Society

China-Japan relations have never been better in recent years. Chinese commentators have praised Japan’s elegant gestures like sending medical supplies signed off with ancient verses such as “山川异域，风月同天” (roughly: different lands, same sky). China-Japan watchers say this bodes well ahead of President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Japan in April. But whether this goodwill will last, is quite another matter.

The possibility of Covid-19 being a US-related biological weapon has been swirling around in the press and on social media. While little weight is given to the conjectures, just like in the case of sinophobia, a climate of fear could continue to cause panic and cloud China’s interactions with the world.

Views on the afterlife interestingly shed light on one’s approach to life, says Gordon Mathews of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He and his team find out what American, Chinese and Japanese views on death say about their lives. As the Covid-19 epidemic rages across the world, an understanding of different countries' philosophies on mortality may even be more apt.

Chinese social media has been rife with commentaries asking if Singapore is being too lax and defeatist in its approach to tackling the coronavirus outbreak. Han Yong Hong says beneath the veneer of calm lies characteristics that are peculiar to Singapore society.

Political scientist Ang Yuen Yuen concludes that given time and circumstance, there is a much higher political price to pay for Covid-19 in the 2020s compared to SARs in the 2000s. 

Zhang Yun, associate professor at Japan’s Niigata University, observes how the “yellow peril” of old persists in the current jaundiced views of China amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Amid growing resentment against the leaders of Wuhan and Hubei, Chen Yixin, secretary-general of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, has taken charge of efforts against the epidemic in Hubei. Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan looks at the difficulties of changing provincial-level officials in China and the likelihood of personnel changes improving the situation.

Hong Kong political commentator Leung Man-tao reflects on the dearth of truth in mainland Chinese society as he grieves the passing of Dr Li Wenliang. He remembers the men and women who have gallantly pursued truth in the face of adversity and believes that we can all learn to do the same.

Lianhe Zaobao journalist Tai Hing Shing rationalises that Hong Kong’s decision thus far not to completely close borders with the mainland is not unfounded.