History

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou sits down with Straits Times senior regional correspondent Li Xueying for an exclusive interview at the Presidential Palace in Taipei, Taiwan, in April 2016, a month before he steps down as Taiwan president. (Taiwan Office of the President)

Poitical significance of former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou’s China visit

Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong notes that while former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou’s planned visit to several cities in mainland China is deemed an ancestral visit and to lead student exchanges, its political implications cannot be ignored. The trip could be a win for himself and both sides of the Taiwan Strait as the parties involved continue to push for cooperation and peaceful exchanges.
Members of the People's Armed Police stand guard near the Bund in Shanghai, China, on 28 February 2023. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

CCP's official ideology may be hampering China's rise

Despite the CCP’s efforts at arriving at new answers with socialism with Chinese characteristics, fundamental issues since Deng Xiaoping’s time and new issues of this era have not been solved. Maybe it is time to recognise that ideology for party governance may not be the best fit for national governance, says EAI senior research fellow Lance Gore. Instead, what is more effective could be constant innovation and seeking common understanding with the people in adherence with common human values.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis greets attendees and signs books after his remarks as he makes his first trip to the early voting state of Iowa for a book tour stop at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, US, 10 March 2023. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

The US is seeing a right-wing resurgence

Political rising star and possible candidate for future US president Ron DeSantis has set off a public debate on racism and its place in the American education system. But beneath the public backlash lies the perennial tussle between the conservative right and progressive left. While the US’s polarised state is a given, is the US society shifting further towards the right?
A person with an umbrella walks past a homeless person at Times Square during a rainy day on 19 January 2023 in New York City, US. (Angela Weiss/AFP)

Can the US afford a war with China?

The US’s propensity for spending more than it has has landed it in a US$31 trillion debt. Furthermore, the US’s actions against Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and China have weakened US dollar hegemony. US academic Han Dongping remarks that perhaps the US needs to focus on itself before it begins its sabre-rattling over issues such as the Taiwan Strait crisis.
People walk past shops in a hutong alley in Beijing, China, 31 December 2022. (Florence Lo/Reuters)

What has changed in Beijing post-pandemic?

Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong shares her observations of a post-pandemic Beijing, noting the subtle differences in consumer habits and the people’s reluctance to talk about politics. How will China continue to change on its path of 'China-style modernisation'?
A publicity image of the Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems performance. (iSING! Festival/Twitter)

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.
Kill

[Comic] Against the blazing sun

"People from northeastern China are like African Americans or Osakans. We have a history of wandering, irrational optimism and a sense of righteous clannishness. In our veins runs comic talent, along with being governed and discriminated against. Under all the snow and ice lie warm poems and folk songs, while the wild fires, steel and concrete encase a helpless rebelliousness. We understand everything, we know everything, but we choose to be kind. We are forced to leave our homes to seek a place that will accept us. We will say nothing. Our leather coats and dark glasses will never come off. We will tell you: 'This is nothing to us.'" - Bai Yi, comic artist
People tour the Jinxi Ancient Town in Kunshan, Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China, on 4 March 2023. (CNS)

Song dynasty poet Su Shi's appetite for exotic foods

While he is credited for creating the famed Dongpo pork dish, Song dynasty poet Su Shi actually savoured several exotic feasts while he was exiled in Huangzhou, Hubei. Chinese bamboo partridge, masked palm civet — you name it, he’s tried it.
An illustration projected on a screen shows a robot hand and a human one moving towards each others during the "AI for Good" Global Summit at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland, 7 June 2017. (Denis Balibouse/File Photo/Reuters)

AI is us, we are AI

Malaysian academic Goh Chun Sheng ponders the weighty issues thrown up by artificial intelligence, seeking a little assistance from none other than OpenAI’s ChatGPT.