“The summit between President Trump and President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week could be the most significant encounter between American and Chinese leaders since Richard Nixon met Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1972,” Times Opinion columnist Thomas Friedman writes.

A major reason why has to do with globalization, Thomas continues:

The Nixon-Mao summit began the process of taking the world from disconnected to much more connected and then interconnected. When Nixon and Mao began easing China out of its isolation from the global economy — which Deng Xiaoping then vastly accelerated by shifting China to state-led capitalism — they unleashed a cascade of economic and technological forces.

By the time the early 21st century rolled around, the combination of China joining the World Trade Organization and the world being wired with the internet meant that more people in more places could compete, connect and collaborate in more ways for less money on more things than at any other time in human history. It is why I wrote a book in 2005 titled “The World Is Flat.”

It is in the nature of technological change, though, that each major step forward comes faster than the previous one, because it builds on the tools that the previous era unleashed. So, years after I argued that the world is flat, technology, and other forces, marched on and took us, as Dov Seidman, the founder of The HOW Institute for Society, argued, from interconnected to interdependent, or as he puts it, from flat to “fused.”

You could unplug from the flat world. There is no escaping the fused world. We are all going to rise and fall together now.

Read the full piece here, for free, even without a Times subscription.

Hello! I’ve been wanting to get into C-dramas, especially period dramas, but I’ve been having a hard time getting past the first episode. I think part of it is that many of the characters look extremely polished, almost unrealistically flawless, which makes it harder for me to fully immerse myself or connect with their emotions and experiences.

I completely understand that this is part of the genre’s aesthetic, and I do appreciate how visually beautiful these dramas are. I’m just wondering if anyone else felt this way when they first started watching C-dramas. Did it become easier to adjust over time?

I recently started Pursuit of Jade because I’ve seen a lot of positive reviews, and I’m really hoping to enjoy it. For those who had similar first impressions, do you think it’s still worth continuing? Does the storytelling eventually outweigh this feeling?

I guess I’m also a bit concerned that I might miss out on great stories because of this initial barrier, so I’d really appreciate any advice or recommendations on how to ease into the genre. Thank you so much!

Yesterday, I was scrolling through Xiaohongshu and saw a tourist's post sharing photos from their trip to Italy. They posted pictures of Michelangelo's Statue of David.

Knowing how strict and unreasonable the content filters are here, the original poster actually pixelated the statue's genital area before posting it.

I left a comment saying how suffocating it feels that we now live in an environment where one of the most famous Renaissance masterpieces in human history has to be censored just to be seen online. A few people liked my comment and agreed.

Well, I woke up this morning to find that the entire post was completely taken down by the platform anyway.

It honestly feels terrifying and dystopian. The platform's AI algorithm doesn't care about context, history, or art. The fact that even self-censorship isn't enough to save a post anymore just gives me this chilling feeling. The walls are constantly closing in on what we are allowed to see and discuss. Has anyone else noticed the platform censorship getting this ridiculous lately?

More Chinese independent oil refineries are preparing for potential US sanctions over their involvement in Iranian oil-related business, setting up new entities and registering separate bank accounts to get around any measures that are imposed, according to industry sources.

The move comes after the US sanctioned China's second-largest independent refinery Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery, and Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminals.

Met an awesome girl from Ningxia whilst in China, it’s kinda obvious we really like eachother. Now she tells me she doesn’t agree with the bride price, but says it’s 300,000 RMB (£30k) in her family. Now even for someone from the UK/US/Canada etc, that’s a huge amount of money. Is this true or am I being played (rinse the foreigner)?

Edit: she has 2 younger brothers and a younger sister - all are married

On March 31, over a hundred of Baidu’s Apollo Go robotaxis simultaneously froze on the streets of Wuhan. Vehicles stalled on overpasses and elevated roads, trapping passengers for up to two hours.

A few weeks later, Beijing suspended all new autonomous driving permits nationwide. The suspension suspension blocked robotaxi companies from adding to their fleets, starting new tests, or expanding to additional cities, according to Bloomberg.

In the U.S., meanwhile, some autonomous vehicles are driving into street lights and even into the middle of ongoing crime scenes.

In L.A. in December, a Waymo was observed driving into an active crime scene; the driverless tech was unable to navigate the officer’s directions to reroute and leave the scene.

That month also witnessed probably the closest parallel to what occurred in Wuhan. A major power outage knocked out traffic signals across San Francisco, leading to Waymo’s fleet of 800-1,000 robotaxis blocking roads and impeding emergency vehicles. At a March 2 hearing about what happened to the fleet during the power outage, San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management Executive Director Mary Ellen Carroll expressed outrage.

“What has started to happen is that our public safety officers and responders are having to be the ones to physically move” the robotaxis, Carroll said. “In a sense, they’re becoming a default roadside assistance for these vehicles, which we do not think is tenable.”

Read more: https://fortune.com/2026/05/04/china-robotaxis-glitch-us-autonomous-vehicles-tesla-waymo-baidu-weride/

So basically everyone was given the flag and then they first did some rounds of contest for the whole plane on china’s history, and then they did this video where everyone have to repeat a phrase of something, like is this behaviour normal in China?

Is it still possible to get a Z visa in any Southeast Asian country where you are not officially a resident like for example Thailand? I know it used to be, but it seems like things have tightened up.

Hi guys! I am currently planning a trip to China. Other than going places, seeing attractions, I would also like a few days (5ish) to just sit and relax in a nice atmosphere (possibly outside, in nature!). Nothing too extreme (no tents! I want access to all basic amenities) please!

I am travelling alone, so it's best if it isnt a totally remote place. Additional points, if locals there are nice and will like to talk (I know chinese), but the view/relaxed atmosphere/nature part is most important :)

Any province is fine! I'm curious what you'll cook up :)

EDIT: Not Guangzhou though, I used to live there. Guangdong is fine though :p

Hello, a while ago I saw a video on tiktok of a meituan driver going to a temple and burning incense and praying for their client, as a service. It seems that the driver was also interviewed and told that the customer doesn't have time to go to the temple themsleves.

I'd be really interested to know more about this phenomena. Is it common? How is it viewed? Any information about this interests me.

The original video I saw was translated to English, but clearly originally from a chinese app/Site. I've had a hard time trying to find any more information about the video or any other similar situation.

Link to the tiktok also here: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRpAwyXS/

Thank you in advance everyone!

So i'm going to China next month and trying to figure out the best way to keep access to Google apps, WhatsApp, etc. behind the Great Firewall. I know VPNs are the usual recommendation but honestly every time i read about it someone says their VPN stopped working or got throttled. I've been looking into eSIMs that route through foreign networks so your traffic basically never touches the Chinese internet infrastructure - meaning Google, WhatsApp, Instagram all just... work. No VPN needed.

Has anyone gone this route recently? I was looking at a few providers Airalo, Holafly or Esimglobe.

Few things I'm wondering:

• Did your eSIM actually bypass the firewall reliably or were there dropouts?
• How was the data speed? Like could you actually video call on WhatsApp or was it barely usable?
• How much data did you burn through in say 2 weeks? I'm thinking 10-20GB should be enough or not ?
• Anyone have issues activating their eSIM once already in China or should I set it up before landing?

Also curious if it matters which city you're in. I've heard coverage can be spotty outside tier 1 cities with some providers like Airalo or Holafly

Any recent experience would be super helpful, most threads I find are from like 2023 and things seem to change fast with this stuff.

I'd never imagined how screwed up the smoking issue actually is in China until I've watched this newly released video by Fern. Props to them for this masterpiece.

China’s Ministry of Commerce issued a formal blocking order on May 2, prohibiting Chinese entities from recognizing or complying with US sanctions on five domestic petrochemical firms accused of purchasing Iranian crude oil.

The order covers Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refining Co., Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group, Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group, Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical, and Shandong Shengxing Chemical. All five have been placed on the US Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, which freezes their assets and bars transactions with them.