https://www.scmp.com/rss/500556/feed Celine Sui is a US-based independent scholar and freelance journalist focused on Sino-African relations. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com After Daryl Morey, general manager of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, tweeted his support of protesters in Hong Kong, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman immediately responded with a sharp reprimand, CCTV suspended its broadcasts of preseason games and companies were quick to put their deals with the NBA on hold. The official backlash and public outrage directed at Morey might appear to some to be hysterical and juvenile, but through the hype over the issue, China has gained leverage in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3035167/why-china-insists-foreign-organisations-nba-kowtow-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3035167/why-china-insists-foreign-organisations-nba-kowtow-its?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Oct 2019 01:00:09 +0000 In Jiuting town in Shanghai in June, the urban management squadron was on a case in which a van load of insulation foam was secretly dumped at a construction waste disposal site at night. Because of omnipresent video cameras, it didn’t take long for officials to track down the van and fine the offender 20,000 yuan (US$2,900). Although the hefty fine and the determined enforcement of recycling laws shocked many netizens, they were part and parcel of a new waste-sorting regimen in Shanghai that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3021206/china-big-brother-watching-you-even-you-sort-your-trash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3021206/china-big-brother-watching-you-even-you-sort-your-trash?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Aug 2019 03:00:08 +0000 China is well-known for producing top-tier talent in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through its rigorous national education system. But President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road Initiative”, a multi-trillion-dollar project to spread infrastructure development and investment initiatives from East Asia to Europe and parts of Africa, heralds a changing landscape in higher education, as specialised universities work to meet new national needs. While comprehensive universities... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3011664/belt-and-road-isnt-just-re-routing-investment-also-foreign?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3011664/belt-and-road-isnt-just-re-routing-investment-also-foreign?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 May 2019 02:30:15 +0000 Chinese foreign direct investment has been pouring into Africa in the course of the “Belt and Road Initiative” introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2013. Although much of the reporting on the belt and road plan has focused on the scale of Chinese investment and foreign reactions to it, what has defined the trade strategy on the ground is labour disputes. Ethiopia has been at the forefront of Chinese investment in Africa. The country’s low labour costs and sizeable consumer market – Africa’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3006834/everyday-reality-chinas-belt-and-road-plan-africa-labour?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3006834/everyday-reality-chinas-belt-and-road-plan-africa-labour?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Apr 2019 07:00:09 +0000