Cultural Revolution
Culture
Taiwanese art historian: My Aquarian friend Hualing who embraced everyone [Part 2]
Taiwanese art historian Chiang Hsun continues reminiscing about his time in Iowa, US, with Hualing Nieh Engle, as well as other prominent literary figures such as Wang Zengqi and Ah Cheng. Through ups and downs, Nieh’s Aquarian character shines through, strong and resilient.
Chiang Hsun
02 Jan 2026
History
[Photos] The Shandong ‘model’: A trailblazer in China’s history [Eye on Shandong series]
Shandong often played the role of a trailblazer, in more ways than one. The province was a central part of major turning points in Chinese history, and for historical photo collector Hsu Chung-mao, the place holds fond memories of his first books published in mainland China.
Hsu Chung-mao
26 Sep 2025
Politics
Is Donald Trump the spiritual heir to Mao Zedong?
While Trump’s policies and political style may be provocative and extreme, they lack the totalising, transformative ambitions of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. The term “American Cultural Revolution” is meaningful only in a metaphorical sense, asserts columnist Deng Yuwen.
Deng Yuwen
14 May 2025
History
China’s battle for the narrative on Qing history: A matter of national rejuvenation
Despite several attempts to compile Qing History (《清史》), efforts by Chinese historians continue to see setbacks, with China’s ideological security on the line. Lianhe Zaobao’s China Desk takes a look at the controversy surrounding this mammoth task.
China Desk, Lianhe Zaobao
10 Apr 2025
Culture
A pilgrimage of the heart: Paying homage to Jin dynasty calligrapher Wang Xizhi
Cultural historian Cheng Pei-kai takes us back to his trip to Shengzhou, Zhejiang, where he visited the gravesite of Jin dynasty calligrapher Wang Xizhi, the Sage of Calligraphy. In the depths of the lush forest with mountains peeking through, what does it mean to travel the distance to pay respects to an ancestor and honour their virtues?
Cheng Pei-kai
20 Oct 2023
Society
When the arts is more than politics: Reflections on the 50th anniversary of the Philadelphia Orchestra's China tour
Learning of a recent performance in the US by Suzhou musicians, SPH Chinese Media Group editor-in-chief Lee Huay Leng muses on the role that the Philadelphia Orchestra's visit to Beijing had played in US-China relations in the 1970s. While no substitute for hard diplomacy, cultural exchanges can sow seeds of friendship among different peoples, and help the world reap something beautiful in the future.
Lee Huay Leng
17 Mar 2023
Politics
China's far-left narratives are leading the country into a dead end
Commentator Lew Mon-hung notes that recent public opinion in China has been advocating a closed-door policy, sharply diverting away from the national policy of reform and opening up taken in 1978. Will China change course and reverse its decades-long process?
Lew Mon-hung
20 Sep 2022
Politics
Xi Jinping's misguided return to ideology
East Asian Institute senior research fellow Lance Gore argues that two contexts made Xi's resurrection of ideological orthodoxy almost inevitable - Leninist party rule and China's rise on the global stage. But Xi's return to ideology may be to China's detriment, as it could reverse achievements of the reform and opening up era, and also set China on a collision course with Western liberal democracies.
Lance Gore
08 Jul 2022
Politics
Are the Chinese people the true masters of their country?
Lance Gore reflects on what Chinese Communist Party cadres today understand by the phrase "Serve the People", stating that people in positions of power could either serve the people slavishly or ride roughshod over them. The impetus to do right by the populace is simply not ensured. As the authorities seek to get the people more involved in "whole-process democracy", they will need to consider how the regime's affinity with the people may be maintained in the absence of electoral democracy.
Lance Gore
05 May 2022
Politics
The curse of political correctness in China and the US
How the China-US conflict will end very much depends on the vociferous court of public opinion of each country. At the moment, political correct views are being spewed on both sides. Such behaviour shows a common human weakness to demonise the other and threaten to keep both sides locked in a vortex of vitriol. East Asia Institute academic Lance Gore implores the people of both countries to keep their senses and adhere to their better judgement. In particular, China should be clear-eyed that the combined strength of the US and its allies exceeds any level China may attain in the foreseeable future and act accordingly.
Lance Gore
24 Mar 2022
Society
Students snitching on teachers in Chinese classrooms: Return of Cultural Revolution?
Another internet furore has erupted, this time over a Shanghai college lecturer who was ratted out by her student and accused of being "spiritually Japanese" for questioning the death toll of the Nanjing Massacre. Are fears of a Cultural Revolution returning justified as people feel emboldened to tell on others without much thought?
Wong Siew Fong
22 Dec 2021