Yu Zeyuan

Yu Zeyuan

Beijing Correspondent and Senior Researcher, Lianhe Zaobao

Yu Zeyuan (real name Yu Haisheng) started in 1993 as a journalist and editor with Xinhua's foreign news desk, then joined the University of Hawaii as a visiting academic from 1996 to 1997. Since 2000, he has been Lianhe Zaobao's Beijing correspondent and senior researcher.

Healthcare workers in protective gear give residents their Covid-19 tests in Shanghai, China, on 10 July 2022. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

China reinstating the health code to combat respiratory disease?

Following a recent spike in respiratory illness in China, people in some areas have found that the green codes on their long-dormant health code apps have been reactivated, prompting speculation that this particular measure from the pandemic days might be coming back, and also reviving memories of the painful days of lockdown.
Chinese soldiers march in formation in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on 30 September 2023. (Pedro Pardo/AFP)

Will the PLA cross the Chinese-Myanmar border to safeguard security?

Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan notes that while the recent live-fire drills by China’s Southern Theater Command at the China-Myanmar border is aimed at testing the PLA’s capabilities, it is evidently a form of warning to all sides involved in the war in northern Myanmar. Some are even supporting the idea of Chinese military deployment across the border to tackle the serious, long-term issues of smuggling, drug trafficking and telecommunications fraud in northern Myanmar.
Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he walks with US President Joe Biden at Filoli estate on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Woodside, California, US, on 15 November 2023. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Xi-Biden meeting: Crisis prevention for the better good

The much anticipated Xi-Biden summit has been deemed a success by many. In particular, people-to-people exchanges will be expanded and military exchanges will resume, along with efforts in anti-drug cooperation. While points of contention remain between the two countries, such as the Taiwan Strait issue and the South China Sea, Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan notes that as long as the two countries are willing to engage in dialogue, bilateral relations will not spiral downwards.
US President Joe Biden (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, on 14 November 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP)

What will Xi Jinping and Joe Biden talk about?

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden are set to meet in San Francisco. What is likely to be on the agenda, and what results can be expected? Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan analyses the possibilities.
A giant screen displays live news broadcast of an obituary for the late Chinese former Premier Li Keqiang, at a shopping complex in Beijing, China, on 27 October 2023. (Florence Lo/Reuters)

China's stability will not be affected by Li Keqiang's death

Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan analyses the recent passing of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, and the comparisons people have drawn to the passing of former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Hu Yaobang.
(front row, left to right) Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, China's President Xi Jinping, Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev with other leaders wave during a group photo at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 18 October 2023. (Suo Takekuma/AFP)

Belt and Road Forum: A show of China’s influence

The scale and attendance by world leaders to the two-day third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing is a show of China’s influence in the global diplomatic stage, says Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan. Despite the West’s view that the Belt and Road Initiative is a strategic tool for China to expand its international influence, numerous developing countries are still willing to participate in it given the significant progress overall.
A person works at a residential building construction site in Beijing, China, on 6 September 2023. (Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

Chinese property market: Second wind or brief respite?

Over the last two years, the Chinese property market suffered a downturn and this has had a knock-on effect on the country’s economy. In recent weeks, the government has loosened restrictions and rolled out policies to make it easier for the public to buy houses and to boost property sales. Is this a turning point for the Chinese property market? Will the government’s mantra that “houses are for living in, not speculation” take a back seat henceforth? Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan reports.
Protestors attend a rally against Japan's plan to discharge treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the ocean, in front of the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the nuclear plant in Tokyo, Japan, on 24 August 2023. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Frostier Japan-China ties with Fukushima treated wastewater discharge

Japan’s discharge of treated nuclear wastewater into the sea has dealt another blow to the political, economic and trade relations between China and Japan. Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan elaborates.
A man holds the Russian national flag in front of a Wagner Group military vehicle in Rostov-on-Don late on 24 June 2023. (Stringer/AFP)

Coup in Russia sparks debate in China

The attempted coup in Russia by the leader of the Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin may have been quickly quelled, but it has led to much discussion in China, from some people feeling vindicated for their support of Ukraine, to others feeling worried about how the world will see China if Russia loses the war in Ukraine.