Academic Ying Zhu explains why political and diplomatic tensions aside, the business of motion pictures has its own commercial logic so Hollywood and its Chinese counterpart will continue to be locked in a transactional relationship, though more surreptitiously and in a much more low-key fashion.
China women
Politics
China’s population policies have had a tendency to veer towards the extreme since the era of Mao, says commentator Yu Shiyu. A delayed response to adjusting the one-child policy, which has resulted in a declining population and is expected to have an adverse economic impact, demonstrates the inefficiency of an authoritarian system in self-correcting. Its decision making could also swing between extremes as it is based on subjective top-level thinking.
Society
Local governments in Chinese cities are taking extra measures to encourage couples to marry early and have children. However, given the youth’s shifting values and society’s tolerance for singlehood, these measures are falling short. Meanwhile, netizens are lamenting that government policies should not be coercive or objectify women.
Society
Currently in China, assisted reproductive technology (ART) can only be applied to married couples with infertility issues. Social egg freezing (SEF) is prohibited in most regions of China, except Jilin province. The case of Xu Zaozao, a single lady who sought to freeze her eggs, has cast more attention on this issue. Chinese academic Lorna Wei points out that even as women advocate for the right to decide if she would like to freeze her eggs, they may be stuck in a continuing patriarchal trap.
Society
Commentator Gu Erde notes the recent spate of allegations of sexual offences against notable figures in Taiwan, most prominently from within the Democratic Progressive Party itself. This has put the ruling party in the eye of the #MeToo storm, with victims coming forward to speak out. What does this furore say about patriarchal chauvinism in Taiwan’s wider society and culture?
Society
Are women in China getting more conscious about their body image? Or is the clothing industry part of the problem as it makes smaller-sized clothes that could even fit children? Lianhe Zaobao’s China Desk looks into the trend in clothes manufacturing and its impact on Chinese women’s body image.
Society
While a bride price or dowry is a marriage custom in China, the monetary value of the bride price has been getting out of hand in many places. At the top of the list is Jiangxi province, where bride prices can go as high as US$116,000. Zaobao’s China Desk examines the phenomenon and what is being done about it.
Politics
Taiwanese academic Chang-Ling Huang explains the importance of gender quota laws in pushing forward women’s representation in politics, observing that while China and Japan have had poor women political representation, Taiwan has managed to be a bright spot in East Asia.
Politics
Li Cheng, director of the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution, notes that while the Mao-era slogan of "women hold up half the sky" is often repeated, only one woman serves on the current 25-member Politburo (4%), and no woman has ever served on the Politburo Standing Committee, the supreme decision-making body in the country. He asks: what are the prospects for women leaders at the 20th Party Congress? Who are the prominent female candidates for the upper echelons of the CCP leadership?