ROGER GUO examines how Chinese government bodies use Douyin to generate patriotism, and how patriotism in turn drives Douyin’s popularity. TikTok, the most downloaded app on the App Store this past year, has faced growing scrutiny in the West even as its Chinese counterpart Douyin has thrived under China’s far stricter censorship laws. TikTok and Douyin are short-video sharing apps mainly used by teenagers, with … Continue reading A Patriotic Voice: The Rise of TikTok’s Counterpart in China

KARA LIU examines the shortfalls in the education of China’s migrant children and offers suggestions for volunteers. Beneath China’s soaring skyscrapers, 288 million migrant workers toil in the factories, construction sites, and service jobs that have powered the Chinese economic miracle. Despite their invaluable contributions to China’s rise, migrant workers experience systemic marginalization that deprives them of access to healthcare, education, and legal protection. Children … Continue reading No Child Left Behind: Deficiencies in the Education of China’s Migrant Children

SHARON LI explores applications of facial recognition technology in commerce and public facilities in China. In October 2019, the Trump administration added 28 additional Chinese organizations to its “Entity List,” effectively banning them from trading with US companies without government approval. Among these organizations were video surveillance companies Hikvision and Dahua, which the Commerce Department alleges are “implicated in China’s campaign targeting Uighurs and other … Continue reading Your Toilet Knows: Non-Surveillance Uses of Facial Recognition in China

ZHEYAN NI reviews Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China and Korean Workers: The Culture and Politics of Class Formation. An inquiry has been occupying my mind for a long time: are journalists or scholars the better story tellers of a society? Contrasting the two books in this review helps us understand their differences in approach and effect. Leslie Chang, the wife of famous China … Continue reading Comparative Analysis of Factory Girls and Korean Workers

MICHAEL TAN examines the Chinese civil service system and why it can potentially produce more effective leadership than democratic systems. Would a TV-celebrity and real-estate mogul with no political experience whatsoever ever be able to achieve the presidency in China? Such a feat, while possible in the United States, has next to no chance of happening in China, for reasons that lie in the extremely rigorous … Continue reading How the Chinese Political System Can Elevate More Competent Government Officials