https://www.scmp.com/rss/330926/feed Chiu-Ti Jansen, with advanced degrees from Yale and Columbia, is the founder of multimedia platform China Happenings and a former corporate partner of international law firm Sidley Austin. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The outbreak of a novel coronavirus has brought back many memories of the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic in 2002-03, not least because of their apparent association with the sale and consumption of exotic animals. This time, the virus appeared to have originated from a market in Wuhan, a city of 11 million residents in central China. Visiting a market in Guangzhou in 1996, I thought I was touring a zoo: peacocks, squirrels, foxes, snakes, monkeys, dogs, civets and lots of caged cats,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3048426/china-must-outlaw-trade-and-consumption-exotic-animals-not-only?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3048426/china-must-outlaw-trade-and-consumption-exotic-animals-not-only?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Feb 2020 07:30:15 +0000 Barely a year after her party’s crushing defeat in Taiwan’s local elections, President Tsai Ing-wen not only survived a cigarette smuggling scandal and accusations of a campaign of spreading disinformation, she rose like a phoenix from the ashes with a landslide victory in last week’s presidential election. Many think Tsai has Chinese President Xi Jinping to thank for this reversal of fortune. His overtures to Taiwan advocating “one country, two systems” for the island allowed Tsai to reinvent... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3046239/taiwans-young-voters-have-spoken-kmt-must-update-its-vision?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3046239/taiwans-young-voters-have-spoken-kmt-must-update-its-vision?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jan 2020 03:00:14 +0000 With less than two weeks to go before Taiwan’s presidential and general elections, the Democratic Progressive Party rammed its anti-infiltration law through the legislature in 34 days. Its opponents have derided the rushed process as an election ploy.  Inspired by the US Justice Department ordering Chinese state media to register as “foreign agents” under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Taiwan’s new law is the last leg of DPP-sponsored anti-China legislation that included five amendments to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3044317/taiwans-new-anti-infiltration-law-seeks-curb-chinese-communist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3044317/taiwans-new-anti-infiltration-law-seeks-curb-chinese-communist?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Jan 2020 01:00:17 +0000 Chiu-Ti Jansen Chiu-Ti Jansen US President Donald Trump’s chief trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer told the US House Ways and Means Committee on February 27 that any final agreement between the United States and China would be specific, measurable and enforceable at all levels of the Chinese government and that he had no interest in a “soybean solution”. But it appears that the so-called phase one deal was exactly that. At the onset of the trade war, I had dinner with the US representative of a major Chinese state-owned... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3042432/donald-trumps-soybean-solution-us-china-trade-war-much-ado-about?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3042432/donald-trumps-soybean-solution-us-china-trade-war-much-ado-about?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Dec 2019 01:00:04 +0000 The pro-democracy camp’s landslide win at Hong Kong’s district elections on November 24 sent a shock wave through the Hong Kong and Beijing establishments. Despite Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s stated resolve to reflect on the result, will Beijing get the right message? Hong Kong’s government had counted on the so-called silent majority to side with the establishment and turn their back on the spiralling street violence. In the days leading up to the election, Chinese state media... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3040453/did-beijings-echo-chamber-render-it-deaf-hong-kongs-distress?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3040453/did-beijings-echo-chamber-render-it-deaf-hong-kongs-distress?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Dec 2019 01:00:16 +0000 Is China a friend or an enemy? This question drove debates between America’s panda huggers and China bashers in early June. Today, the debate rages on despite signs of a trade-war truce. At the Sixth China Inbound-Outbound Forum organised by the Beijing-headquartered Centre for China and Globalisation, I heard jinghe (coopetition, or collaboration between business competitors) punctuating many conversations with former Chinese government officers. One year ago at the same forum, which I also... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3038314/economic-interests-stake-us-and-china-can-learn-be-best-frenemies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3038314/economic-interests-stake-us-and-china-can-learn-be-best-frenemies?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Nov 2019 22:00:13 +0000 At a closed-door meeting with a group of businesspeople in late August, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor admitted that the city’s Information Services Department had requested proposals to “relaunch the Hong Kong brand” from eight global public relations companies. To date, it has received none.  In a press briefing on September 17, Lam indicated that “the time will come for us to launch a major campaign to restore some of the damage done to Hong Kong’s reputation”. Yes, but... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3030119/pr-campaign-not-what-hong-kong-needs-carrie-lam-should-try-solving?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3030119/pr-campaign-not-what-hong-kong-needs-carrie-lam-should-try-solving?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Sep 2019 22:30:11 +0000 Hong Kong’s protests have decisively reversed Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s fortunes ahead of the January election. According to a study by pro-independence publication My Formosa, between February and August, Tsai’s support climbed from 27.3 per cent to 52.1 per cent, while Han Kuo-yu, representing the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang, declined from 51.8 per cent to 33.4 per cent. Over the same period, approval for Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party has surged from 26.3 per cent to 40.6 per... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3027409/taiwan-leader-tsai-ing-wens-solidarity-hong-kong-protesters-just?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3027409/taiwan-leader-tsai-ing-wens-solidarity-hong-kong-protesters-just?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Sep 2019 03:00:11 +0000 On August 27, American hypermarket chain Costco opened its first China store in Shanghai, but had to shut early due to “safety considerations”, after eager shoppers crowded aisles and worked themselves into a frenzy over heavily discounted Mao-tai, nuts, croissants – and cuts of pork. Pork is a staple food in China and a key indicator of food price inflation. Worryingly, pork prices have risen to new highs in recent weeks. On August 20, the government of Putian city in Fujian province announced... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3025488/how-much-economic-pain-can-china-tolerate-trade-war-donald-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3025488/how-much-economic-pain-can-china-tolerate-trade-war-donald-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Sep 2019 19:00:10 +0000 In the midst of heightened tension over the unrest in Hong Kong, many of the top topics trending on China’s Weibo platform last week pertained to international brands. From Versace and Givenchy to Coach and Swarovski, the companies apologized for daring to mislabel Hong Kong or Taiwan as countries on their products or websites. Supermodel Liu Wen, actress Yang Mi and pop idol Jackson Yee were among the celebrities who publicly severed their endorsement contracts with the brands and declared... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/beijing-co-opts-celebrities-do-its-bidding-and-may-come-regret-it/article/3023889?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/beijing-co-opts-celebrities-do-its-bidding-and-may-come-regret-it/article/3023889?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Aug 2019 10:47:13 +0000 In the midst of heightened tension over the unrest in Hong Kong, many of the top 50 topics trending on China’s Weibo platform last week pertained to international brands from Versace and Givenchy to Coach and Swarovski apologising for daring to mislabel Hong Kong or Taiwan as countries on their products or websites. Supermodel Liu Wen, actress Yang Mi and pop idol Jackson Yee were among the celebrities who publicly severed their endorsement contracts with the brands and declared their allegiance... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3023723/china-damages-its-brand-when-it-co-opts-celebrities-its-one-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3023723/china-damages-its-brand-when-it-co-opts-celebrities-its-one-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Aug 2019 19:00:13 +0000 Is China’s ban on solo travellers to Taiwan part of a plan to “interfere” with the island’s upcoming presidential and legislative elections? For incumbent Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, how will the travel ban play into her narrative of a bullying China? With its abrupt, terse announcement on July 31, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism lit a political firestorm in Taiwan. In response, Li Mingli, the spokeswoman of Tsai’s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3021328/chinas-salvo-taiwans-economy-may-or-may-not-hit-home-travel-curb?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3021328/chinas-salvo-taiwans-economy-may-or-may-not-hit-home-travel-curb?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Aug 2019 01:30:08 +0000 Kai Xuan Night Market was built on an abandoned amusement park in a newly developed area of Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s third-largest city and home to 2.8 million people. It feels like most of them are here on this humid Thursday evening, ram­med into the 30,000-square-metre compound lined with food stalls selling sesame-oil chicken and fried stinky tofu. Through the crowds, photographers jostle to capture their subject, the south-coast city’s mayor, Han Kuo-yu, as he banters for the cameras with an... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3018052/who-han-kuo-yu-could-kaohsiungs-populist-mayor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3018052/who-han-kuo-yu-could-kaohsiungs-populist-mayor?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jul 2019 23:45:14 +0000 As a Taiwan-born Chinese living in the United States, I had no problem picking sides when watching the highly anticipated “debate” between Trish Regan, anchor of Fox Business Network’s Primetime, and Liu Xin, host of CGTN’s The Point. I secretly rooted for Liu, not only out of empathy and respect for someone speaking up in a second language, but also because I knew she faced an uphill battle proving her case without sounding like a demagogue. In Regan’s opening statement, she referred to Liu as... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3012544/debate-between-foxs-trish-regan-and-cgtns-liu-xin-revealed-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3012544/debate-between-foxs-trish-regan-and-cgtns-liu-xin-revealed-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 May 2019 06:00:11 +0000 Following in the footsteps of Berkeley and Stanford, the University of California, Davis issued a statement last month reaffirming its commitment to its international researchers and students. In the wake of the dismissal of three scientists from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for their failure to disclose international collaborators, UC Davis’ open display of support is encouraging, though it might ring hollow. Since last year, the US National Institutes of Health has started... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/chinese-spies-us-universities-clear-rules-must-be-set-against-commercial-espionage/article/3009302?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/chinese-spies-us-universities-clear-rules-must-be-set-against-commercial-espionage/article/3009302?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 May 2019 08:56:46 +0000 Following in the footsteps of Berkeley and Stanford, the University of California, Davis issued a statement last month reaffirming its commitment to its international researchers and students. In the wake of the dismissal of three scientists from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre for their failure to disclose international collaborators, UC Davis’ open display of support is encouraging, though it might ring hollow. Since last year, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3009147/assuage-fear-chinese-scholars-us-universities-need-set?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3009147/assuage-fear-chinese-scholars-us-universities-need-set?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 May 2019 17:00:17 +0000 Early this month, MIT became the latest leading Western academic institution to say it would cut future research collaboration with Huawei. It is all but certain that until Huawei resolves its legal disputes with the US government, the Huawei Innovation Research Programme, which offers funding and collaboration opportunities for research, will come under increasing pressure despite the Chinese tech company’s attempts to trumpet its value to society. Huawei should take advantage of this... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3006391/spurned-west-huawei-should-nurture-research-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3006391/spurned-west-huawei-should-nurture-research-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Apr 2019 19:00:18 +0000 One of the most divisive shows on Netflix is Love, Death & Robots, an animated series heavily drenched in science fiction, sex, and gratuitous violence. The series—an anthology of 18 self-contained episodes—has been billed as “an R-rated take on the Black Mirror” and lays out a much darker and more disturbing vision than anything Netflix has released so far. Adding to the series’ mystique are the names involved: director David Fincher of Fight Club and Se7en, and Tim Miller, a visual effects... https://www.scmp.com/culture/love-death-robots-netflix-china/article/3005620?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/love-death-robots-netflix-china/article/3005620?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Apr 2019 13:57:10 +0000 Following its March 15 Netflix debut, the animated sci-fi series Love, Death & Robots has attracted over 100,000 comments and a score of 9.3 on China’s social media network Douban. To put that into perspective, Wolf Warrior 2, the highest-grossing film in China – shown on more than 19,000 cinema screens – has had around 620,000 comments and a score of 7.1 mark on the same site. Netflix is not available in China, and with the series’ propensity for titillation, it will probably never officially... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3003682/why-love-death-robots-speaks-online-users-technologically?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3003682/why-love-death-robots-speaks-online-users-technologically?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Mar 2019 23:00:11 +0000 Reports on Cindy Yang, the founder of a recently raided Florida massage parlor that allegedly offered sexual services, have turned the spotlight on social media pictures of her with President Donald Trump and his family members. Yang, who emigrated from China to the US, reportedly set up a company in 2017 to sell Chinese clients access to the US president and prominent Republican politicians. While the connection between Yang’s business activities and political contributions in the US is... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/chiu-ti-jansen-chinese-businessmen-who-pay-trump-access-want-photo-not-influence/article/3001478?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/chiu-ti-jansen-chinese-businessmen-who-pay-trump-access-want-photo-not-influence/article/3001478?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Mar 2019 09:22:57 +0000 Reports on Cindy Yang, the founder of a recently raided Florida massage parlour that allegedly offered sexual services, have turned the spotlight on social media pictures of her with US President Donald Trump and his family members. Yang, who emigrated from China to the US, reportedly set up a company in 2017 to sell Chinese clients access to the US president and prominent Republican politicians. Could Yang be another Maria Butina (a Russian woman charged in a US court with trying to influence... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/3001265/cindy-yang-scandal-when-chinese-businessmen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/3001265/cindy-yang-scandal-when-chinese-businessmen?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Mar 2019 19:00:12 +0000 Chinese film star Zhai Tianlin, who apologised publicly for his academic misconduct after being accused of plagiarism, has been stripped of his PhD by the Beijing Film Academy and expelled by Peking University from a two-year doctoral research programme at the Guanghua School of Management. This has brought to an end Zhai’s persona as a “xueba”, a popular Chinese term for an academic overachiever. Zhai’s woes began when internet users dug up an academic paper he wrote, 40.4 per cent of which was... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2186957/actor-zhai-tianlins-plagiarism-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2186957/actor-zhai-tianlins-plagiarism-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Feb 2019 06:02:35 +0000