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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news
Her Father Ensured Her Escape From China. Now This Uighur Muslim Hopes to Free Him From Prison.
At 3 in the morning Feb. 2, 2013, Ilham Tohti and his daughter left their home in Beijing for that city’s Capital International Airport. They were headed for America, with Indiana University as their final destination. The school had invited Tohti to become a visiting scholar. Their flight wasn’t scheduled to depart until 10 a.m.,… -
opinion
Closure of China’s Consulate in Houston Signals Continuing Decline in US-China Relations
This past week, the U.S. State Department ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, giving only several days’ notice. The State Department reportedly made the move in response to ongoing Chinese theft of intellectual property and intrusions into Americans’ privacy. Although many news reports have characterized this as extraordinary, it is worth noting that,… -
opinion
Problematic Women: What Is Known About China’s Forced Sterilization of Uighur Women
A video surfaced recently of Chinese officials herding a large group of blindfolded Uighur people onto trains in northern China. The aerial footage is reported to have been taken last year, but the details surrounding the incident are unknown. What is increasingly clear, however, is that China is carrying out horrific human rights abuses against… -
opinion
Asia’s Space Age
Among other things, 2020 has been marked by a major revival of the Space Age, almost a Space Age 2.0. Unlike the first Space Age, which was dominated by the two superpowers, this is a far more democratic Space Age, as more and more countries participate in aspects of spaceflight. Many of these are Asian nations…. -
opinion
African Nations Shouldn’t Let COVID-19 Sink Continental Free Trade Agreement
What would have been the world’s most extensive free trade zone since the formation of the World Trade Organization was supposed to go into effect July 1. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has plunged the launch date into doubt. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement is an ambitious attempt to reduce trade restrictions among all 55… -
opinion
Blanket Sanctions on Members of China’s Communist Party Wrong Way to Go
Over the past 10 to 15 years, the United States has added a new tool to its foreign policy: targeted individual sanctions. Although it has made good use of broader sanctions—Iran and North Korea come to mind—the U.S. is increasingly taking action against specific violators. Given the complexity of U.S.-China relations, targeted sanctions are a… -
opinion
Chinese Sanctions on US Officials Are Attempt to Scare the Free World
On Monday, the Chinese Communist government slapped sanctions on members of Congress as well as a U.S. ambassador. This action is intended to send the world a message: Fear us. The free world’s response should be to man up. Beijing’s action came after recent U.S. legislation calling for sanctions on Chinese officials over their systematic abuse of the Uighurs… -
opinion
UK Rightly Pushes Back on Gender Transitioning for Minors
On both sides of the Atlantic, advocates for transgender rights are increasingly substituting ideology for biological reality. But while here in the U.S. the Supreme Court last month was writing into Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act legal protections for people who identify as transgender that the authors of the law never intended,… -
news
Britain Bans a Chinese Tech Giant From Building Out 5G Technology
Britain will ban Huawei from deploying equipment designed to build out the country’s fifth generation mobile service, delivering a blow to the Chinese tech giant. Britain Digital and Media Minister Oliver Dowden announced the decision Tuesday in the House of Commons, noting that the move will take effect in January. Unplugging from Huawei will likely… -
opinion
Indonesia: An Asian Powerhouse Growing Fast
Economic freedom has been growing markedly in Indonesia, one of America’s important partners in the Indo-Pacific region. The country’s rating in The Heritage Foundation’s annual Index of Economic Freedom has surged by almost 10 points over the past six years, from 58.1 to 67.2 on the index’s 100-point scale. Climbing steadily higher in the ranks… -
opinion
Author Argues African Americans Gained Ground Under Trump’s Leadership
President Donald Trump’s policies are helping minority communities across America. Today, Horace Cooper, senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research and co-chairman of Project 21, joins the show to discuss his new book “How Trump Is Making Black America Great Again: The Untold Story of Black Advancement in the Era of Trump.”… -
opinion
Soros-Backed Organization Wanted US Foreign Aid to Go to Anti-American Groups. The Supreme Court Was Right to Say No.
The Supreme Court has upheld the right of the United States government to distribute aid to foreign organizations in accordance with American interests. The June 29 decision in Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International represents a significant win for the protection of American freedoms. The case affirms a vital principle of… -
opinion
Advancing Economic Freedom Is the Antidote to ‘Corrosive’ Chinese Capital
A recent study by the Center for International Private Enterprise looked into the patterns, trends, and characteristics of Chinese capital flows to six countries in Southeast Asia, and what it found were disturbing effects on the governance and economics of the recipient nations. The countries examined were Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The center shared its findings in a report, “Mitigating… -
opinion
High School Runner Who Lost to Transgender Athletes Will Compete in College
By now, millions know the story of Selina Soule, the high school track star from Connecticut who missed qualifying for the New England track and field regionals by two spots in her top event. Those two spots were taken by biological boys who identify as girls. Soule, who is wise beyond her years, was well… -
news
US Adds 4 Chinese Media Outlets to List of Beijing-Controlled ‘Propaganda’
The Trump State Department on Monday added four Chinese media outlets to a list of organizations considered to be the equivalent of foreign embassies because of their close ties to the Chinese Communist government. The move to flag the outlets as “foreign missions” is part of the U.S. government’s effort to identify Beijing-controlled propaganda organs,… -
news
Wisconsin Vandals Tear Down Statue of Civil War Hero Who Fought to End Slavery, Assault Senator
Protesters toppled two statues and physically attacked a state senator outside the Wisconsin Capitol building Tuesday night, the state’s governor said. Demonstrators began assembling throughout the day near the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. However, they became agitated following the arrest of a black man who brought a baseball bat and megaphone into a nearby restaurant, according to The… -
opinion
Prospects for Freedom in Venezuela Are High Under Trump
According to media reports, President Donald Trump recently stated he would consider meeting with the illegitimate leader of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. Specifically, the president stated: “I always say, you lose very little with meetings. But at this moment, I’ve turned [the Maduro regime’s request to meet] down.” In the same interview, he also expressed concerns… -
opinion
Who Can Save Us Now?
Long before the rampant violence of the past few weeks, wherever I traveled the country to speak publicly, I unfailingly would be asked the same question: “How did we get here?” How has the freest nation in human history—the only one founded on the principle that all men are created equal because they are made… -
opinion
Double Standards Rule the Day in the UN Human Rights Council
At the behest of all 54 African countries, the U.N. Human Rights Council held an “urgent debate” June 16 to discuss racism and police brutality, with a special focus on the U.S. Earlier, the head of the African Union, Moussa Faki, publicly condemned George Floyd’s killing. Floyd’s killing was vile, and African countries are justified… -
news
‘Completely Crazy’: Lighthizer Denies Bolton’s Claim That Trump Asked China for Election Help
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer denied Wednesday that President Donald Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping in June 2019 for help in the upcoming presidential election, an allegation that former national security adviser John Bolton levels in his forthcoming memoir. “Absolutely untrue, never happened. I was there, I have no recollection of that ever happening….