Beijing

alternative dated Peking · alternative Pei-ching · alternative Peiching · alternative obsolete Pekin · alternative obsolete Peh-king · alternative obsolete Pachin · alternative obsolete Paquin · alternative obsolete Pequin

1. A direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China.First known use c. 1958

   Beijing regularly faces dust storms in March and April due to its proximity to the Gobi desert as well as deforestation throughout northern China.

   2023 March 22, “China: Sandstorms blanket Beijing as air pollution spikes”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 22 Mar 2023

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   Liu Lao-zheng sidled right up to Zao-hua and said: “That’s right. I went to Beijing [Peking] to visit with my daughter. Zao-hua, I hear that you have become the workpoint recorder.”[…] Liu Lao-zheng pulled out an abacus from a sack he was carrying over his shoulder. “Huala, huala,” he shook it several times and said: “I bought one in Beijing. I’ll lend it to you to use.”

   1976 [1966], Hao Ran, “Debut”, in Wong Kam-ming, transl., Revolutionary Literature in China: An Anthology, White Plains, New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 92

   Backhoes moved house by house, laying waste to a community called Xitai that was built in a plush green valley on the northern edge of Beijing, only a short walk from the Great Wall of China.

   2020 August 7, Steven Lee Myers, Keith Bradsher, “Beijing Launches Another Demolition Drive, This Time in Its Bucolic Suburbs”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Aug 2020, Asia Pacific

   A protester unfurled two banners on a highway overpass in central Beijing on Oct. 13, denouncing Xi Jinping as a “despotic traitor.” China’s censors went to great lengths to scrub the internet of any reference to the act of dissent, prohibiting all discussion and shutting down many offending social media accounts.

   2022 October 24, Li Yuan, “A Lonely Protest in Beijing Inspires Young Chinese to Find Their Voice”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 Oct 2022, Business

   Synonyms: Beiping, Cambaluc, Chung-tu, Dadu, Khanbalik, Khanbaliq, Peiping, Pei-p’ing

2. metonymicallyThe government of the People's Republic of China.First known use late 20th c.

   While Beijing has credited the law with restoring peace and order to the city, it has been criticised by rights groups and western governments for imprisoning pro-democracy activists and undermining civil freedoms.

   2023 June 15, Didi Tang, “Spotify removes protest song Glory to Hong Kong”, in The Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Jun 2023, World

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   In Beijing’s view, in the absence of an explicit treaty provision, the central line of the main channel—the Thalweg principle—provided a legal basis for delimiting the boundary in the two rivers. On this basis, Beijing claimed that 600 of the rivers’ 700 islands—including Zhenbao Island on the Ussuri River, just 180 miles southwest of an important Soviet city, Khabarovsk—belonged to the P.R.C.

   1980, Melvin Gurton, Byong-Moo Hwang, China under Threat: The Politics of Strategy and Diplomacy, Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 210

   In the Shanghai Communiqué of 1972, we recognized the fact that both Beijing and Taipei viewed Taiwan as part of China but unequivocally expressed our support for a peaceful settlement of the unification issue. While we should not alter the fundamental pillars of our policy, we should consider certain steps that will raise Taiwan's international standing.

   1992, Richard Nixon, “The Pacific Triangle”, in Seize the Moment, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 181

   Russian officials have raised increasingly frustrated requests for greater support during discussions with Beijing in recent weeks, calling on China to live up to its affirmation of a “no limits” partnership made weeks before the war in Ukraine began. But China’s leadership wants to expand assistance for Russia without running afoul of Western sanctions and has set limits on what it will do, according to Chinese and U.S. officials.

   2022 June 2, Cate Cadell, Ellen Nakashima, “Beijing chafes at Moscow’s requests for support, Chinese officials say”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Jun 2022

   Synonyms: Zhongnanhai