Will China send warships to the Strait of Hormuz?

Newsrooms in China are increasingly feeling the squeeze with the advent of AI-generated content (AIGC). This not only calls into question job functions, but the overwhelming influence of deep tech and tech giants, and an erosion of the agenda-setting role of the media. Chinese media commentator Ni Tao discusses the issue.

The recent National People’s Congress passed the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, which requires Mandarin to be prominently featured whenever minority languages are also used. Would this open the door to other similar regulations in future, where minorities have to assimilate to show loyalty? Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Yush Chau finds out more.

Relaxed immigration policies and shifting geopolitical dynamics have ushered Japan into the “era of one million overseas Chinese”. Writer Foo Choo Wei discovers that amid shifts in policy and deteriorating China-Japan relations, these Chinese migrants must balance good neighbourliness while preserving their culture and language.

Chinese artist Lin Tianmiao’s ​artistic career began later in life, after she became a wife and mother. Her inspiration for artmaking comes from everyday life and objects, her experience as a daughter, wife and mother, and her ability to see the bright side amid major life and death encounters. For her, transforming the mundane into the sublime helps make “play” never end. Curator and writer Tan Hwee Koon takes us through Lin’s recent exhibition “Lin Tianmiao: There’s No Fun in It!” at the Power Station of Art (PSA) Shanghai.

Amid upcoming visits by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to the US and by US President Donald Trump to China, Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai has also made headlines with his trip to Japan for a baseball game. Despite claims of it being a private visit, is there more to it? Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Sim Tze Wei looks at what signals Taiwan and Japan are giving.

Even without Iran closing the Hormuz Strait physically, traffic has dropped precipitously causing prices to spike in Asia, says analyst Christian Le Miere. China, one of those heavily affected, may need to do more, with more military power projection, to secure its own interests near the world’s bottlenecks.

Facing steep bride prices and mounting pressures at home, some Chinese men are finding wives abroad. Three men share how marriages with women from Egypt, Indonesia and Russia reshaped their lives. Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Sim Tze Wei speaks to the couples about their journeys.

Standing at the crossroads of intense great power politics, South Korea must guard its flanks in the Korea-US alliance, Seoul-Tokyo relations and most tricky of all, Seoul-Beijing relations — all against the background of volatile US-China relations. Can its “pragmatic diplomacy” stand the tests of these trials? South Korean academic Jae Ho Chung explores the issue.

Amid the fierce competition in China’s higher education, many Chinese youths are choosing to stay off the beaten — and more expensive — path to further their studies in less popular countries such as Nepal and Kazakhstan. However, Lianhe Zaobao journalist Lee Chee Yang finds out that notwithstanding the challenges of language and academic pressure, there is no guarantee of improvement in prospects for these students.

Just as Chinese restaurants thrive wherever there is an ethnic Chinese community, Gu Sheng Tang TCM CEO Tu Zhiliang wants the same for TCM services. Lianhe Zaobao senior lifestyle correspondent Dennis Ng speaks to the wuxia fan with a vision of saving the world through traditional Chinese medicine.

East Asia stands to be massively affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, given its reliance on just-in-time liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries. Critical will be the way governments diversify their energy resources and maintain power-sector reliability and industrial continuity. Academic Hao Nan looks into the variables.

As North Korea advances its nuclear arsenal, Seoul faces a stark choice: develop its own bomb, rely on US deterrence or adopt a nuclear-threshold strategy to safeguard the peninsula. South Korean academic Jaeho Hwang weighs the options.

America’s 2026 raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro relied on months of intelligence, air dominance and regional deployment. China’s PLA lacks the operational conditions needed to attempt a similar decapitation strike against Taiwan, says Japanese academic Sugiura Yasuyuki.

Apocalyptic rhetoric invoked during the US-Israel war on Iran creates a powerful ideological bridge between Israel’s narratives and the mobilisation of American troops, observes academic Ma Haiyun. Such framing and shaping of the civilisational narrative is dangerous as it draws the US deeper into conflicts in the Middle East.

Amid uncertainty in China’s economic outlook and job market, the American concept of “Financial Independence, Retire Early” has trended among Chinese youth. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Li Kang finds out that people are motivated not just by the goal of early retirement, but also by regaining control of their time and life.

China is rapidly building AI data centres powered by low-cost electricity and state-led planning. Yet shortages of top-end chips and misaligned infrastructure risk leaving much of this computing capacity underused. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Liu Sha explains.

Amid rising global uncertainty and frequent international trade frictions, the Chinese government’s lower national growth target reflects its emphasis on stability. Lianhe Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong observes that this eases the pressure on local governments but leaves international investors cautious.

The recent showcase of the ability and appearance of humanoid robots during China’s Spring Festival Gala has set off a storm of discussion on whether robots that are indiscernible from humans are welcomed or not. Academic Zhang Tiankan notes that while robots can take over menial work, it must never hold a higher status than humans.