy vibes today in #Atlanta as @ReverendWarnock surprised us at the Farmers Market. Let’s get it. #WarnockForGeorgia.
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Was invited to go on #MorningJoe to talk about #ChinaRussia this past Tuesday. The producer said they have to reschedule. And today my mom digs up a video they did on that day: #ChinaRussia segment was aired, but one of the main guests was #JeffreySachs instead.
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My 96-year old babushka, Galina, in her own thoughts as we start the feast.
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This is excellent. Beyond Sachs, it speaks to selective progressivism by celebrity US public intellectuals. Bernie supporter in one land, fervent believer in autocratic happiness in another.
NEW: Renowned Columbia University economist and UN power broker Jeffrey Sachs accepted $3 million from the UAE to research happiness. “It’s whitewashing,” says one critic. I've been working on this profile of Sachs for months.🧵
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Looking for a graduate student specialising in Chinese studies/international affairs for a paid RA opportunity over end of summer/fall. Project on #ChineseSoftPower (through a critical lens) and #ChineseSoftPower in #Africa. Mandarin fluency required. DM for details!.
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He is more vigorous than many 30 year olds tonight.
Can we stop obsessing over Biden's age now?.
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Important story on the global hierarchies of refugee experience.
A young man fleeing war in Sudan and a young woman evacuating Ukraine crossed into Poland at the same time. They had very different experiences. He said he was beaten and called racial slurs. She wakes up every day to a stocked fridge and fresh bread.
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My Twitter these days is a mix of the world is going to hell and job promotion announcements.
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Wow, that's a whole new level in #China's propaganda on #UkraineWar. How widespread are these provincial orders?.
Provincial govts in China are mandating univ teachers to attend "lectures correcting one's thoughts on Ru-Ukr situation", where attendees are told Russian military action is legitimate & it's all NATO/US/Ukr's fault. Meanwhile, univ students are "reporting" their teachers who.
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Looking forward to this important discussion and to sharing a platform with one of my favorite senators @BernieSanders !.
TONIGHT: Right now, we are in a global struggle between autocracy and democracy, with nothing less than the future of the planet at stake. Please join me, @BLeeForCongress, @PeterBeinart, @brhodes, and @MariaRepnikova for a town hall discussion this evening at 8 PM ET.
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Writing a state-of-the-field book on #ChineseSoftPower: Covering internal debates on SP; #ConfuciusInstitutes; #ExternalBroadcasting. May include #DiplomaticSummits/#MediaEvents and/or #diaspora outreach. Thoughts? Recommendations of latest works or works in progress, welcome!.
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You should be ashamed of yourself. Signed - Latvian Jew.
Today, we Latvians, remember our soldiers in WW2 who fought in nazi uniforms. Although they were part of the Waffen SS, they were not nazis and rather fought for their families and land. 🇱🇻🧵
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Less than a week before classes start. How is everyone else feeling?
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A lovely student shared today that she is debating assigned readings in my #Authoritarianism course with her family, and now it's almost as if the family is taking the class along with her. You teach me, I teach them, she shared. Beautiful.
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This is one of the most horrifying videos I have seen in a long time, and there has been a lot of horrifying lately.
The fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang, the last screams of the residents who were burned to death, other residents could only stand by the window to watch, because everyone was locked at home. #TheGreatTranslationMovement
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And there he goes comparing so called “political correctness” in the US with #CulturalRevolution. Being a dissident doesn’t always translate across national boundaries.
"Certainly the United States, with today's condition, you can easily have an authoritarian," says artist and activist Ai Weiwei — @aiww — who challenged China and became a political prisoner. "In many ways, you are already in the authoritarian state. You just don't know it."
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Pretty cool to open the paper on this special day and find my @nytopinion in this excellent collection.
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Happy Year of the Tiger! Let yourself roar and conquer those real and imaginary enemies!
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Grandma receiving #VictoryDay congratulations like the boss. I often call her my little General.
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One day late to post these but here is my 96-old babushka Galina, a #WWII veteran and #Holocaust survivor celebrating May 9 Victory Day in her own way, amongst family and flowers.
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In this new piece with @nytopinion I explain the workings of #China's #softer #propaganda and the subtle #pushback against it domestically and internationally
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In today's @nytopinion I argue that #USCapitol crisis does not lend itself as a gift to #authoritarian regimes: "damage to America’s reputation doesn’t actually bolster the reputation of authoritarian states. There is no direct connection between the two."
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No more ambiguity.
Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of NPCC: China understands & supports Russia’s core interest & decisions. Re Ukraine, Russia was cornered by the U.S./NATO & had to defend itself & its people.
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Paid short-term RA opportunity available with me. Start ASAP and work till end of June. Fluency in Mandarin required. Research focused on #Chinese soft power narratives and practices. Focus on the African context. Qualitative and media research experience preferred. Open to DMs.
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Rejection: Journalism job; PhD Route: Study Journalists. PhD acceptance: Oxford. PhD process: independent torturous rollercoaster. Post-PhD life: Still wondering if I should have been a journalist.
PhD Rejections: .Harvard.Yale.Amity University, Noida.Lovely University, Jalandhar. Acceptances:.Liberty University.Trump University. 36 years later, I'm a Ronald Reagan Endowed Professor of Social Exploitation at University of Austin.
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When you ask whether all #Russians are gullible Putinists - no. But standing up against the war comes at a steep personal costs. Don’t blame the people, blame the leader.
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I often tweet about my grandmother, but here is my amazing mother. Grooving in #Atlanta. I think we are more like sisters, or I am just very lucky.
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Really @ForeignPolicy? In the midst of a massive health crisis you link it to #BRI? Something tells me traveling globally would be happening regardless but that’s just me.
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Our new #China #softpower team just dropped @GeorgiaStateU. We are covering Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus.
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This is heartbreaking.
Here's a transcript of a Russian soldier's last text messages to his mother that Ukraine's Ambassador to the UN just read out from screenshots at the emergency session of the UN General Assembly
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Holidays babushka visit. Too pricey to come for New Year but she said said “it doesn’t matter when you come, as long as you come.”
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#China scholars, please apply to the 2022 #ChinesePolitics Mini-Conf. in Montreal @APSAtweets: We welcome diverse methods and theoretical approaches! Junior scholars especially welcome! @JuanWangPoliSci, @HanRongbin @hanzhangliu @jasonywu.
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I opened the @nytopinion to see who is writing on #Ukraine today, and see #Friedman telling us to "expect the unexpected," Stephens warning for WWIII, and Krugman about #Germany possibility to "break up" with #Russian gas. What do these commentators all have in common?.
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Finding Lanzhou noodle joint in Addis. It’s a popular destination for many Chinese residents in the city and boss said the business is going strong.
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Looking forward to collaborating with old and new friends @kristenelooney @szscoggins @mattinglee @DGTam86 and many others, as part of this year's Wilson China Fellowship cohort @TheWilsonCenter. My project is on #ChinaRussia "information nexus."
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Looking forward to reading the piece, but leveraging relations and projecting power does not necessarily equate to exporting authoritarianism.
For too long China specialists downplayed the idea that China was exporting its authoritarianism. This excellent @JKynge piece offers a corrective - China is leveraging its relations with the global south to project its power and values.
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Grandma laying out the outfit and the metals for tomorrow’s #VictoryDay celebration. She also took time to call the kids of her veteran friends who passed. I wish to be a fraction like grandma when I grow up.
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