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Joined 19 days ago
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Cake day: November 10th, 2025

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  • No, it effects ‘ordinary’ Chinese people as many invested their life savings hoping to pay for a house or an apartment for themselves and their children. Their money is now gone for property that will never be built, or is half-built and’ll be finished. Many are now left behind with an amount of debt.

    As the article says:

    Money flooded into real estate as the emerging middle class leapt upon what was one of the few safe investments available, pushing home prices up sixfold over the 15 years ending in 2022. … At its peak, the sector directly and indirectly accounted for about a quarter of domestic output and almost 80% of household assets.

    The consequences are dire:

    With household debt at a high of 145% of disposable income per capita at the end of 2023, homeowners are increasingly under financial pressure. The country’s residential mortgage delinquency ratio – which tracks overdue mortgage payments – jumped to the highest in four years as of late 2023. Some homeowners are being forced to sell their properties at a discounted rate, which is only exacerbating the problem … the situation could deteriorate further in 2026 as households struggle to repay mortgages and other loans.

    The data for these inferences comes from official Chinese sources - which is, once again, a very bad sign given as China’s official statistics are ‘opaque’ to say the least. The article reads:

    The property sector’s drag on inflation could even be greater than official data suggest [because] the methodology used to determine China’s official Consumer Price Index understates falling rents, and, by extension, the broader deflationary impact.

    It could even be worse than the data suggests.

    And it definitely effects a large number of Chinese people of the middle class, just like you and me.

    [Edit for clarity.]


















  • Justice and accountability are not tokens for negotiation, say survivors in Ukraine

    At the international conference hosted by Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) in Kyiv on 26 November, survivors presented their Call to Action. These demands include:

    • No amnesty for war crimes
    • The immediate release of all those still in Russian captivity
    • The inclusion of survivors of violations committed since 2014 in the Registry of Damages. Survivors also stress that the process for applying for compensation need to be flexible, accessible and survivor-centred
    • The effective and prompt implementation of Law 4067 (Bardina Law)

    The Bardina Law gives survivors of conflict-related sexual violence the right to urgent interim reparation. The law came to force in June 2025 but is yet to be implemented. The pilot project on Urgent Interim Reparations for conflict-related sexual violence survivors proves that the registration process can be inclusive, transparent, credible and survivor-centred.

    And don’t forget that one in 10 rescued Ukrainian children sexually abused in the occupied territories.

    It is important to note that Putin’s Russia broke some 400 agreements in the recent decade or so, that’s basically every he signed.



















  • A similar case recently happened in Germany, where the country’s authorities face heavy criticism after admitting that a 56-year-old Uyghur asylum-seeker was mistakenly put on a plane to China instead of to Turkey.

    According to reports (one is here), the woman, Reziwanguli Baikeli, had fled China’s Xinjiang region in 2017, lived in Turkey for several years and joined her daughter in Germany in 2024. Uyghurs are recognised by Germany as a group at extreme risk of persecution; informal guidance says they should not be returned to China.

    Experts call for Germany (and possibly the whole of Europe) for a federal “white list” of countries to which deportations are categorically barred, similar to policies already used in Sweden and the Netherlands.