Economy
China’s nuclear push meets Southeast Asia’s trust deficit
China is keen to court Southeast Asia countries in the early stages of incorporating nuclear energy in their energy mix, but longstanding territorial disputes and tough competitors may stand in the way. Researchers Kevin Zongzhe Li and Genevieve Donnellon-May explain.
Kevin Zongzhe Li, Genevieve Donnellon-May
Economy
China is becoming Japan — with worse imbalances and better cards
China’s economy does resemble Japan’s after the bubble burst, with prolonged Japanese-style stagnation possible. Yet the better cards it is dealt today may just give it less incentive for domestic reform, thereby continuing the cycle. Economist Alicia García Herrero explains.
Alicia García Herrero
Society
[Big read] From wartime shelters to hotpot havens: Chongqing’s underground reinvention
Chongqing’s air raid shelters have been reinvented to become bustling hotpot restaurants and cosy bookshops. Yet beneath their commercial appeal lies a history that locals are determined not to forget. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Liu Liu explores these spaces.
Liu Liu
Popular This Month
Politics
Bilahari Kausikan: The Korean Peninsula and the future of East Asian geopolitics
Former Singapore diplomat Bilahari Kausikan believes that a momentous strategic shift is underway on the Korean Peninsula, impacting the East Asian geopolitical landscape. The rise of a nuclear-armed North Korea and a transactional US alliance system are forcing a structural reset. An independent nuclear path for South Korea and Japan may be next.
Bilahari Kausikan
Society
Chinese youths trade ambition for simple pleasures
From catching caterpillars to riding slow trains, Chinese youths are pursuing joy from the little things in life. Lianhe Zaobao’s China Desk looks at the rise of youths shunning ambition and excess spending, and “just getting on with life”.
China Desk, Lianhe Zaobao
Society
Rich nations tell citizens to stockpile for crises. Why not China?
From the US and Europe to Japan, official appeals for households to stockpile essential supplies are sweeping developed nations. They reflect a sobering recognition that governments may not be able to reach everyone in time during a major crisis. Academic Zhang Tiankan examines why China takes a different approach.
Zhang Tiankan
Culture
Who were the patrons of Nanyang art?
Nanyang art is generally associated with a category of artworks created in the early to mid-20th century by Chinese migrant artists in their new-found home of Singapore. A group of Western-educated individuals were their strongest and most vocal champions, referring to their work as “Malayan art”, rather than “Nanyang art”, at a time when Singapore was heading towards independence from the British. Low Sze Wee, group director (museums) of the National Heritage Board tells us more.
Low Sze Wee
Politics
[Big read] China’s fifth plenum: What ongoing purges reveal about Xi Jinping’s power layout
From purged top generals to bypassed central cadres, China’s personnel arrangements are at their most chaotic in years. What can the upcoming fifth plenum tell us about its future leadership pipeline? Lianhe Zaobao journalist Miao Zong-Han speaks to analysts to find out more.
Miaw Zong-Han
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Editor's pick
Culture
15th Shanghai Biennale: Does the flower hear the bee?
In an increasingly AI-centred world, this year’s edition of the Shanghai Biennale themed “Does the Flower Hear the Bee?” asks timely questions in inviting visitors to think about engaging different forms of intelligence beyond ourselves. Curator and writer Tan Hwee Koon walks us through the exhibition.
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Economy
[Video] AI, robots, innovative drugs: China’s high-tech trio rattles the West
AI, robotics and innovative drugs, coined the “new ‘new three’”, are leading China’s exports up the value chain, marking the country’s shift from labour-driven to knowledge-driven growth. ThinkChina’s Yi Jina explains.
Yi Jina
Society
[Video] This PhD dropout exposes China’s academic fraud — can he change the system?
Online exposés by Student Geng, a PhD dropout-turned-influencer, have led to the downfall of top Chinese researchers and the largest academic misconduct investigation to date. ThinkChina’s Lu Lingming and Yi Jina find out what is fuelling the problem.
Lu Lingming, Yi Jina
Politics
[Video] Trump and Xi meet again: What changed and what didn’t
This year’s historic Trump-Xi state visits delivered memes and pageantry, though Xi’s trip to Washington was shadowed by protests and Trump’s media ban. ThinkChina’s Yi Jina and Lingming Lu compare the two summits to see what changed and what didn’t.
Yi Jina, Lu Lingming
Society
[Video] Could Niu Lai be China’s highest-return film ever?
Made by a mother and son with no outside investment, the low-budget Chinese animated film Niu Lai earned only US$1,000 in its first nine days before viral clips pushed its box office takings past US$4 million in just a few days. ThinkChina’s Lu Lingming explains what drove its unexpected box office success.
Lu Lingming
Politics
[Video] Bilahari Kausikan: How to navigate the new world order
Bilahari Kausikan, in an interview with ThinkChina editor Chow Yian Ping, examines how US-China rivalry is reshaping the global order, why China’s “China dream” narrative of national rejuvenation remains powerful but limiting, and how a more fluid, multipolar Asia will test the nimbleness of smaller states such as Singapore.
Chow Yian Ping
Politics
[Video] Is China stopping its own citizens from leaving?
China has introduced new rules on exit and entry administration, setting out when authorities can intervene in border crossings and when citizens may be barred from leaving the country. The regulation brings national security, export controls and technology concerns more directly into the rules governing cross-border movement. ThinkChina’s Lingming Lu looks into the issue.
Lu Lingming
Society
[Video] Rare Hubei tornadoes expose China’s rising weather risk
Three rare tornadoes in Hubei exposed a stark new reality: China must prepare for increasingly complex extreme weather with better forecasting, more resilient cities and stronger disaster response. ThinkChina’s Yi Jina and Lu Lingming find out more.
Yi Jina, Lu Lingming
Latest Articles
Society
Rich nations tell citizens to stockpile for crises. Why not China?
From the US and Europe to Japan, official appeals for households to stockpile essential supplies are sweeping developed nations. They reflect a sobering recognition that governments may not be able to reach everyone in time during a major crisis. Academic Zhang Tiankan examines why China takes a different approach.
Zhang Tiankan
Technology
Can businesses afford the AI they trust?
As US and Chinese AI firms compete for dominance, businesses face a difficult choice: how to balance performance, affordability and geopolitical security when choosing the models they trust. Academic Ruay-Shiung Chang looks at the deciding factors for AI adoption.
Ruay-Shiung Chang
Politics
Why Xi purges his hand-picked officials
The latest personnel changes during China’s fifth plenum, aimed at officials promoted under Chinese President Xi Jinping, point to a governing logic built on fear, loyalty and the constant search for enemies, as Xi tightens his grip ahead of the 21st Party Congress in 2027. Taiwanese academic Wen-Hsuan Tsai gives his analysis.
Wen-Hsuan Tsai
Politics
Missing cadres, absent slogans: Decoding China’s fifth plenum
China’s fifth plenum offered few clues about succession, but its low attendance, continuing military vacancies and conspicuous omission of familiar political slogans reveal much about the state of Xi Jinping’s party and the challenges ahead of the 21st Party Congress in 2027. EAI researcher Zhou Na gives her analysis.
Zhou Na
Society
China’s pandemic film hits theatres — but the Covid wound is still raw
Six years after filming wrapped, a movie about the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan is finally hitting cinemas. However, this patriotic tribute to resilience has reopened painful memories for some people. Lianhe Zaobao’s China Desk takes a look.
China Desk, Lianhe Zaobao
Politics
Will Xi’s corruption purges paralyse China’s bureaucracy?
The 20th Central Committee’s fifth plenum reinforced Xi Jinping’s commitment to a sweeping anti-corruption drive, but tougher discipline raises a difficult question: will fear of punishment leave officials too paralysed to govern? Lianhe Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong looks into the matter.
Han Yong Hong
Politics
No US carriers in sight, yet Beijing waits
US diversion to Iran left a carrier-sized gap — but China did not move to invade. Instead, Beijing is using the Taiwan Strait window to expand grey zone coercion and test drive a future quarantine, argues researcher Tahir Mahmood Azad.
Tahir Mahmood Azad
Technology
Pony.ai’s next big ride: Replicating success across global cities
Pony.ai co-founder and CEO James Peng thinks his company has found the right strategy to profitably scale its integrated autonomous mobility technologies, from cities in China to testbed Singapore and the world. Lianhe Zaobao’s senior business writer Lee Kuo Ai speaks to him to find out more.
Lee Kuo Ai
Economy
China’s hybrid export boom faces new EU limits
A new China-EU trade deal sets limits on Chinese hybrid exports, offering market certainty while curbing rapid growth as Brussels shields local carmakers. With EV tariffs in place, scrutiny now shifts towards Chinese investments in European factories.
Caixin Global
Politics
From meme to a PR crisis: How footballer Mbappé crossed China’s red line
A misjudged joke which ended up linking footballer Kylian Mbappé to Mao Zedong triggered a public relations crisis. Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Sim Tze Wei explains how this episode sends a stark signal about the boundaries of political satire and Chinese market power.
Sim Tze Wei
Politics
Why Brazil cannot afford to choose between China and the US
Brazil’s deep economic ties with China and strategic relationship with the US limit its room for manoeuvre. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s re-election leaves Brasília facing the challenge of balancing both powers without choosing sides. Lianhe Zaobao’s associate China news editor Sim Tze Wei examines the issue.
Sim Tze Wei
Politics
[Big read] Satire, deepfakes and virtual voters: AI enters Taiwan’s election race
AI has made its way into Taiwan’s local elections with AI-generated satire videos and virtual party spokespersons. Lianhe Zaobao Taipei correspondent Lai Oi Lai examines whether AI can sway voters and how Taiwan can manage AI risks without curbing free speech.
Lai Oi Lai
Politics
What the rise of post-70s provincial officials reveals about CCP succession
A new wave of post-70s technocrats is expected to fill China’s top provincial government posts. Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Sim Tze Wei examines what their rise reveals about the CCP’s evolving rules for top political succession.
Sim Tze Wei
Economy
China wants US soybeans. Its buyers prefer Brazil
In China’s soybean trade, state-owned enterprises tend to help fulfil bilateral commitments while private processors weigh up the costs and benefits. This means that the recovery of US exports depends less on bilateral agreements and more on commercial justifications, says researcher Genevieve Donnellon-May.
Genevieve Donnellon-May
Economy
Pinglu Canal is an alternative, not a game changer for Southeast Asia
China’s new Pinglu Canal promises a shorter route to ASEAN, but its real impact depends on how ships and cargoes fit into existing supply chains, ports and regional trade networks. Commentator Jianbo Wu analyses the situation.
Jianbo Wu
Politics
When Taiwan’s stars must prove their political loyalty
Taiwanese host Kevin Tsai’s appearance at a local campaign event triggered cross-strait political fallout. His experience highlights the shrinking space for Taiwanese entertainers operating amid competing ideological expectations. Lianhe Zaobao journalist Miao Zong-Han looks at what is at stake.
Miaw Zong-Han