South China Morning Post (August 6)
Hong Kong’s “tough Covid-19 measures have lasted too long. They have sucked much of the joy out of everyday life and left the city isolated.” Politics have also lessened Hong Kong’s appeal. “The protests, the national security law, mass arrests and relentless rhetoric have all had an impact.” So many of the best and most “cherished memories of the city…. belong to an era that has ended.”
Tags: Appeal, COVID-19, Era, Hong Kong, Isolated, Joy, Mass arrests, National-security law, Politics, Protests, Rhetoric
Financial Times (June 29)
Hong Kong elite are visiting Japan on posh tours to invest in Tokyo. Property brokers say the tours demonstrate “the appeal of the weak yen” and “the way in which the Tokyo market seemed immune from the recessionary worries swirling around other capitals.”
Tags: Appeal, Brokers, Elite, Hong Kong, Immune, Invest, Japan, Market, Posh, Property, Recessionary, Tokyo, Tours, Weak yen, Worries
CNN (March 1)
The lack of an agreement with North Korea, as well as Trump’s other disappointments are dimming “the mystique central to his political appeal as an instinctive deal maker who can get his way through bluffing, charm and lightning business reflexes.” The reality couldn’t be more different. “In fact, Trump has shown more proficiency in breaking deals than making them after pulling the US out of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris global climate pact and abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive multilateral trade deal.” His presidency is turning into “the art of the no deal.”
Tags: Appeal, Disappointments, Iran, Mystique, No-deal, North Korea, Paris, TPP, Trump, U.S.
The Atlantic (October Issue)
“Estrangements are political, not personal…. Given the right conditions, any society can turn against democracy. Indeed, if history is anything to go by, all societies eventually will…. Polarization is normal…. Skepticism about liberal democracy is also normal. And the appeal of authoritarianism is eternal.”
Tags: Appeal, Authoritarianism, Democracy, History, Liberal democracy, Polarization, Skepticism, Society
Washington Post (July 24)
Somehow Trump’s appeal keeps rising. “His support within the Republican Party has risen and solidified. It now stands at around 90 percent, which is what tin-pot dictators get in rigged elections.” This leaves many befuddled, but his trick is telling people what they already believe. Playing to prejudice is Trump’s appeal. “He validates the thinking—some of it ugly—of many Americans. To them, Helsinki doesn’t matter and even Putin doesn’t matter. Only Trump does. To them, he hates the right people.”
Tags: Appeal, Dictators, Hate, Helsinki, Prejudice, Putin, Republican, Solidified, Trump, Validation