Wong Siew Fong

Correspondent, Lianhe Zaobao

Wong Siew Fong is Lianhe Zaobao’s Beijing correspondent. She has been working at Zaobao for more than five years, previously covering special features and Singapore local news, before moving on to her Beijing posting in May 2021.

Li Haoshi, stage name House, got into trouble after a joke about the People's Liberation Army. (Internet)

Can stand-up comedians cross lines and tackle taboos in China?

A Chinese stand-up comedian has landed himself in trouble after cracking a joke seeming to compare the People’s Liberation Army with dogs. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Wong Siew Fong finds out why people are up in arms, and if the authorities’ slew of punishment is justified.
Visitors look at young male panda Yuan Meng standing inside its enclosure at The Beauval Zoo in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, central France on 28 April 2023. - Yuan Meng, whose name means "Wish Fulfillment", was the first baby panda born in France on August 4, 2017 and will leave France for China on July 4, 2023 after a month of quarantine. His parents Huan Huan (meaning "happy") and Yuan Zi ("chubby") are the only giant pandas living in France. (Guillaume Souvant/AFP)

Not just cute: How pandas became a politicised symbol around the world

China is known for its “panda diplomacy”, where its giant pandas were first gifted and later leased overseas as a sign of important bilateral relations and goodwill. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Wong Siew Fong looks into how the system has evolved since the 1950s, and whether panda diplomacy still works today.
Shipping containers are seen at a commercial port in Vladivostok, Russia, 15 February 2023. (Tatiana Meel/Reuters)

Russia opening Vladivostok port to China after 163 years

Amid the Russia-Ukraine war, Russia has opened the key port of Vladivostok to China, which will enhance the transportation of domestic goods in China’s northeast region. Many see this as an act of goodwill, while some believe that Russia could be turning into a vassal of China. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Wong Siew Fong takes us through what the port opening means for China.
A photo taken on 31 March 2023 in Manta, near Turin, shows a computer screen with the home page of the artificial intelligence OpenAI web site, displaying its ChatGPT robot. (Marco Bertorello/AFP)

China's self-censoring chatbots face many challenges

Since the release of ChatGPT late last year, Chinese tech companies have been rushing to release their own chatbots. But given the Chinese government’s tight grip on information and speech, how will chatbots developed by Chinese tech companies fare on the world stage?
In this file photo taken on 11 May 2021 children play outside a cafe in Beijing. (Greg Baker/AFP)

Shrinking population impacting preschools in China

Following the recent report on China’s shrinking population, Zaobao’s correspondent Wong Siew Fong takes a closer look at how this might affect China’s education system, and what the authorities will have to do to mitigate these effects, in terms of planning ahead and being proactive rather than reactive.
People at the market in Zhangjiajie, 8 January 2023.

How a rural village of elderly residents is coping with Covid-19 during CNY

With Chinese New Year around the corner, the wave of human movement during the period could trigger a fresh wave of Covid-19 in China, not least in the rural areas with its villages and less than readily available healthcare. Zaobao correspondent Wong Siew Fong recounts her visit to a rural area in Zhangjiajie to find out if the rural villages are prepared to handle a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Security personnel guard an entrance to a residential area under lockdown due to Covid-19 restrictions in Beijing, China, on 26 November 2022. (Noel Celis/AFP)

Do not expect a U-turn of China's Covid policy

China’s Covid-19 strategy has constantly been in the process of tightening and easing restrictions, and the key challenges now will be addressing the rate of deaths and critical cases among the elderly, preventing a squeeze on medical resources and mitigating public doubts about Covid-19 control policies.
A man pushes a woman in wheelchair past a poster with a graphic of medical workers at a nucleic acid testing booth in Beijing, China, 27 October 2022. (Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

China's young and old have opposing views on zero-Covid

China’s resurgence of Covid-19 infections has widened the gap between the young workers opposed to the tightening of controls, and the older generation that feel safer with strict measures in place. Given that the elderly make up a high proportion of the Chinese population, Chinese authorities seem to be holding fast to the dynamic-zero policy. Zaobao correspondent Wong Siew Fong tells us more.
Residents queue at a Covid-19 testing station in Shanghai, China, on 6 November 2022. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

Can China connect to the outside world amid zero-Covid?

Zaobao correspondent Wong Siew Fong notes that there seems to be contradictory views of China’s Covid-19 situation from people outside and inside the country. On the one hand, the strict zero-Covid measures seem to be easing for travellers, but on the other hand, lockdowns in several regions show that officials are sticking to harsh restrictions. How will China bridge the gap between the two and move out of the zero-Covid policy?