https://www.scmp.com/rss/324160/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com In the end, those four characters had to go, never to be seen or mentioned again: di-duan-ren-kou, or “low-end population”. A cold bureaucratic definition of low value-added manual jobs that somehow expanded to designate the people who do those jobs, has caused as much heartburn as the harsh spectacle of Beijing’s ongoing eviction of the people who fit that description. The censors have now banned that word from social media and elsewhere. In an angry WeChat post, the writer-filmmaker Xu Xing... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2122496/beijing-migrant-worker-evictions-four-character-word-you-cant-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2122496/beijing-migrant-worker-evictions-four-character-word-you-cant-say?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Dec 2017 06:30:15 +0000 When I take the elevator in my 100 per cent Chinese working-class housing estate, I often end up being grilled by my extremely kind neighbours. As is so common in Beijing, they ask me all kinds of questions about my life. Are you married? You live on the eighth floor, right? Are you American? Ah no, Italian? How much is your rent? What do you do? But it can get a lot more personal. An elderly neighbour recently stroked my beard, smiled and said approvingly: “Nice”. Reminded me of my granddad, I... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2087516/dear-china-i-am-white-guy-and-not-spy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2087516/dear-china-i-am-white-guy-and-not-spy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Apr 2017 05:00:15 +0000 The HEAT IS on in Xinjiang. A string of deadly killings, blamed on Islamist separatists, have rocked China’s restive far western province and prompted authorities into an unprecedented show of force – and a social clampdown experts say has been imported from Tibet (西藏). Huge military parades have taken place in Hotan (和田地區), Kashgar (喀什地區) and Urumqi (烏魯木齊) featuring thousands of servicemen, signalling the authorities’ intent to “relentlessly beat, and strike hard against terrorism”, in the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2079542/what-do-islamic-state-and-tibet-have-do-chinas-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2079542/what-do-islamic-state-and-tibet-have-do-chinas-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Mar 2017 05:00:30 +0000