https://www.scmp.com/rss/307746/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Zhang Ling was dressed like a revolutionary from the Spanish civil war. With a long braid emerging from a scarlet beret and clad in trousers a colour she described as “communist red”, Zhang had driven her Honda from her home in upstate New York the night before, inspired rather than frustrated by hours of traffic jams: every passing car, she said, seemed to have been driven by a woman. “Women occupy the highway now, and the city tomorrow,” she said. Millions join women’s marches worldwide vowing... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2066049/when-chinese-feminists-went-washington?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2066049/when-chinese-feminists-went-washington?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Jan 2017 09:30:00 +0000 It is not often that the Chinese government criticises another nation for how it handles civil liberties, especially a country with which it has close financial and diplomatic ties. So it was curious when Qin Gang, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, advised Sri Lanka, a nation accused of committing war crimes, to "make efforts to protect and promote human rights". "What is most important is that human rights conditions should be improved by the governments of countries concerned," he... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1370459/china-seeks-cultivate-sri-lanka-ties-without-international-reproach?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1370459/china-seeks-cultivate-sri-lanka-ties-without-international-reproach?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Dec 2013 20:30:30 +0000 While interest in China and things Chinese may be stronger than ever, learning how to write the language remains stubbornly difficult. Now, Taiwan-born Shaolan Hsueh, who describes herself as an "entrepreneur, a traveller and a dreamer", thinks she may have cracked the problem. After Hsueh tried - and failed - several ways to teach her British-born children to read and write Chinese, she decided to create her own method. Over the following three years, she broke down her mother tongue into... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1320280/chineasy-developer-gets-backing-innovative-learning-approach?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1320280/chineasy-developer-gets-backing-innovative-learning-approach?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Sep 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Like other newcomers to Hong Kong, Fermi Wong Wai-fun struggled when she first came to the city in 1981. Originally from Fujian province in the mainland, her family lived in a wooden shack at a Diamond Hill squatter settlement. Back then, there were no services for new arrivals. But there was plenty of discrimination towards mainlanders. “You come to Hong Kong and you sink or swim,” said Wong, the director of human rights group Hong Kong Unison. “You had to manage on your own.” And she did. Her... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1309742/veteran-human-rights-campaigner-champion-hong-kongs-ethnic-minorities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1309742/veteran-human-rights-campaigner-champion-hong-kongs-ethnic-minorities?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Sep 2013 06:34:40 +0000 The sensitive issue of water sharing between China and India is again under the spotlight. India raised its longstanding concerns about Chinese dam construction on rivers that start in China and flow into the sub-continent at the 5th round of the India-China strategic dialogue in New Delhi last month. However, the Chinese response to a proposed problem-solving framework for the issue was "less than enthusiastic", according to Indian media. China is the world's most prolific builders of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1303506/chinese-dam-concerns-raise-fears-future-water-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1303506/chinese-dam-concerns-raise-fears-future-water-conflict?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Sep 2013 16:00:00 +0000 On a recent Saturday afternoon, Ikea's flagship mainland store - one of the world's largest - is abuzz with people. Walkways guiding visitors from one showroom to the next feel more congested than the road outside, and almost all 660 seats in the canteen are occupied. Yet the lines to the cashiers are refreshingly short - most are not here to shop. The store is gripped by a kind of anarchy that would rarely be seen, or tolerated, in its country of origin. There are picnickers everywhere - their... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1300942/ikea-last-cracks-china-market-success-has-meant-adapting-local-ways?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1300942/ikea-last-cracks-china-market-success-has-meant-adapting-local-ways?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Foreign Minister Wang Yi has begun a two-day visit to Cambodia, a trip analysts say is intended to bolster a key Beijing ally in Southeast Asia amid Washington's growing interest in the region. Wang will meet Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and hold talks with his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong. The trip comes just days after Beijing announced its latest US$14 million gift to the country - four container scanners to use at border checkpoints. Cambodia has long been one of China's most... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1298247/foreign-minister-wang-yi-begins-visit-key-regional-ally-cambodia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1298247/foreign-minister-wang-yi-begins-visit-key-regional-ally-cambodia?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Improving mutual trust in Sino-US military affairs is likely to top the agenda of Defence Minister Chang Wanquan's visit to the United States. US officials announced late on Friday that Chang would meet his US counterpart, Chuck Hagel, at the Pentagon tomorrow. Although a US official called the trip a move to sustain the "very positive momentum" in the military-to-military relationship, analysts said both sides lacked sufficient trust to address many sticking points. "The purpose of the visit is... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1297396/chinas-defense-minister-pentagon-talks-monday?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1297396/chinas-defense-minister-pentagon-talks-monday?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Aug 2013 02:12:45 +0000 Beijing is seeking to restart construction of the stalled Myitsone dam on the Irrawaddy river, a Myanmese newspaper quoted ambassador Yang Houlan as saying. But China would only proceed with government permission and the consent of the nation's people, Yang told The Irrawaddy in an exclusive interview published on Tuesday. President Thein Sein suspended work on the dam in 2011, citing the "people's will" following widespread protests domestically and globally. The US$3 billion project by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1296782/chinese-envoy-says-momentum-good-restart-myitsone-dam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1296782/chinese-envoy-says-momentum-good-restart-myitsone-dam?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Along much of the new 793-kilometre natural gas pipeline linking western China to the Bay of Bengal lie dozens of new schools and clinics. The facilities, built with more than US$20 million in Chinese development aid, are evidence of Beijing's new approach to Myanmar. Facing a Myanmese public increasing sceptical of its huge demands for natural resources, Beijing went out of its way to present itself as a friendly neighbour before gas started flowing through the pipeline last week. Xinhua... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1294563/gas-flows-myanmar-beijing-finds-goodwill-another-matter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1294563/gas-flows-myanmar-beijing-finds-goodwill-another-matter?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Waves of crude oil have washed up on a popular tourist island in Thailand after a leak from a pipeline, amid frantic efforts to stop it reaching the eastern coastline. About 50,000 litres of oil spilled into the sea off Rayong province on Saturday from a pipeline operated by PTT Global Chemical , a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas company PTT. Despite containment efforts by PTT and the Thai navy, oil reached the resort island of Koh Samet on Sunday night and an estimated 5,000 litres of oil... https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1292957/pipeline-leak-blackens-thai-beach-island?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1292957/pipeline-leak-blackens-thai-beach-island?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Is raping a bar girl less harmful than assaulting a "good" girl? A legal scholar at one of Beijing's elite universities says the answer is yes. And for all the media and online outcry his comments triggered, it seems Professor Yi Yanyou is not alone in advocating an obsolete legal culture in which women are not necessarily equal before the law. Injustice in the mainland's judicial system has returned to the spotlight following several highly publicised cases of sexual violence in which online... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1290711/assault-equality?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1290711/assault-equality?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Rights groups are calling on the central government to lift restrictions that they say have been preventing Uygurs in the region of Xinjiang from observing Ramadan since the Muslim holy month began on Tuesday. They say Beijing's security crackdowns after recent outbreaks of violence in the restive region have discouraged Muslims from praying at mosques and interfered with their requisite daytime fasting. World Uygur Congress spokesman Dilxadi Rexiti said yesterday that government officials had... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1280574/uygur-muslims-hit-prayer-and-fasting-restrictions-during-ramadan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1280574/uygur-muslims-hit-prayer-and-fasting-restrictions-during-ramadan?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Amid reports that police opened fire on a Tibetan gathering in Sichuan province, the country's top ethnic affairs official has called for "an absolute fight against the Dalai Lama clique". Yu Zhengsheng, who heads the nation's top political advisory body and is a member of the Politburo's Standing Committee, made his remarks during an inspection tour of the Gannan Tibetan prefecture in Gansu province on Sunday and Monday, Xinhua reported. "For the sake of national unity and the development of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1278909/china-vows-step-fight-against-dalai-lama-shootings-reported?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1278909/china-vows-step-fight-against-dalai-lama-shootings-reported?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jul 2013 12:27:39 +0000 As demonstrations and street clashes again rock Egypt, many in China are watching closely to see what that will mean for the prospects of political reform at home. Many on both sides of the democracy debate have hoped - and feared - that the Arab spring could inspire a similar popular movement in China. Beijing went so far as to curb the sale of jasmine blossoms in 2011 after the flower became a symbol of the Middle East uprisings. Similarly, those in the Communist Party establishment seem to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1276961/egyptian-crisis-may-spur-china-leaders-tighten-grip-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1276961/egyptian-crisis-may-spur-china-leaders-tighten-grip-power?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Xinjiang police launched a new crackdown on the possession of knives, explosives and separatist propaganda yesterday, and offered rewards of up to 100,000 yuan (HK$125,400) for clues leading to the arrest of separatists. The ban on knives longer than 22cm - their blades must be no longer than 15cm - appeared to be a first of its kind for the restive western region. Residents were ordered to hand over all banned materials within 10 days or face "severe punishment", the region's public security... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1274248/xinjiang-police-launch-new-crackdown-separatists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1274248/xinjiang-police-launch-new-crackdown-separatists?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 After 120 self-immolations over the past four years, a series of events in Tibetan regions has sparked speculation that Beijing is rethinking its hard-line stance towards the ethnic minority. Since Radio Free Asia reported on Wednesday that open worship of the Dalai Lama was no longer prohibited in Tibetan areas, international media have been buzzing with cautious optimism. What is described as an "experimental" policy appears uncharacteristically tolerant. Even interacting with the exiled... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1272616/watching-cautiously-amid-signs-shift-towards-tibet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1272616/watching-cautiously-amid-signs-shift-towards-tibet?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 American Ambassador Gary Locke has travelled to Tibet on a rare diplomatic visit to the restive autonomous region to "increase his familiarity with local conditions", the US embassy in Beijing confirmed yesterday. Locke was accompanied by family members and embassy staff on three-day trip, organised by the local government, in and around Lhasa . He will return to Beijing today. US embassy spokesman Justin Higgins said it was the first time authorities had approved an embassy request to visit... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1270570/us-ambassador-locke-3-day-trip-tibet-embassy-confirms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1270570/us-ambassador-locke-3-day-trip-tibet-embassy-confirms?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The dramatic flight of US intelligence whistle-blower Edward Snowden from Hong Kong may put the Sino-US relationship under strain in the near term, but is unlikely to affect bilateral ties in the long run, analysts say. White House spokesman Jay Carney said yesterday that Hong Kong's decision to allow Snowden to depart was "a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant, and that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the US-China... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1268957/whistle-blowers-flight-hong-kong-may-strain-sino-us-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1268957/whistle-blowers-flight-hong-kong-may-strain-sino-us-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Pyongyang's nuclear programme is set to top the agenda when South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrives in Beijing tomorrow for a three-day summit with President Xi Jinping. The state visit is Park's second since she came to power in February. The first was to the United States last month. In the past, South Korean leaders have traditionally visited Tokyo before Beijing. Park told senior South Korean officials that her priorities during the visit would include peacekeeping initiatives with... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1268882/south-korean-president-puts-china-ahead-japan-visiting-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1268882/south-korean-president-puts-china-ahead-japan-visiting-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 China will set up a joint Arctic research centre in Shanghai with Danish, Icelandic and Norwegian institutions, building on improving diplomatic ties with Nordic countries, as it bids to raise its stake in the faraway but resource-rich region. The China-Nordic Arctic Research Centre, whose launch plan was announced in Shanghai in early June, may signal new intentions in Beijing's foreign policy, analysts say. Beijing has yet to articulate an official Arctic strategy, but it has become firmer in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1268160/china-seeks-greater-influence-arctic-region?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1268160/china-seeks-greater-influence-arctic-region?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 When President Xi Jinping held talks with UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon in Beijing on Wednesday he urged the United Nations to be "fair and just", indicating that Beijing would like to play a more prominent role in international affairs. Xi and Ban discussed the conflict in Syria and North Korea's nuclear programme, but Xi also outlined China's expectations of the UN, calling on its members to scrap the "zero-sum mindset". The UN should "uphold the principles of impartiality and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1265397/president-xi-hints-more-assertive-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1265397/president-xi-hints-more-assertive-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 President Xi Jinping told his Vietnamese counterpart, Truong Tan Sang, that both sides should demonstrate their determination to forge a political solution to their territorial dispute in the South China Sea. Xi said the two countries should ensure their relationship does not veer off the right track. "China and Vietnam must both act in a spirit of responsibility towards history and their people, put the broader picture of Sino-Vietnam friendship and bilateral development first, make up their... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1264595/xi-jinping-seeks-political-solution-solve-maritime-dispute-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1264595/xi-jinping-seeks-political-solution-solve-maritime-dispute-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000