https://www.scmp.com/rss/322555/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Xinlu Liang Xinlu Liang As one of the biggest targets of wartime looting in centuries past, China is now positioning itself as a global pioneer in repatriating lost cultural artefacts. In this article, the second in a two-part series, Xinlu Liang looks at how China is wielding law, diplomacy and a Global South coalition to rewrite the rules of restitution, filling a void left by a retreating US. In January, as the United States was withdrawing from a raft of heritage and science bodies around the world, China was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348243/how-china-stepping-cultural-repatriation-void-left-retreating-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348243/how-china-stepping-cultural-repatriation-void-left-retreating-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2026 22:00:13 +0000 Lavender Au Lavender Au I WAS BORN in Guangzhou in 1979. In the 1980s and 90s, Guangzhou was a relatively special city in China. Many of my classmates had relatives in Hong Kong. It was more open, more connected to the outside world. People generally valued profit and were practically minded. The direct comparison with Hong Kong coupled with the continuous transmission of a kind of folk culture means that Guangdong has always had a very secular society. Even during the political movements of the 50s, 60s and 70s,... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3342638/author-hu-anyan-work-writing-and-overcoming-inferiority-complex?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3342638/author-hu-anyan-work-writing-and-overcoming-inferiority-complex?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 07:00:09 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin Political purges, funding cuts and a growing hostility towards expertise have unsettled the US research community, evoking memories among Chinese-Americans of a dark chapter in Chinese history and prompting some to look to China for stability. The Cultural Revolution, launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 to eliminate “bourgeois” influence and consolidate his power, plunged China into turmoil. Factories and schools were shut down while scholars were denounced and exiled for “re-education”. The upheaval... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3329862/us-fuels-brain-drain-china-trumps-anti-science-cultural-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3329862/us-fuels-brain-drain-china-trumps-anti-science-cultural-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Oct 2025 15:00:10 +0000 Cannix Yau Cannix Yau Senior secondary school students will learn more about the Communist Party’s founding and its socialism under a coming overhaul of the curriculum of the Chinese history and history subjects, which analysts say will reinforce patriotism and Hongkongers’ national identity. Under the revamp, the Cultural Revolution will no longer be a stand-alone topic in the Chinese history curriculum while several issues have been removed, including the “Outer Mongolia Incident” and the “Tibet Incident” from the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3327880/hong-kong-revamping-school-history-subjects-communist-party-founding-added?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3327880/hong-kong-revamping-school-history-subjects-communist-party-founding-added?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Oct 2025 10:44:22 +0000 Yuanyue Dang Yuanyue Dang Chinese novelist Yan Lianke is considered a strong contender to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Yan uses magical and absurd imagery to depict the realities of rural China, particularly the lives of ordinary people in the Mao Zedong era. His awards include the Franz Kafka Prize, the Dream of the Red Chamber Award and the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature. Yan is a professor at Renmin University of China in Beijing and a chair professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3326870/yan-lianke-chinese-novelist-and-nobel-prize-contender-writers-role?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3326870/yan-lianke-chinese-novelist-and-nobel-prize-contender-writers-role?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Sep 2025 11:05:30 +0000 American society is plagued with serious imbalances, and although the United States and China are not the same, US President Donald Trump can still draw inspiration from how China is restoring harmony to its society, which is also out of sync after decades of high but lopsided economic growth. Chinese leaders from Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping are discerning pupils of history. Broadly speaking, policymaking is shaped by a trifecta matrix comprising philosophy, power and pragmatism. An imbalance in... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3307186/trumps-maga-vision-can-find-inspiration-xis-rejuvenation-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3307186/trumps-maga-vision-can-find-inspiration-xis-rejuvenation-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Apr 2025 21:30:08 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s trade wars are the result of a reckoning with the accumulated contradictions arising from globalisation. Instead of addressing the polarisation in the United States that propelled him to power, Trump blames “the other”. But his tariffs will only exacerbate US structural inequality. Globalisation created greater equality by bringing prosperity to the developing world, notably in the rise of East Asia. China has lifted more people out of poverty more rapidly than any... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3307094/what-trump-should-be-making-great-again-are-lives-americans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3307094/what-trump-should-be-making-great-again-are-lives-americans?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Apr 2025 06:30:15 +0000 The Cultural Revolution was one of the most turbulent and radical periods in modern Chinese history. Its goal was to reassert Mao Zedong’s control and preserve communist ideology by purging “capitalist” and “traditional” elements from Chinese society. US President Donald Trump is in the early stages of unleashing his own cultural revolution in his attempt to “Make America Great Again”. Mao targeted those he saw as counter-revolutionaries, including party officials, intellectuals and capitalist... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3305887/maga-and-alarming-parallels-chinas-cultural-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3305887/maga-and-alarming-parallels-chinas-cultural-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Apr 2025 12:30:07 +0000 Enid Tsui Enid Tsui Jaffa Lam Laam’s story of her childhood as a new immigrant in Hong Kong, and how she came to be represented by a major international gallery, has dramatic turning points. Underpinned by an unwavering self-belief, her tale elucidates Hong Kong’s perforated relationship with mainland China, the dynamics behind its own art history, the impact of the international art market and, most of all, that there is no linear Hong Kong narrative. Lam was born in 1973 in Fujian province, southern China, while... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3299616/excerpt-new-book-explores-development-hong-kong-art-through-prism-jaffa-lams-career?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3299616/excerpt-new-book-explores-development-hong-kong-art-through-prism-jaffa-lams-career?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Feb 2025 03:00:18 +0000 Douglas Parkes Douglas Parkes I was born in Hainan and grew up during the Cultural Revolution. My parents sent me back to their hometown to keep me away from the armed conflicts, fights and struggle sessions happening in the cities. I still remember a visit I made back to the city to see my mum during that time. She had been publicly accused in a struggle session and I saw the aftermath. They had cut her hair – first into a cross shape on her head, then with a flag shaved into it. They kept cutting it over and over until she... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3298499/how-hong-kong-filmmaker-fruit-chan-found-his-way-industry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3298499/how-hong-kong-filmmaker-fruit-chan-found-his-way-industry?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Feb 2025 10:15:07 +0000 For most of the 103-year history of the Communist Party of China, the teachings of the philosopher Confucius were deemed relics of a backwards past, with its leaders looking to Marxism and socialism to modernise China. But under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, Confucianism has made a dramatic comeback as the bedrock of imperial Chinese ethics and governance, and other Chinese classics have become the pillars of Beijing’s efforts to shore up its intellectual foundation and governance... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3287846/how-xi-jinping-going-back-confucius-define-chinas-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3287846/how-xi-jinping-going-back-confucius-define-chinas-future?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Nov 2024 22:00:23 +0000 Back in 2022, when China was in the midst of strict zero-Covid controls, which involved frequent and sudden citywide lockdowns and stay-at-home notices, I met an overseas Chinese entrepreneur, whom I deeply respect, in Tianjin during one of the rare, blissful interludes. His conglomerate is one of China’s largest foreign investors, with businesses scattered across the country. During our conversation, he offered an observation that has stuck with me. Fresh from lengthy meetings with local... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3284893/how-can-chinas-reforms-succeed-when-officials-act-overbearing-parents?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3284893/how-can-chinas-reforms-succeed-when-officials-act-overbearing-parents?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Nov 2024 21:30:07 +0000 Now in its eighth year, the Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival (PYIFF) has built a reputation for eclectic offerings. Led by film scholar Lin Xudong, this year’s festival showcased the latest foreign art films toured in Cannes, Berlin and Venice, along with Chinese indies and unconventional documentaries, which, over the last week of September, included an offering from Hong Kong filmmaker and photographer Yonfan. This year marks Yonfan’s first showcase at PYIFF,... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3284777/huang-yongyu-showed-his-relaxed-side-new-docu-film-chinese-artists-close-friend-hong-kong-director?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3284777/huang-yongyu-showed-his-relaxed-side-new-docu-film-chinese-artists-close-friend-hong-kong-director?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Nov 2024 01:15:07 +0000 For anybody unfamiliar with China, it might have sounded like an odd thing to say. In the lead-up to September 10, the day recognised by the central government as Teachers’ Day, President Xi Jinping underlined the rights of teachers and the need protect their high social status. As it suggested ways to implement Xi’s directions, the Ministry of Education said: “[We should] unswervingly deal with any action that fabricates rumours and smears teachers, to make sure teachers enjoy a high social... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3279795/how-chinas-classroom-culture-complaint-has-turned-toxic-and-not-just-teachers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3279795/how-chinas-classroom-culture-complaint-has-turned-toxic-and-not-just-teachers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Sep 2024 12:15:30 +0000 The curtain has just fallen on the Paralympic Games in Paris, a celebration of social inclusion where China once again led the world in medals. Among the many inspiring athletes, 19-year-old swimmer Jiang Yuyan – known affectionately as the “flying fish” – stood out, winning seven gold medals. I hope Jiang’s triumphs will serve as a beacon of hope, illuminating the path for others to chase their dreams and embrace the transformative power of sports. Yet, for those who do step onto this path, a... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3278041/how-chinese-disabilities-are-inspiring-more-inclusive-country?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3278041/how-chinese-disabilities-are-inspiring-more-inclusive-country?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Sep 2024 21:30:07 +0000 Gao Zhen, a Chinese artist who is known for his critical depictions of Mao Zedong, has been detained under a law banning the defamation of “heroes and martyrs”. In a post published on Facebook on Saturday, the artist’s brother Gao Qiang said the 58-year-old had been detained on Monday when police came to the pair’s studio in Sanhe, Hebei province, on the outskirts of Beijing. Gao Zhen’s wife received a detention notice last Tuesday, saying her husband was suspected of “injuring the reputation... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3277213/mao-artist-gao-zhen-held-under-chinese-law-against-defaming-revolutionary-heroes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3277213/mao-artist-gao-zhen-held-under-chinese-law-against-defaming-revolutionary-heroes?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Sep 2024 13:15:51 +0000 It is no exaggeration to say that China would scarcely exist in its current form had not Deng Xiaoping launched the country on its path to reform and opening up at the third plenum of the Communist Party in 1978. Long credited as the architect of China’s market reforms, Deng started the country on a path to modernisation that helped transform it from one of the world’s least developed economies into the powerhouse it is today. All the more reason to mark Thursday, the 120th anniversary of Deng’s... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3275388/modern-powerful-china-legacy-deng-xiaoping-born-120-years-ago?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3275388/modern-powerful-china-legacy-deng-xiaoping-born-120-years-ago?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Aug 2024 18:32:32 +0000 Zhou Xin Zhou Xin In a proposed regulation published online for public solicitation last month, China’s Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration outlined in a 16-article document plans for an national identification system that would authenticate the country’s netizens on all internet platforms. But there are worrying signs that public feedback is going unheeded. In accordance with Chinese law, the proposed regulation was published to solicit feedback from the public as a necessary step... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3274158/chinas-censorship-voices-critical-proposed-cyberspace-id-sets-worrying-precedent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3274158/chinas-censorship-voices-critical-proposed-cyberspace-id-sets-worrying-precedent?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Aug 2024 23:00:11 +0000 It is not until my taxi is cruising smoothly down the expressway southeast of Lijiang, having escaped the picturesque but overcrowded maze of tourist-thronged alleyways, that I think to ask my driver her name. “It’s Ms Jiang,” she says, “you know, like Jiang Jieshi [Chiang Kai-shek], who fought Mao and then fled to Taiwan.” She digs around in the glove compartment and hands me her card, having established that my dinosaur smartphone doesn’t support WeChat, an essential app for swapping contact... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3272812/who-built-first-bridge-over-yangtze-river-unlikely-tale-chinese-slave-soldier-and-tycoon-jiang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3272812/who-built-first-bridge-over-yangtze-river-unlikely-tale-chinese-slave-soldier-and-tycoon-jiang?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Aug 2024 03:15:08 +0000 He Weifang is a retired professor from Peking University Law School. Named one of Foreign Policy’s top 100 global thinkers in 2011, He has long advocated for judicial independence. This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here. You retired last July, bidding farewell to your fruitful career as a legal scholar. How is life after retirement and do you still have some work to do? It’s quite good. I still have three PhD students under my... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3266820/name-law-scholar-he-weifang-argues-his-case-remembering-chinas-past?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3266820/name-law-scholar-he-weifang-argues-his-case-remembering-chinas-past?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Jun 2024 22:00:21 +0000 In this latest interview in the Open Questions series, He Weifang discusses the evolution of law in China from the time of “reform and opening up” in the late 1970s to now. He served as a law professor at Peking University Law School, where he was chief editor of Chinese and Foreign Law and director of the centre for justice studies until his recent retirement. He is recognised as one of China’s leading advocates for legal reform. In 2001, China Youth magazine named him one of the top 100 young... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3266416/chinese-legal-scholar-advocates-rule-law-and-reminds-people-about-cultural-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3266416/chinese-legal-scholar-advocates-rule-law-and-reminds-people-about-cultural-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Jun 2024 06:00:12 +0000 Growing up, Tessa Hulls would observe her elderly Chinese grandmother in her room, feverishly writing Chinese characters that Hulls did not understand. Meanwhile, her relationship with her Shanghai-born biracial mother, Rose, was fraught with cultural differences, which caused the American-born Hulls to leave home as a young adult. Hulls knew her grandmother, Sun Yi, was from Suzhou, in Jiangsu province, that she worked as a journalist in Shanghai and published a bestselling memoir. But Hulls... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3260308/grandma-mother-daughter-how-3-generations-chinese-womens-emotional-story-told-graphic-novel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3260308/grandma-mother-daughter-how-3-generations-chinese-womens-emotional-story-told-graphic-novel?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Apr 2024 23:45:09 +0000 Last weekend, I watched all eight episodes of 3 Body Problem, a Netflix adaptation of the bestselling Chinese science-fiction novel San Ti (2008), by Liu Cixin. Ken Liu’s English translation, The Three-Body Problem (2014), was the first novel by an Asian author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel, in 2015, which celebrates the best science fiction and fantasy works. The main conceit of 3 Body Problem – spoilers ahead! – is the impending arrival of a race of aliens that was contacted by Dr Ye... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3260358/how-3-body-problem-recalls-one-chinese-historys-worst-traitors-who-has-been-vilified-nearly-400?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3260358/how-3-body-problem-recalls-one-chinese-historys-worst-traitors-who-has-been-vilified-nearly-400?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Apr 2024 23:45:10 +0000 Chan Kiu, a veteran photojournalist who captured some of Hong Kong’s watershed moments for the South China Morning Post, has died at the age of 96. Chan, who had 40,000 rolls of film to his name, died peacefully on Saturday in the company of his loved ones at a hospital in Vancouver, Canada. The photojournalist captured major events in the city for the Post, such as the 1967 riots, superstar Bruce Lee’s funeral and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth’s first visit to Hong Kong. His daughter Theresa Chan... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3258272/chan-kiu-veteran-south-china-morning-post-photojournalist-who-captured-hong-kongs-defining-moments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3258272/chan-kiu-veteran-south-china-morning-post-photojournalist-who-captured-hong-kongs-defining-moments?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Apr 2024 12:35:26 +0000 A huge spike in online piracy of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem on the day of its release in China, where the streaming service and its original shows are not officially available, reflects an intense interest in the country to see how the US streamer is handling the best known piece of Chinese science fiction globally, similar to a piracy surge after the release of Disney’s live-action Mulan in 2020. The number of downloads of BitTorrent files, a type of peer-to-peer file sharing, associated with the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3256602/3-body-problem-piracy-spikes-china-reflecting-intense-interest-hollywood-films-struggle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3256602/3-body-problem-piracy-spikes-china-reflecting-intense-interest-hollywood-films-struggle?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Mar 2024 07:30:22 +0000 Jiang Ping, a prominent law scholar who helped build the legislative foundation for China’s market economy, died in Beijing on Tuesday. He was 93. Jiang was also known to many as the “conscience” of the legal profession in China and for his advocacy for the rule of law. Born in Ningbo, Zhejiang province in 1930, Jiang went to Beijing in 1948 to study journalism at Yenching University, whose motto was “Freedom through truth for service”. Two years later, Jiang was among the first group of Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3245784/chinese-scholar-who-helped-lay-legal-foundation-market-economy-dies-93?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3245784/chinese-scholar-who-helped-lay-legal-foundation-market-economy-dies-93?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Dec 2023 13:07:07 +0000 Hong Kong authorities have taken into custody a man wanted in connection with an armed robbery and murder more than 30 years ago, putting a string of notorious hold-ups dating back decades back in the spotlight. Police charged Wen Wenye, 59, on Monday with murder and the attempted robbery of a watch shop in Sham Shui Po in 1991. It is alleged his fingerprints matched those collected at the crime scene. He was arrested on Saturday as he entered the city through the Shenzhen Bay control... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3241379/arrest-wanted-man-over-fatal-botched-robbery-hong-kong-puts-notorious-criminals-and-string-shoot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3241379/arrest-wanted-man-over-fatal-botched-robbery-hong-kong-puts-notorious-criminals-and-string-shoot?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Nov 2023 11:40:31 +0000 When I read about the draft legal amendment to ban clothing and symbols that are “detrimental to the spirit” of the nation or “hurt the feelings” of the Chinese people, I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Part of the five-year legislative plan released by the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, China’s top legislative body, the proposed amendment to the Public Security Administration Punishments Law could see offenders detained for up to 15 days and fined up to 5,000 yuan... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3234149/china-banning-clothes-hurt-national-feelings-would-be-stitch-too-far?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3234149/china-banning-clothes-hurt-national-feelings-would-be-stitch-too-far?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Sep 2023 19:00:14 +0000 China’s proposed amendments to its public security administration punishments law are stirring heated debate among legal scholars about the consequences of expanding police powers and the possible erosion of personal freedom in the country. One of the most controversial proposed changes is a clause stating that people garbed in clothing “detrimental to the spirit of the Chinese people and that hurts the feelings of the Chinese people” could be detained and fined. Legal scholars who published... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3234040/chinas-proposed-ban-hurtful-clothing-worrying-sign-advancing-intolerance-society?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3234040/chinas-proposed-ban-hurtful-clothing-worrying-sign-advancing-intolerance-society?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Sep 2023 23:00:18 +0000 On April 5, an open letter from US business executive Maurice Greenberg called on presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden to repair relations between China and the United States. The letter, co-signed by US foreign policy, economic experts and others, appeared in The Wall Street Journal and was widely reproduced on social media. Such a call was timely in light of the sharply deteriorating relations between the two great powers. There is great concern over the US and China’s hardening opposing... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3217452/global-intervention-may-be-necessary-pull-us-and-china-back-brink-disaster?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3217452/global-intervention-may-be-necessary-pull-us-and-china-back-brink-disaster?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Apr 2023 17:00:17 +0000 Since its inception in 1921, China’s Communist Party has lurched between ultra-left radicalism and pragmatism, bringing about alternating tragedies and triumphs. In the first 30 years of the People’s Republic, Mao Zedong’s erroneous emphasis on ideology and class struggle, fanned by ultra-leftist nationalism, produced catastrophic consequences. In the late 1970s, Deng Xiaoping ended the disastrous Cultural Revolution and adopted an open-door policy, which put China on the track of reform and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3212110/xis-chinese-dream-danger-being-hijacked-ultra-left-nationalism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3212110/xis-chinese-dream-danger-being-hijacked-ultra-left-nationalism?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Mar 2023 17:00:13 +0000 Li Yining, an eminent reform economist and mentor of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, died at the age of 92 on Monday in Beijing, according to Peking University, where he was a long-time professor. As one of the first in China to introduce the concept of joint-stock company, and to reform state-owned enterprises, Li helped drive the country’s transformation from a planned economy to a market-oriented one. He also contributed to the establishment of China’s stock markets three decades ago, winning him... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3211856/renowned-chinese-economist-li-yinings-death-comes-his-notions-reform-still-serve-valuable-lessons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3211856/renowned-chinese-economist-li-yinings-death-comes-his-notions-reform-still-serve-valuable-lessons?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Feb 2023 12:30:14 +0000 Shan Weijian recalled China’s golden era of economic reforms from 2000 to 2010, and the eye-watering growth evident in this period. In 2005, he led the only foreign takeover of a Chinese bank to date, and had to navigate the twists and turns of a country that was eager to change, but only wanted foreign capital that would come in on friendly terms. Shan was the co-managing partner of San Francisco-based private-equity firm Newbridge Capital when it took over a controlling stake in Shenzhen... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3208605/maos-former-barefoot-doctor-recalls-sole-foreign-takeover-chinese-bank?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3208605/maos-former-barefoot-doctor-recalls-sole-foreign-takeover-chinese-bank?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Jan 2023 14:30:08 +0000 Nian Guangjiu, a sunflower seed seller, passed away last week. His diminished status in the public consciousness by the time of his death belies his importance in China’s economic history. While he would be considered a small potato among the country’s tycoons that followed him, Nian is a figure worth remembering. Nicknamed “Idiot” for his generous promotional sales and known for his Idiot Melon Seeds business, Nian’s case was used in the 1980s by China’s former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/3206936/deng-xiaopings-tacit-approval-sunflower-seed-businessman-won-trust-entrepreneurs-can-china-do-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/3206936/deng-xiaopings-tacit-approval-sunflower-seed-businessman-won-trust-entrepreneurs-can-china-do-it?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Jan 2023 23:30:13 +0000 Trust between the Chinese Communist Party and capitalists can be fragile, according to orthodox Marxism, because from an ideological perspective, the ultimate goal of all communists is to abolish private property while capitalists want otherwise. The reality, however, is very different. From an historical viewpoint, ever since Deng Xiaoping decided to embrace economic liberalisation in the 1970s, China has been gradually abandoning ideology in economic management. The shift to pragmatism... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3206141/china-needs-regain-trust-capital-get-its-economy-growing-again?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3206141/china-needs-regain-trust-capital-get-its-economy-growing-again?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Jan 2023 23:00:14 +0000 Amid a cacophony of concerns that Beijing’s pursuit of a bigger state role could put China on a path toward a new planned-economy era, a normally quiet former politician has joined the chorus calling for private players and market forces to advance national development strategies. The most recent scrutiny came as authorities released policies to boost support for community-level “cooperatives” and state-run food kitchens, which were widely utilised in China four decades ago. The policies have... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3199717/chinas-rural-supply-cooperatives-should-involve-government-backed-private-firms-former-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3199717/chinas-rural-supply-cooperatives-should-involve-government-backed-private-firms-former-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Nov 2022 00:00:22 +0000 It was about midnight when Poon Yuen-ching and her fiancé, Lo Ping-sum, stood at the edge of Deep Bay. Some 5km (3 miles) away, across the cold waters, the prospect of a married life in the British colony of Hong Kong awaited, free from the poverty and political turmoil wrought by China’s Cultural Revolution. The 22-year-old students had trekked nine days to reach this point, from their homes in a fishing commune in Dongguan, 40km away in Huangjiang, evading frontier guards along the way and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3181180/freedom-swimmers-china-hong-kong-who-braved?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3181180/freedom-swimmers-china-hong-kong-who-braved?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Jun 2022 00:15:12 +0000 I have been spending the past couple of weeks feeling sorry for myself. Bored by our hermit existence. Stressed by the terrible economic impacts of the pandemic. Angry at the ineptitudes of Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s government. Jealous to see friends in other parts of the world resume normal life. Shocked by the years that have passed since I have been able to see my closest family and friends. But is this self-pity really justified? Damaging though Lam’s policies have been to our economy and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3174549/history-shows-we-are-still-living-time-exceptional-peace-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3174549/history-shows-we-are-still-living-time-exceptional-peace-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Apr 2022 06:00:18 +0000 The European Union’s top envoy to Beijing has warned that China is adopting a hostility towards the West that is comparable to the Mao era, amid souring ties with Europe. Speaking at a reception for journalists held by the EU embassy in Beijing on Thursday, Nicolas Chapuis noted the tough language used by China to define its situation, and referred to an article by Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily that said China would continue its development despite “evil spirits and ghosts”. Chapuis... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3159068/china-eu-ties-regress-brussels-envoy-asks-are-we-back-mao-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3159068/china-eu-ties-regress-brussels-envoy-asks-are-we-back-mao-era?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Dec 2021 09:50:58 +0000 4/5 stars More than two years after being unceremoniously yanked from the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival days before its scheduled world premiere, Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s 1970s-set drama One Second finally finds its way to the big screen. Framed as Zhang’s love letter to cinema, the film sees an escaped convict and an orphaned ruffian brought together by a stolen film canister in the desert wastelands of Gansu province. Despite the lengthy delay and sanctioned reshoots, Zhang’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3158754/one-second-movie-review-zhang-yimous-cultural-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3158754/one-second-movie-review-zhang-yimous-cultural-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Dec 2021 09:15:11 +0000 The period of the Great Leap Forward, the People’s Communes and the Anti-Rightist Campaign from 1957 to 1962 may be a bygone era the Chinese leadership prefers to leave unmentioned because of its devastating consequences. In 1958, Mao Zedong launched a radical campaign known as the Great Leap Forward to surpass Britain through rapid industrialisation and agricultural collectivisation to turn an agrarian country into a communist paradise. Illiterate peasants and workers were encouraged to set up... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3158410/why-rising-ultra-left-nationalism-biggest-danger-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3158410/why-rising-ultra-left-nationalism-biggest-danger-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Dec 2021 01:30:18 +0000 When Li Guangman, a little-known blogger in China, declared “a profound revolution” was under way against China’s big businesses, many in the country were reminded of the worst nightmares from the Mao Zedong era. Li used warlike language against China’s tech companies and misbehaving celebrities, as well as unspecified surrogates for the United States in the country, and then had his voice magnified by a handful of key state media websites, which carried a mildly toned-down version of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3150019/chinese-blogger-rails-against-party-enemies-and-rattles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3150019/chinese-blogger-rails-against-party-enemies-and-rattles?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Oct 2021 06:14:57 +0000 The Shortest History of China by Linda Jaivin, pub. The Experiment Drinking at a Sydney bar in the 1990s, Linda Jaivin got into conversation with a fellow patron who, it transpired, worked in marketing. “You don’t have a brand,” he told Jaivin, after they had discussed her varied writing career. “That’s really terrible!” “I couldn’t figure out exactly why it was terrible!” she jokes via Zoom from locked-down Sydney, bright-blue haired and flanked by overstuffed bookshelves. She does concede,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3148243/shortest-history-china-author-linda-jaivin-her-goal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3148243/shortest-history-china-author-linda-jaivin-her-goal?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Sep 2021 10:15:14 +0000 Breaking records I was born in 1963, in Liaoning province, northeast China, the youngest of four children. I was an “accident”. My father’s name is Liu Chi, which means “big fire”. He is one of the most celebrated Chinese composers. He named me Ying Ying, which means “firefly”, so I’m daddy’s little fire. I had an amazing relationship with my dad. My mother was a choreographer and later became a painter and I grew up surrounded by artists. When I was three years old, the Cultural Revolution... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3145792/musician-ying-ying-liu-growing-during-cultural?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3145792/musician-ying-ying-liu-growing-during-cultural?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Aug 2021 04:15:11 +0000 Beijing sparked a diplomatic row on Tuesday by recalling its envoy to Lithuania after the Baltic nation allowed Taipei to open a representative office bearing the name “Taiwan”. Shen Zhifei is the latest in a list of Chinese ambassador recalls, which took place during periods of significant political turmoil or over issues related to Taiwan. Beijing regards the self-ruled island as a breakaway province and firmly holds the one-China policy to be its red line. 1966: ambassador to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3144709/chinas-history-recalling-ambassadors-goes-back-mao-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3144709/chinas-history-recalling-ambassadors-goes-back-mao-era?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Aug 2021 13:34:02 +0000 Hard Like Water by Yan Lianke, translated by Carlos Rojas, pub. Grove Press Hard Like Water is a novel about love and revolution. At least, this is a short and simple summary. As is hinted by the title’s Taoist paradox, Yan Lianke’s story spins love and revolution into ever-shifting circles that are, by turns, intimate and constructive, joyful and erotic, while at others seem contradictory and oppositional, deceptive and destructive. Yan isn’t the first writer to pair the passions that fire... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3139671/yan-liankes-cultural-revolution-novel-love-and-hate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3139671/yan-liankes-cultural-revolution-novel-love-and-hate?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jul 2021 05:15:23 +0000 A university professor who claims to have “overthrown” Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity has caused an uproar in China after his research proposal was nominated for a science award. Li Zifeng, a professor of petroleum engineering at Yanshan University in Qinhuangdao, Hebei, had proposed a theoretical physics study that suggested philosophy, such as Marxism, should guide physics and be used to correct “mistakes” in the discipline. It was one of 96 projects nominated for a natural science... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3138632/chinese-professor-ridiculed-over-attack-einstein-was-nominated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3138632/chinese-professor-ridiculed-over-attack-einstein-was-nominated?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Jun 2021 13:00:13 +0000 China’s universities should aim to train a new generation loyal to the socialist cause and with an inquisitive and innovative mindset, President Xi Jinping said on Monday. “This year will mark the centenary of the Communist Party … the party and the state’s need for higher education, for knowledge and science and great talent, is greater than at any time before,” he said during a trip to Tsinghua University in Beijing, according to state news agency Xinhua. He added that the aim of China’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3130187/chinese-universities-should-produce-inquisitive-thinkers-who?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3130187/chinese-universities-should-produce-inquisitive-thinkers-who?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Apr 2021 15:30:13 +0000 My Old Homeby Orville SchellPantheon In the hours before dawn on August 18, 1966, the vast expanse of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square began to fill with people. By the time Mao Zedong walked onto the rostrum of the Gate of Heavenly Peace, clad in an ill-fitting People’s Liberation Army uniform, there were more than a million crammed into the square and the streets around it. Lin Biao gave a speech to the assembled crowd in which he cited Chairman Mao as the “greatest genius” of the age and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3127779/my-old-home-academic-orville-schell-turns-fiction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3127779/my-old-home-academic-orville-schell-turns-fiction?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Apr 2021 03:45:08 +0000 The name Florence Li Tim-oi may not ring a bell with many people today, but the Hongkonger was a women’s rights pioneer and a stalwart of the Anglican Church known for her tireless work with refugees during the second world war. Li was the first woman ordained a priest in the Anglican Communion, the third largest Christian communion after the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Her ordination took place on January 25, 1944, in Zhaoqing in Guangdong province, southern China, and was... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3118814/first-woman-priest-anglican-church-1944-hongkonger-florence-li-ministered?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3118814/first-woman-priest-anglican-church-1944-hongkonger-florence-li-ministered?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Jan 2021 04:15:12 +0000