“What in the World? Weekly Quiz" | Nov 7-13, 2022

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Last Week’s Quiz Winners

Patricia Miletich, Ventura, CA
Buddy Teaster, Nashville, TN
Catherine Kelly, Nashville, TN
Tim Stewart, Nashville, TN
Yazzie Dospil, Nashville, TN
David Hillinck, Alexandria, VA
Hannah Osborne, Chapel Hill, TN
Seth Osborne, Chapel Hill, TN
Sara Cardwell, Charlotte
Hind Abi-Akar, Peoria, IL
Barbara Cleland, Weston, CT
Bernie Drake, Peoria, IL

Hey! Are you on the list of last week winners? If you become a member of TNWAC you could be the end of the month prize winner.

MONTHLY QUIZ PRIZES ARE AWARDED TO DUES PAYING MEMBERS OF THE TNWAC WHO ARE MONG THE WEEKLY WINNERS FOR THAT MONTH.

OCTOBER QUIZ PRIZE

For decades, China’s rise to power was characterized by its reassurance that this rise would be peaceful. Then, as Susan L. Shirk, shows in this sobering, clear-eyed account of China today, something changed.

For three decades after Mao’s death in 1976, China’s leaders adopted a restrained approach to foreign policy. They determined that any threat to their power, and that of the Chinese Communist Party, came not from abroad but from within―a conclusion cemented by the 1989 Tiananmen crisis. To facilitate the country’s inexorable economic ascendence, and to prevent a backlash, they reassured the outside world of China’s peaceful intentions.

Then, as Susan Shirk shows in this illuminating, disturbing, and utterly persuasive new book, something changed. China went from fragile superpower to global heavyweight, threatening Taiwan as well as its neighbors in the South China Sea, tightening its grip on Hong Kong, and openly challenging the United States for preeminence not just economically and technologically but militarily. China began to overreach. Combining her decades of research and experience, Shirk, one of the world’s most respected experts on Chinese politics, argues that we are now fully embroiled in a new cold war.

To explain what happened, Shirk pries open the “black box” of China’s political system and looks at what derailed its peaceful rise. As she shows, the shift toward confrontation began in the mid-2000s under the mild-mannered Hu Jintao, first among equals in a collective leadership. As China’s economy boomed, especially after the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, Hu and the other leaders lost restraint, abetting aggression toward the outside world and unchecked domestic social control. When Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he capitalized on widespread official corruption and open splits in the leadership to make the case for more concentrated power at the top. In the decade following, and to the present day―the eve of the 20th CCP Congress when he intends to claim a third term―he has accumulated greater power than any leader since Mao. Those who implement Xi’s directives compete to outdo one another, provoking an even greater global backlash and stoking jingoism within China on a scale not
seen since the Cultural Revolution.

Here is a devastatingly lucid portrait of China today. Shirk’s extensive interviews and meticulous analysis reveal the dynamics driving overreach. To counter it, she argues, the worst mistake the rest of the world, and the United States in particular, can make is to overreact. Understanding the domestic roots of China’s actions will enable us to avoid the mistakes that could lead to war.

LAST WEEK’S QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

What in the World? Quiz – Week of October 31-November 6, 2022

1. The incumbent in the runoff election for President of Brazil, right-wing Jair Bolsonaro, was defeated by THIS leftist, former president, after a contentious divisive campaign that many on each side saw as an existential threat to the country.

A. Dilma Rousseff
B. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
C. Michel Temer
D. Nicolas Maduro

Correct Response: B. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/30/world/brazil-presidential-election#bolsonaro-lost-will-he-accept-the-results

2. As Ukrainian forces continue to advance on Kherson, Russia is evacuating the city seen as gateway to THIS region of the country annexed by Moscow in 2014.

A. Crimea
B. Odessa
C. Georgia
D. Donbas

Correct Response: A. Crimea
https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/10/27/russia-braces-for-a-battle-over-kherson

3. Two Chinese intelligence officers were charged in the United States with interfering in the prosecution of THIS Chinese telecommunications company. They are charged with attempting to recruit a law enforcement official who turned out to be a double agent.

A. Baidoo
B. Huawei
C. Alibaba
D. Ping An

Correct Response: B. Huawei
https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-charges-two-chinese-defendants-with-trying-obstruct-telecom-prosecution-2022-10-24/

4. The Biden Administration accused Russia of “weaponizing food” after it suspended participation in THIS United Nations brokered arrangement.

A. Black Sea grain initiative
B. Donbas fertilizer export consortium
C. Odessa wheat shipment safety corridor
D. Global commons food navigation agreement

Correct Response: A. Black Sea grain initiative
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63439760

5. Car bombs set off by the Al Shabab militant Islamic group in THIS capital of Somalia killed over 100 and injured more than 300 people.

A. Khartoum
B. Nairobi
C. Addis Ababa
D. Mogadishu

Correct Response: D. Mogadishu
https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/car-bombings-somalia-92399398

6. Over 150 people were killed and over 100 injured in the capital of THIS country when a chaotic Halloween party crowd jammed into a narrow alley.

A. Japan
B. Taiwan
C. South Korea
D. Philippines

Correct Response: C. South Korea
https://apnews.com/article/health-seoul-covid-south-korea-95c403f1712f8dbfab96e9da88366b03

7. Russian Defense Minister Shoigu claimed Ukraine was preparing to launch a “dirty bomb” which is THIS type of weapon. Western observers are concerned the claim could signal Russian intentions to detonate such a weapon and blame Ukraine.

A. An explosive combined with radioactive materials
B. Artillery delivered white phosphorus munitions
C. A large non-nuclear “blockbuster” bomb used against civilian targets
D. Air launched napalm

Correct Response: A. An explosive combined with radioactive materials
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-sergei-shoigu-climate-and-environment-government-politics-6ea801e22edee2d25c1e24d613f18e4a

8. World leaders will meet in Egypt for COP27, Conference of the Parties, a grouping that works to limit climate change. The conference comes as global temperatures have risen 1.1 degrees Centigrade over 1850 levels, pushing toward the 1.5 degree target limit agreed to at THIS 2015 landmark agreement.

A. The COP-1 Climate Pact
B. Global Climate Change Limitation Agreement
C. The Paris Agreement
D. Agreement to Limit Greenhouse Gas

Correct Response: C. The Paris Agreement
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63316362

9. Political paralysis continues to plague Northern Ireland where failure to seat the Stormont assembly has opened the prospect of new elections. The trouble is said to stem from the United Kingdom’s failure to resolve THIS issue in Northern Ireland amid political turmoil in London.

A. Post-Brexit UK-EU trade relations
B. Resistance to seating a majority composed of Sinn Fein members
C. Allocation of UK funding to Northern Ireland infrastructure
D. Failure to renew the 1998 Good Friday agreement

Correct Response: A. Post-Brexit UK-EU trade relations
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-63445506

10. Visitors to the Disney theme park in THIS Chinese city were locked inside as “zero-Covid” policy tactics were invoked. Authorities have locked down cities and venues, like the factory that makes iPhones, with little warning when local Covid cases were detected.

A. Beijing
B. Shanghai
C. Hong Kong
D. Chengdu

Correct Response: B. Shanghai
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63456107

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