NEW YORK—The opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics contained all the pageantry that one might expect from an authoritarian regime eager to burnish its global image: hundreds of children holding dove-shaped props formed the shape of a heart as they danced on a star-lit stadium, as green and white fireworks spelled out the word “spring” overhead, a reference to the lunar new year celebration.
“One world, one family,” so reads the slogan displayed to spectators in the partially-filled “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium on Jan. 4, echoing a call for unity that the Chinese regime has often repeated on the world stage over the past few years.
With this glitzy show, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is trying to take the world’s attention away from the much grimmer realities, including detention, torture, and death taking place a mere miles away from the Olympic venues, activists said.
Australia nuclear-capable bombers, prompting a concerning warning from China.
Australia has been issued an ominous threat, after China lashed out at reports of the US sending nuclear-capable bombers to the Northern Territory.
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According to an investigation by the ABC’s Four Cornersthat aired on Monday, Washington has drawn up plans to build a dedicated a “squadron operations facility” at the Tindal air base south of Darwin that will house “six B-52s”.
These aircraft are capable of delivering both nuclear and conventional weapons, with a combat range of more than 14,000km.
The news has prompted a furious response from Beijing, with the former editor-in-chief of the CCP-run Global Times issuing an ominous warning to Australia.
