Daily Archives: November 9, 2009

Tibetan test for Obama’s engagement with China

November 9, 2009 6:25 pm by Financial Times

By Geoff Dyer, the FT’s China bureau chief

You have to hand it to the Dalai Lama for his sense of timing. Only a few weeks ago, he was quietly shunned by the White House – the first time in nearly two decades that he did not stop by while visiting Washington. Yet this week the Dalai Lama is back in the headlines with his visit to Arunachal Pradesh in north-eastern India, prompting outraged protests from China which claims part of the region as its own and calls it ‘southern Tibet’. The visit has been planned for months but coming as President Barack Obama is packing his bags for his first trip to Beijing, it helps keep a bit of a squeeze on the White House. Read more

Posted in China |

How Berlin plans to avoid a “River of Fire” moment

November 9, 2009 3:00 pm by Financial Times

By Chris Bryant, eastern Europe correspondent, in Berlin

When the idea was first mooted to topple a line of dominoes in the German capital to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, many traditionalists apparently scoffed.

But talking to the excited crowds at the Brandenburg Gate on Monday, it was apparent that the 1.5km row of painted domino stones has become an instant hit, whose symbolism is apparent to all.

The approximately 1,000 stones – each standing around 2.5m tall – were painted by local schoolchildren and now stand along the former path of the Berlin Wall between the Reichstag and Potsdamer Platz. Read more

Posted in Europe |

Gideon Rachman Where were you when the Berlin Wall came down?

November 9, 2009 11:55 am by Gideon Rachman

From the editors: Gideon is on leave to write a book, but can’t stay away from his blog…

This morning’s papers are full of memoirs by journalists who were lucky enough to be in Berlin when the wall was breached. I am jealous. I have delivered an unfortunate knack of being on the wrong side of the Atlantic, when history is made. So on 9/11, I was living in Belgium. And on 11/9 – the day the wall fell – I was living in Washington. Read more

Posted in Foreign affairs |