With me, stephen sackur. Today, the bbc is running a series of programmes about democracy, the idea and the reality. Its a theme our guest today has reason to consider in great depth. Wuerkaixi was one of the leaders of the Tiananmen Square Student Protest in beijing in 1989. He became one of the Chinese Governments most wanted men. He escaped, and he now lives in exile in taiwan. And today, hejoins me, and a hardtalk audience here in london. Applause. Wuer kaixi, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you very much. We could use more platforms like this to voice our ideas. Well, i want to talk to you all about your ideas. And i want to begin by taking you back to 1989. You made a stand as a Student Leader for freedom and for democracy. And looking back at it now, it has cost you your life as you knew it then in 1989. On a personal level, do you have any regrets . Well, i survived in a Great Movement and im proud to be part of it. But it ended up as a massacre. Regret can sometimes be an understat
With me, stephen sackur. Today, the bbc is running a series of programmes about democracy, the idea and the reality. Its a theme our guest today has reason to consider in great depth. Wuerkaixi was one of the leaders of the Tiananmen Square Student Protest in beijing in 1989. He became one of the Chinese Governments most wanted men. He escaped, and he now lives in exile in taiwan. And today, hejoins me, and a hardtalk audience here in london. Applause. Wuer kaixi, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you very much. We could use more platforms like this to voice our ideas. Well, i want to talk to you all about your ideas. And i want to begin by taking you back to 1989. You made a stand as a Student Leader for freedom and for democracy. And looking back at it now, it has cost you your life as you knew it then in 1989. On a personal level, do you have any regrets . Well, i survived in a Great Movement and im proud to be part of it. But it ended up as a massacre. Regret can sometimes be an understat
(Bloomberg) War over Taiwan would have a cost in blood and treasure so vast that even those unhappiest with the status quo have reason not to risk it. Bloomberg Economics estimate the price tag at around $10 trillion, equal to about 10% of global GDP — dwarfing the blow from the war in Ukraine, Covid pandemic and Global Financial Crisis.China’s rising economic and military heft, Taiwan’s burgeoning sense of national identity, and fractious relations between Beijing and Washington mean the con