Influential Hong Kong political commentator Simon Shen argues that Beijing is seeking to control the economic and political freedoms of the Hong Kong people by controlling the business community. He cautions against state corporatism of the sort employed in fascist states of the past and discusses how such state control can creep into our everyday lives.

In the unfolding academic fraud furore in China, Rao Yi, former dean of Peking University’s School of Life Sciences and president of Capital Medical University, fires a salvo of new accusations against three contemporaries.

On the first anniversary of her arrest in Vancouver, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou pens an open letter about her days under house arrest. In an emotive account, she says the strength she draws from warm words and gestures will light her way forward. This is the English translation of her full letter in Chinese. The original Chinese version of her letter is included at the end.

Social movements of today are no longer campaigns by the downtrodden poor but avenues for the well-educated middle class to air their anti-establishment discontent. Aided by social media, these groups appropriate concepts without understanding their true meanings, and look set to stay due to structural imbalance in the world caused by globalisation, technological progress and social divide. Zheng Yongnian opines that states badly need institutional reforms if they are to engage the social movements of today.

The word "ghost" (gui) is commonly found in the Chinese lexicon. Professor Poo Mu-chou draws links between history, culture and one’s personal experience to interpret the way humans conjure ghosts up in their own image and likeness in a bid to understand the inexplicable.

Two weeks ago, the Philippine Senate heard that China may end up controlling the power grid in the Philippines. Should the Filipinos be concerned? ISEAS senior fellow Malcolm Cook examines what this might mean for the Philippines.

China's Amity Printing Co. (APC) produces an average of 70 Bibles per minute. This month, Jiangsu-based APC celebrates the printing of its 200 millionth Bible. Yang Danxu observes that its monopoly over the Bible economy helps to ensure that Christianity in China adapts to the context in China, as desired by the Chinese government.

What made Hong Kongers stand with the rioters during the recent district council elections? Does this landslide victory for the pro-democracy camp really count as a win for Hong Kong? How will Beijing react? Veteran China affairs journalist and associate editor of Zaobao Han Yong Hong gives her opinion.

Has China won control of the South China Sea? Senior Fellow Daljit Singh of the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute opines that with the US' toughening stance towards China and an increased danger of a clash from naval and coast guard vessels that often operate at close quarters, China has not won yet.

In a record listing of 2019, Alibaba’s stock price in Hong Kong rose by 6.6% during its first day of trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Doing so in the midst of uncertainty in Hong Kong seems risky, but Alibaba’s gambit to reach investors in Asia may just pay off in the long run.