How Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement Folded

An effective boycott by the relevant interlocutors, in the form of government officials, and for two months the lack of a face-to-face oppressor, in the form of police—who until last week appeared to have learned that gassing protesters was the equivalent of poking a stick into a hornet's nest—left Hong Kong's democracy movement to turn in on itself.

Leader Asserts China’s Growing Importance on Global Stage

Sounding confident after a burst of high-profile diplomacy, President Xi Jinping told Communist Party officials in a major address here over the weekend that China would be nice to its neighbors in Asia but that he would run an active foreign policy and be relentless in promoting China’s rejuvenation onto the global stage.