WHAT YEAR IS IT?
CCTV’s annual Spring Festival Gala, which is seen by more than a billion people most years, keeps featuring performers in blackface.
Brendon Hong is the pseudonym of a longtime contributor to The Daily Beast based in Hong Kong.
DYSTOPIA
Some hid from the military and scraped pro-democracy flags off their car windows while others worked to connect citizens to Bluetooth apps as Signal and Telegram went down.
CONTAGION
With the origins of COVID-19 still murky, and a long history of viruses jumping from animals to humans inside China, conditions are ripe for another disaster.
VIRTUAL SWEATSHOPS
A pervasive tech world culture where staff are expected to work for 12 hours a day, six days a week has powered China’s tech boom. At what cost?
BIG BROTHER
U.S. companies are investing in Chinese artificial intelligence firms whose products are being used to abuse human rights.
DYSTOPIAN
Dahua, a Chinese surveillance-gear supplier, accidentally posted online code for software that specifically identifies Uighurs, and tracks their emotions and movements.
SOFT POWER
China’s United Front has worked behind the scenes for decades to convince Taiwan’s elite that their country should welcome a takeover by Beijing.
SABER-RATTLING
After China’s state media issued a threat against the safety of Taiwan’s president, Taiwan’s rival parties jointly called to reestablish formal diplomatic relations with the U.S.
TWO CAN PLAY THIS GAME
Mouthpieces for the Chinese Communist Party are urging leaders to target U.S. tech companies with nationalistic bans similar to what Trump has imposed on TikTok.
ONE CHINA
Mongolians are risking brutal recriminations by publicly protesting moves to end local language classes in school.