[Comic] Dystopia or 'a beautiful new world'?

While the Americans have made noticeable progress in their “pivot” to Asia, the crux of successful regional engagement rests on Washington’s ability to work with and around China’s indisputable links and influence in this part of the world, while managing its own relationship with Beijing.

Political commentator Jin Jian Guo observes that China economic policy has always been ruled by politics, and while it seems that the pendulum is swinging back in favour of private firms after a period of bashing and stifling, this is not a given as the politics of the day still rules.

Hua Language Centre director Chew Wee Kai thinks back to the first time he attended a university graduation — in a tent. However, the solemnity of the event still shone through, in a fitting tribute to the effort of the graduates, as well as the travails of that storied university called Nanyang University (Nantah), and all that it came to represent.

With Chinese New Year around the corner, the wave of human movement during the period could trigger a fresh wave of Covid-19 in China, not least in the rural areas with its villages and less than readily available healthcare. Zaobao correspondent Wong Siew Fong recounts her visit to a rural area in Zhangjiajie to find out if the rural villages are prepared to handle a surge in Covid-19 cases.

The latest announcement of China’s first population drop in six decades has gained much attention, with concerns over the long-term implications for the economy and the community. How will this affect China’s GDP and its aim to overtake the US as the world’s biggest economy? Can China reverse the population trend?