Media

This handout picture taken and released on 11 January 2023 by the Ukranian Presidential Press Service shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy paying tribute to fallen soldiers at the Field of Mars of Lychakiv Cemetery in the western city of Lviv, Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Handout/Ukranian Presidential Press Service/AFP)

Taiwanese youth: What does democracy in Ukraine and Taiwan tell us?

Throughout the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy has been seen as a champion for democracy against authoritarianism, but Taiwanese social entrepreneur and columnist Jack Huang highlights the flaws in the media’s portrayal and how it could impact the Taiwan Strait crisis.
A US Air Force U-2 pilot looks down at the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon as it hovers over the central continental US on 3 February 2023 before later being shot down by the Air Force off the coast of South Carolina, in this photo released by the US Air Force through the Defense Department on 22 February 2023. (US Air Force/Department of Defense/Handout via Reuters)

Mass hysteria over spy balloons: The pot calling the kettle black?

Former Zaobao editor Lim Jim Koon believes that the balloon saga between China and the US in February gives much food for thought around the role of political leaders and mass media in sensationalising the trivial incidents.
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.
A woman reads Lianhe Zaobao at a bus interchange in Singapore. (SPH Media)

Navigating China-US competition: A Singapore Chinese-language paper's experience

Former Zaobao editor Lim Jim Koon observes that zaobao.com was recently lumped in with “local media” of China in one of the Japanese media reports. Intentionally or not, this is one of the ways that Singapore’s leading Chinese-language newspaper has sometimes been cast as pro-China or anti-China to suit the narratives of others. As China-US tensions intensify in the new Year of the Rabbit, the paper, and perhaps Singapore too, must brace itself for labels being cast on it, and keep vigilant in staying the course and guarding its own interests.
A supporter holds the final edition of the newspaper outside the headquarters of the Apple Daily newspaper and its publisher Next Digital Ltd. in Hong Kong, China, on 24 June 2021. (Paul Yeung/Bloomberg)

When a news media company becomes radically politicised: Jimmy Lai and the Apple Daily saga

The high-profile trial of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai has been postponed, with some voices asserting that media freedom has not been respected. From his close observation of Apple Daily in his years as Zaobao’s editor, Lim Jim Koon takes a clear-eyed look at Apple Daily. He says that having crossed the baseline of news media organisations and broken the law, it can no longer justify its actions with media freedom.
The President of the People's Republic of China, Jiang Zemin meeting Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who hosted a dinner for the Chinese leader at the Istana. Looking on is BG Lee Hsien Loong, the Minister-in Attendance, November 1994. (SPH Media)

My memories of Jiang Zemin: Editor-in-chief, Chinese Media Group

From her time on the political desk then as Zaobao’s Hong Kong correspondent and Beijing correspondent, Lee Huay Leng, editor-in-chief of SPH Chinese Media Group, recalls her impressions of the late former Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Jiang represented the ideas and workings of an era in Chinese politics, and played a great role in shaping China's domestic policies and international diplomacy.
People hold white sheets of paper in protest over Covid-19 restrictions, after a vigil for the victims of a fire in Urumqi, as outbreaks of Covid-19 continue, in Beijing, China, 27 November 2022. (Thomas Peter/File Photo/Reuters)

China's elderly rulers must get used to the young criticising them

East Asian Institute senior research fellow Lance Gore observes that the recent protests in China have highlighted the deep generational gap between the leaders of the country and the protesters. In tandem with the modernisation of society, there needs to be the modernisation of politics, allowing greater room for political participation and dialogue.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin waves from his car following talks with Laurent Fabius, speaker of the French National Assembly, in Paris, France, 25 October 1999. (Charles Platiau/File Photo/Reuters)

Jiang Zemin: The Chinese leader whose achievements outweighed the shortcomings

US academic Zhu Zhiqun gives an assessment of the late former President Jiang Zemin’s policies during his time leading China throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s.
A banner featuring a portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping at a People's Liberation Army (PLA) Flag Guard barrack near the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, on 11 October 2022. (Bloomberg)

China’s zero-Covid policy unlikely to ease after party congress

China’s strict pandemic measures have undoubtedly caused significant inconvenience to the ordinary people. However, while there is talk that the measures might be relaxed after the 20th Party Congress, the signals from state media seem to suggest that the “dynamic zero” approach to Covid-19 is here to stay, at least for some time yet. Zaobao correspondent Yang Danxu tells us more.