Protest

Members of the Muslim community protest against a government plan to develop the Rempang Island into a Chinese-funded economic zone that would displace around 7,500 people, near the Presidential Palace in Bogor on 24 September 2023. (Aditya Aji/AFP)

Why has Batam’s Rempang Eco-City national project become a controversy?

Unhappiness among villagers in Rempang, close to Batam island, has led to riots in Batam City and threatens existing and future foreign investment. A small but diminishing window exists in which the local and central governments can improve their approach towards convincing residents of the need to relocate for a better future.
Chinese trucks parked at Gwadar port. These trucks were part of the trade convoy that carried the first export consignment from Kashgar to Gwadar for onward shipment on 13 November 2016. (Khurram Husain/Dawn)

Why Baloch separatists in Pakistan want China's BRI out

With more attacks on Chinese nationals threatened by Baloch separatists in Pakistan, Beijing has pressured Islamabad to take foolproof security measures to protect its nationals and interests in the South Asian country. Columnist Syed Fazl-e-Haider explains.
Baiterek, a monument and observation tower, in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan. (Photo provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan)

[Big read] Kazakhstan’s economic emergence amid US-China-Russia power struggle

Kazakhstan’s development since gaining independence in 1991 has led it to become a leader in the Central Asia region. With much potential still waiting to be explored in this resource-rich country, Kazakhstan is walking a tightrope to balance its relations with the US, China and Russia. Lianhe Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong shares findings from her visit.
A parent takes a photograph of her child in traditional Tibetan clothing as she poses outside Potala palace in Lhasa, Tibet, on 27 June 2023. (CNS)

Tibet aims to boost tourism but not at the expense of security

Since the relaxation of anti-epidemic measures in China, officials have been ramping up efforts to promote tourism in Tibet. However, the dilemma between cultural preservation and developing the tourism industry, and that between security and economic development, are issues that could curb the autonomous region’s opening up to tourists. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Wong Siew Fong shares findings from her media visit to Lhasa and Shannan.
Demonstrators gather outside Zhongshan park to protest changes to medical benefits in Wuhan, China, 15 February 2023 in this still image from social media video obtained by Reuters. (Social media/Reuters)

China’s silent healthcare insurance reform triggers protests among elderly

Recent changes to China’s medical insurance system have received backlash from its elderly population, who fear that their reduced incomes and increased medical expenses will make healthcare unaffordable for them. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Chen Jing looks at how the reforms will be implemented and their impact on the people.
For mainland youth, the world could be their oyster in Hong Kong​. Scene at a promenade next to Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, China, on 20 November 2022. (Bertha Wang/AFP)

Mainland youth: Hong Kong a reassuring place with good opportunities

Hong Konger freelance writer Thomas Chan speaks with young mainland Chinese who have chosen to seek their futures in Hong Kong. Aside from push factors from the mainland or the West, many of them think Hong Kong has positive attributes of its own that makes it an appealing choice.
People hold white sheets of paper in protest over coronavirus disease (Covid-19) restrictions, after a vigil for the victims of a fire in Urumqi, as outbreaks of COVID-19 continue, in Beijing, China, 28 November 2022. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

All in the plans: Social protests have little chance of weakening Xi Jinping’s leadership

While some analysts have spoken of the “white paper protests” against Covid restrictions in China as a turning point in citizen movements aggregating change, Taiwanese academic Wen-Hsuan Tsai says that the CCP had made its own calculations regarding easing China's Covid policy. Moreover, with its high-tech methods of monitoring protesters, the events of last November were well within its sights to deal with.
People gather as they hold candles and white sheets of paper to support protests in China regarding Covid-19 restrictions at National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan, 30 November 2022. (Ann Wang/Reuters)

Why did the Taiwanese support China's A4 revolution?

Taiwanese academic Ho Ming-sho asserts that Taiwan’s show of solidarity with protestors in China’s A4 revolution is better understood under the lens of the history of the island’s pursuit of its own identity. He explains why Taiwan’s civil-society actors chose to react to the protests on universal values, rather than national sentiment.
A security personnel keeps watch next to a Chinese Communist Party flag before the new Politburo Standing Committee members meet the media following the 20th Party Congress of the Communist Party of China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 23 October 2022. (Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

Can the CCP truly serve the people?

Recent protests against the Covid restrictions show that the CCP’s mantra of “serving the people” is a double-edged sword. The platitude lends ideological ammunition and justification for people to retaliate, and may also give far leftists fodder for accusing the party of abandoning their original mission. Rather than a nameless “the people” which can be manipulated politically, perhaps it is time to think of the people as each and every person whose rights need to be safeguarded.