International News
Coverage of international events and global policy shifts. The Daily Signal offers news reporting with opinion and commentary on world affairs.
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opinion
Microsoft Was Right to Pull Plug on LinkedIn in China
LinkedIn, a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, announced on Thursday a sunset of its localized version of its platform in China that currently has over 50 million users. The platform had recently been criticized for blocking several U.S. journalists for the use of “prohibited content” in light of a crackdown by Chinese authorities earlier this… -
opinion
Xi Jinping’s Taiwan Saber-Rattling Is All About Shoring Up Domestic Power
For the last several weeks, tensions have roiled the Taiwan Straits. China has sent ever larger numbers of combat aircraft across the center line of the straits and into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone, compelling their Taiwanese counterparts to respond. The intricate ballet of dispatching multiple types of aircraft from different airbases, coordinating their flight… -
opinion
China Will Test America on Taiwan. What Will Joe Biden Do?
Chinese military activity around Taiwan has risen to unprecedented levels over the last few months. Chinese warplanes have breached Taiwan’s air defense zone more than 150 times in just this last week. Given the stakes, and rather ambiguous assurances from the U.S. regarding Taiwan’s security, what happens when Beijing tries to test U.S. resolve? The current Taiwan Relations Act does not provide… -
opinion
How China’s Economic Freedom Deficit Distorts Markets Beyond Its Borders
In an attempt to lay out the Biden administration’s approach to charting the course of the U.S.-China economic relationship, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai underscored that the bilateral relationship is “complex and competitive.” More importantly, Tai noted, “In recent years, Beijing has doubled down on its state-centered economic system. It is increasingly clear that China’s… -
opinion
The Irony: UN Women Says Word ‘Women’ Is Exclusionary
U.N. Women, the United Nations organization responsible for furthering the cause of women all over the world, seems out to erase itself and any credibility it has as a women’s rights organization. U.N. Women announced in July 2019 it would focus on “equality of all genders” (as I wrote about here) instead of solely women’s rights…. -
opinion
A Warning From Australia About Power of Government
Is Australia turning authoritarian? As COVID-19 cases in Australia increased over the past few months due to the delta variant, we’ve seen images of mass protests alongside police and military crackdowns. The Australian military has been unleashed in Sydney to enforce draconian lockdowns and extreme restrictions on travel. Officials often have unevenly and arbitrarily enforced… -
news
House Republicans Probe Climate Groups’ Ties to China
A pair of top House Republicans demanded information from several progressive organizations on their ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, ranking member on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Morgan Griffith of Virginia, ranking member on the oversight and investigations subcommittee, wrote letters Sunday to four left-wing climate-focused groups with a series of… -
opinion
On Nukes, China Aims for Parity With US—or Maybe More
After a summer of extraordinarily bad news on the exponential growth of China’s strategic nuclear forces, recent public statements by U.S. government officials indicate Beijing isn’t only building out its nuclear forces, but also diversifying it, by considering new, nontraditional weapons, as well as possibly reconsidering its nuclear deterrent doctrine. That’s an awful lot of… -
opinion
After Afghanistan Disaster, Ukrainians Worry About Biden Betraying Them
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered his condolences to the United States after 13 American service members perished in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan amid the chaos of the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal. Many Ukrainians have asked themselves, “If President Joe Biden is willing to leave Americans behind in Afghanistan, what will stop him from abandoning… -
opinion
Australia’s Aim Is Zero COVID-19 Cases, but That Means ‘Zero Freedom,’ Local Says
Melbourne, Australia is in its sixth COVID-19 lockdown and is now the longest locked-down city in the world. Australia has taken an unprecedented approach to fighting the pandemic within its borders, implementing extreme lockdown measures. Leaders across Australia have instantly put their states and cities into lockdown when COVID-19 cases are reported, believing that “zero… -
opinion
Who Would Hide a Jew If Nazis Took Over America?
There is something about most Jews that few non-Jews know: We Jews often ask ourselves if a non-Jew in our lives would hide us in the event of a Nazi-like outbreak. I don’t know if young Jews think about this, but nearly all Jews who grew up in the decades following the Holocaust often wondered:… -
news
7 Takeaways as Milley, Austin, McKenzie Testify on Afghanistan, China Phone Calls
In some cases, the answers were surprising. In other cases, the answers were surprising only in hearing top U.S. military leaders state publicly what already was suspected. The Senate Armed Services Committee got some answers Tuesday from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin; Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Marine Gen…. -
opinion
Lack of American Trade Leadership Would Leave US-Australia-UK Partnership Incomplete
The recently unveiled U.S.-Australia-U.K. trilateral security partnership is intended to deepen the security ties between the three longtime allies. The new partnership has been marketed as a strategic security alliance, with the Biden administration underscoring that “[AUKUS] is a fundamental decision—fundamental—that binds decisively Australia to the United States and Great Britain for generations.” A key… -
opinion
Biden’s UN Speech Panders to Globalists
President Joe Biden gave a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that was guaranteed to delight any globalist. Suffused with promises of multinational cooperation, it addressed all of the standard progressive pet projects, from climate change to global equity, universal labor, and environmental standards. He even promised to “build back the world better,” and open… -
news
4 Takeaways From Biden’s First UN Speech
An embattled President Joe Biden arrived Tuesday for his first address to the United Nations General Assembly with the recent rebuke of allies for his botched exit from Afghanistan, a security crisis at the southern U.S. border, and his domestic agenda in stalemate largely because of his own party’s infighting. In his speech, Biden sought… -
news
UK Court Decides Kids Under 16 Can Take Puberty Blocking Drugs Without Court Approval
Doctors can now prescribe puberty blocking medication to children under the age of 16 without a judge’s approval, Britain’s Court of Appeal ruled on Friday. The decision reverses last year’s ruling that children seeking gender reassignment aren’t mature enough to give informed consent to take puberty blocking medicine, The Associated Press reported. The decision said that doctors should seek court approval before… -
opinion
China’s ‘Revolution’ Profound but Not Unprecedented
Amid an already concerning “common prosperity” drive and crackdowns on a growing list of industries, Beijing recently released new rules to strengthen the government’s ideological oversight of the entertainment sector. Shortly thereafter, a post by a hitherto-obscure blogger claimed these developments constituted to a “profound revolution” against capitalists, the “worship” of Western culture, and “sissy-boy”… -
opinion
North and South Korea Just Test-Fired Missiles. Here’s What You Need to Know.
North Korea followed its weekend test launch of long-range cruise missiles by firing two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday. Shortly afterward, South Korea conducted another successful test of its submarine-launched ballistic missile. The nearly concurrent launches simply reflect continued missile development by both Koreas, but will likely be interpreted as responsive… -
news
North Korea’s Restarting of Nuclear Reactor Likely Inevitable, Veteran Observer Says
North Korea was likely always going to restart its nuclear reactor, regardless of which presidential administration was in office, an expert on the region told The Daily Caller News Foundation. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in late August that North Korea had restarted a plutonium-producing 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon in July, after previously shutting it down… -
news
Woman Who Was Baby at Center of Roe v. Wade Steps Forward
The baby at the heart of the monumental abortion case Roe v. Wade was not aborted—she was born before the Supreme Court’s final decision, but wasn't publicly identified until now. “When someone’s pregnant with a baby, and they don’t want that baby, that person develops knowing they’re not wanted,” the “Roe baby” reportedly told author Joshua…