Good morning. We’re covering China’s bold activity into Taiwan’s airspace and China’s rising Covid cases. |
 | | China’s military flights around Taiwan have increased in the past few months.Gong Yulong/Xinhua, via Associated Press |
|
China’s show of force in Taiwan |
According to Taiwan, the military activity included at least 71 aircraft made up of Chinese fighter jets, maritime patrol planes and drones. Taiwan says that 47 of those aircraft crossed the so-called median line in a provocative breach of an informal boundary between the two sides. |
The large show of force came after President Biden bolstered U.S. support for the self-governed island democracy: A military policy bill that he signed on Friday approved up to $10 billion over the next five years for Taiwan. |
Background: Tensions over Taiwan have been rising since Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, visited in August. China has denounced the U.S.’s support as an attempt to contain it, and to interfere in its domestic affairs. |
The Korean Peninsula: Several North Korean drones crossed into South Korean airspace yesterday. In response, South Korea fired warning shots and sent surveillance drones into the North’s airspace. |
 | | As the gap between China’s official data and public perception has grown, so has online ridicule.Noel Celis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
|
Covid seems to be spreading like wildfire in China. Even as the central government’s official numbers remain low, regional numbers tell a different story, suggesting explosive outbreaks and overstretched health care systems. |
One province and three cities have reported Covid estimates far exceeding official tallies in recent days. An official in Zhejiang Province, home to 65 million people, estimated that daily cases there had exceeded one million. In the city of Qingdao, which has a population of 10 million, a health minister said that there were roughly half a million new cases each day, a number he expected would rise sharply in the coming days. |
These numbers contrast sharply with those from China’s national health commission, which on Friday reported about 4,000 Covid cases for the entire country. They also contradict the picture that the Communist Party has presented since its abrupt about-face on Covid policy in early December. Since then, health experts and state news media outlets have downplayed Covid’s severity. |
Reaction: The government’s absence at a moment of crisis has made the public question its credibility. “No one is in charge now,” one man said. |
What’s next: Some experts believe the outbreak could cause over a million deaths in the next few months. |
 | | Before Nord Stream came online, many feared that it would make Europe too reliant on Russian gas.Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times |
|
Three months after a blast ripped through the Nord Stream gas pipeline, no culprit has been identified, and a motive is still murky. |
A major issue in the investigation is that the pipeline, which runs along the Baltic Sea floor between Russia and Germany, is an ideal crime scene for a perpetrator. The cables are not closely monitored, ships come and go constantly from the nine countries bordering the sea and vessels can easily hide by turning off their tracking transponders. |
Russia has quietly taken steps to begin expensive repairs on the giant gas pipeline. Consultants for Russia are also studying how long the damaged pipes can withstand saltwater exposure. The inquiries raise the question of why, if Russia bombed its own pipelines, it would begin the expensive work of repairing them. |
Russia-Ukraine war updates: |
 | | China sees a potential ally in Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Nepal’s new prime minister.Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters |
|
- Nepal’s Parliament elected a new prime minister: Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The former rebel leader has led Nepal twice before and will likely keep the old guard in power, despite calls for change.
|
 | | Thousands remain without power in the Buffalo region of New York.Jalen Wright for The New York Times |
|
 | | “As you get older, staying at home is very lonely,” one former restaurant worker said.Janice Chung for The New York Times |
|
New York’s casinos openly try to lure people of Asian descent. Every morning, hundreds of older Chinese immigrants in New York City take a two-hour bus ride north to play slot machines, collecting a $45 slot machine voucher with each trip. |
Many rely on the bus routine for income, entertainment and community. But gambling can be a gateway to addiction and debt, and there’s a lack of problem-gambling services for the community. |
China’s dating shows for older people |
 | | The dating shows attract younger viewers, who often watch clips on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.Yuan Lai Bu Wan |
|
They’re similar to shows featuring younger contestants: Hopefuls discuss hobbies, strut for the camera and size up each other’s appearances. But in between the lighthearted flirtations, the programs also tackle some of the heavier realities of China’s rapidly aging population, one-third of which is expected to be 60 or older by 2050. |
All guests are asked about their health and pensions. Often, participants are startlingly blunt — a widower recalled tender memories of his wife and a divorced woman described a loneliness so deep that she started talking to her television. |
“It’s not like they’re showing their best sides at first and hiding their flaws for later,” one 35-year-old viewer said. “They’ll just directly make clear their bottom line because they’ve lived a whole life, and they know what they can tolerate.” |
 | | Julia Gartland for The New York Times (Photography and Styling) |
|
“Broker,” by the Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda, was filmed in South Korea and brings gentle humanity to stories that might otherwise be unbearably grim. |
That’s it for today’s briefing. See you tomorrow. — Amelia |
|
.png)
