China

The Chinese leadership is worried. Their country’s long history is peppered with instances of the “Mandate of Heaven” falling from the rulers’ shoulders because of economic problems.

On top of that there is the obvious fact that autocracies run the risk of violent dissent because the non-violent avenues of protest are banned.

Paramount Leader Xi Jinping has warned of “potential dangers” and added that the Chinese Communist Party must be “well-prepared” to “overcome grave challenges.” In Xi-speak this means a crackdown on dissent accompanied with measures to help the middle classes  and criticism of wealthy people who flaunt their riches.

In this week alone. The party has authorised cash hand-outs, tried to shake up the ailing property market and held a surprise meeting to kick start the economy. But three years of economic slowdown and Covid lockdown have taken a toll and economists believe that it is unlikely that China will hit the relatively modest (for China) target of 5 percent growth in the economy.

The Chinese young people have been particularly hard hit. Unemployment among the 16 to 24 year olds hit 21.3 percent in 2023. In January this year the government stopped issuing figures which implies that the youth jobless statistics have soared even higher. Also impacted has been the promotion prospects for those fortunate enough to be in employment.

For decades the Chinese have been admired – and feared—for their extraordinary work ethic. The changes in the economy, however, have created a shift in attitudes towards work. According to a recent survey by American online pollsters, in 2013, 63 percent of recent graduates said hard work paid. Ten years later the figure had dropped to 28.3 percent.

The survey by N. Aliskey, S, Rozelle and M. Whyte also revealed a fear for the future. In 2014, 76.5 percent of those polled were optimistic about the future and said that the economy and their lives had improved over the past five years. In 2023 the figure was 38.8 percent.

According to the think tank Freedom House, in the second quarter of 2024 there has been an 18 percent rise in protests and three-quarters of these were based on economic grievances. From June 2022, Freedom House has logged 6,400 incidents of dissent, and their research does not include Xinjiang or Tibet where dissent is the strongest.

United States

J.D Vance won the vice-presidential debate. That was the general consensus. That consensus is not good news for J.D. Vance. Donald Trump does not like the spotlight being shifted away from him.

And it is shifting more and more as the former president’s rallies are increasingly exposing his weaknesses.  Trump’s speeches were always difficult to follow. But they are becoming longer, increasingly incoherent and filled with blatantly false statements and conspiracy statements, hatred and just plain nonsense. As a result more and more people are simply walking away from his rallies.

This week he has accused Kamala Harris of murder, although he was vague about who the victim was. He also said that the Vice President had a special phone app that people smugglers can phone for information about where to drop illegal immigrants.

American soldiers who suffered traumatic brain injuries when their base in Iraq was attacked by Iranian missiles had “only headaches” and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was trying to assassinate him.

For more than half a century, the American TV programme 50 minutes has interviewed the presidential candidates. This week Trump pulled out. His campaign managers clearly thought that the least said by their nominee the better.

The official reason given for the pull-out was that 60 Minutes insisted on live fact-checking. This determined effort by journalists to deal with the truth does not go down well with either Donald Trump or J.D. Vance. During the vice-presidential debate Vance made false statements about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. He was corrected by moderator Margaret Brennan and immediately retorted: “The rules were that you weren’t going to do any fact-checking.”

A primary purpose of any media organisation is to speak truth to power.

Austria

Europe’s far-right chalked up another election victory this week. This time it was in Austria where the Freedom Party led by Herbert Kickl emerged from elections with the biggest share of the vote – 29.2 percent.

However, Kickl’s extreme policies may make it difficult for him to achieve his stated goal of become Austria’s Chancellor. He does not have an absolute majority and all of Austria’s other political parties are united in their refusal to join a coalition which gives him the top job.

A quick look at his manifesto explains their reluctance. For a start, Kickl says he will want to be called Volks Kanzler (English translation: People’s Chancellor). This was the same term used by Adolf Hitler. Kickl also wants a “remigration of uninvited foreigners” to achieve a more “homogenous” nation. He is opposed to sanctions against Russia, military aid to Ukraine and wants to drop out of a proposed missile defense shield for Europe.

It has not, however, all been good news this week for Europe’s extreme right. On Monday Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) went on trial along with 20 other members of her party. Ms Le Pen and co. are accused of hiring assistants with EU funds who then worked on party business rather than the business of the European Parliament.

If she is found guilty. Ms Le Pen faces fines, imprisonment and a bar from seeking elected office for up to ten years. This would effectively put an end to her political career.

Her lawyers and RN officials, however, are confident that they will win the case. An RN spokesperson said: “We are going to prove that it is possible to be an assistant to a Member of the European Parliament and at the same time be involved in the life of the party.”

* Tom Arms is foreign editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and author of “The Encyclopaedia of the Cold War” and “America Made in Britain".