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Amid the pandemic, US elections and intensifying geopolitical tensions around the globe, China’s recently-released communique of the fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) drew much attention. What does this 14th Five-Year Plan say about China’s development trajectory and its focus for the next five years? How has it changed given the new global situation? EAI academic Qi Dongtao dissects the document.

A celebration of Taiwan’s National Day in Fiji led to a physical altercation between Taiwan and mainland China officials, which in turn has resulted in a fresh escalation of cross-strait hostilities. Zaobao journalist Chuang Hui Liang examines where this might lead.

With the foreign ministers of the US, Japan, India, and Australia convening in Tokyo for their latest ministerial quadrilateral security dialogue meeting last week, and the US especially keen to contain China through this grouping, economics professor Zhu Ying wonders: Will the Quad become an Asian mini-NATO?

The US seems to think that China is the old Soviet Union, and worse, that it has been disingenuous and is only showing its true colours now. Given testy relations, China is waiting it out until the US presidential election in November. But even if there is a new president from the Democratic Party in the White House, will China’s woes recede?

What does Moisés Naím’s 2013 book tell us about power in the modern world and how is this related to the recent high-profile arrests of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and former member of the Standing Committee of Demosistō Agnes Chow under the Hong Kong national security law? Can China's style of showing power maintain peace in society? How long would its deterrence work in Hong Kong society?

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members and their families may soon be banned from travelling to the US, while there are other indications that the CCP is becoming a target for the US in a new global competition of ideology. Zaobao correspondent Yang Danxu examines the signs of worsening US-China relations.

The US has ended Hong Kong’s preferential treatment, sparking some concerns that Hong Kong may not be able to retain its status as an international financial centre. Zaobao journalist Tai Hing Shing examines whether these worries are valid.

Hong Kong political columnist Chip Tsao makes his observations on an emerging group of people who lack sufficient job security and face a sense of uncertainty and precariousness — the precariat. This group is plugged in to social media, which means they have quick access to information, but are also able to make comparisons that might lead to dissatisfaction. Will the civil servants running Hong Kong be able to empathise with this increasingly marginalised group in society?

Heng Kim Song has been the freelance editorial cartoonist