Edwin Ong

Amid the ongoing US-China rivalry, both powers have been sending their navies on exercises in the Yellow Sea, as a signal to each side, stopping just short of actual engagement. This mirrors earlier near-confrontations. Is this all just military posturing ahead of a possible Xi Jinping-Joe Biden summit before the end of the year?

China’s Huawei suddenly launched a new smartphone, equipped with a 7 nm chip said to be made in China and with network speeds reaching 5G levels, shocking the US political circles. What far-reaching impacts will China's breakthrough in chip technology have? How will Washington respond? Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Edwin Ong takes us through the recent developments and what it means for the US’s strategy against China’s tech advancements.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech in February criticising the West was recently quoted in a Chinese Communist Party publication, and Lianhe Zaobao journalist Edwin Ong notes that the renewed attention could be intended to strengthen the political consensus among officials and citizens. Meanwhile, Xi’s emphasis on treading a different path from Western modernisation could come at the expense of its economy.

Former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who had a meteoric rise and just as swift a fall, was thought to have adopted a more measured tone in China’s foreign policy. Are fears of a return to wolf warrior diplomacy under Wang Yi unfounded? Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Edwin Ong assesses the situation.

Even as young people are struggling to find jobs amid high unemployment and a tough economy, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on them to “actively seek hardship”. Such messaging is made in the spirit of self-motivation and self-improvement, but is it a long-term solution to address the confusion and anxiety among young Chinese people? Zaobao correspondent Edwin Ong finds out.

Since the start of this year, hordes of parents have descended on the Chongqing People’s Park matchmaking corner every weekend to find a potential mate for their children. Many parents there lament that the matchmaking corner is like a “hypermarket” where parents try to “outmanoeuvre” each other. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Edwin Ong believes that it is also a microcosm of the socioeconomic divide in China.

With pension funds slowly depleting, Chinese officials are looking to increase the statutory retirement age to alleviate the pressure on government coffers, increase pension contributions and resolve labour shortages. However, Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Edwin Ong notes that the policy is facing resistance from those nearing retirement as well as the younger generation.

In 2022, Chongqing became China’s fourth largest city in terms of GDP, surpassing Guangzhou, which it had lagged behind despite boasting a bigger population and land mass. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Edwin Ong notes that Chongqing has leveraged its booming industrial sector to boost its economic growth over the past few years, but is this enough to sustain its stellar performance?

An incident involving errors with Covid test results at a test facility in Lanzhou has opened the doors to deeper digging by netizens, indicating a pattern of outbreaks wherever there are facilities established under the Shenzhen Nucleus Gene Technology Co. Coincidence, or something else?