AURELIA DOCHNAL reviews Xiao Wu (1997), Jia Zhangke’s first feature film. As the camera aimlessly ambles around a dilapidated city, disjointed layers of popular tunes hang in the air. A karaoke bar; a locally-made stereo, one of the best on the market, blasts in the street; a lighter hums an electric rendition of “Für Elise.” The music in Jia Zhangke’s first feature film, Xiao Wu … Continue reading “Xiao Wu”: The Cacophony of Alienation
EMILY LIN evaluates the success of recent reforms to China’s intellectual property rights regime and discusses future roadblocks to indigenous innovation. As China progressively shifts away from an export-based, growth-centric economic development model, indigenous innovation will play a critical role in determining the trajectory of growth in upcoming years. Initially, China’s growth has been spurred by low-value production of goods made for export, typically using … Continue reading China’s Innovation Challenge: Intellectual Property Rights Reform
MICHELLE FANG writes on the rising xenophobia in America in response to the coronavirus. (Illustrator: Lu Zheng, Original: Wang Fei/Xinhua/Sipa USA) No, the Chinese don’t eat dogs for dinner, cats are not main dishes, and—the sensational Chinese woman who drank bat soup most definitely did not start the new coronavirus. Remarks pinning the deadly respiratory virus on exotic Chinese diets aren’t simply unintended byproducts born to … Continue reading Infected By Fear: Don’t Blame the Chinese
SOFIA RASO proposes a solution to reverse China’s declining birthrate and rejuvenate its aging population. The Chinese government’s changes a mere six years ago to the previously devastating One Child Policy have been largely unsuccessful in inspiring the desired results of reversing China’s declining birthrate and rejuvenating its aging population. What is it worth to the Chinese government to correct the struggles of the current … Continue reading $5,000 Per Birth: A Price China Should Be Willing to Pay
LU ZHENG delves into the 2019 Hong Kong protests and how they have evolved over time. “I didn’t think I would ever do this again. But this time, society is waking up,” declares Chong, who recently quit his job to fully devote himself to the protests. Chong had been part of the Umbrella Movement, a series of sit-in protests in 2014 in Hong Kong that was … Continue reading Hong Kong Ablaze: Evolution of the 2019 Protests
HERMAN PENG analyzes Israel’s strategic partnerships with the US and China and offers advice for Israeli and American policy. Even to most well-versed readers of Chinese or Israeli history, Kaifeng and Shanghai probably bear little relation to Jewish history. These two Chinese cities — the former an old imperial capital tucked in Henan’s outer rim, the latter a megalopolis seated at the helm of China’s … Continue reading Shifting Sands: A Re-examination of Israeli Policy Regarding America and China
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
ADINA-LAURA ACHIM evaluates the warming relations between China and Southeast Asian nations. Southeast Asian nations like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and the Philippines have found a reliable partner in China, the second largest economy in the world. Yet, Western media has often portrayed these partnerships as examples of China’s manipulation and debt-trap diplomacy. Analyzing relations between China and Southeast Asian nations only through a geopolitical lens … Continue reading Southeast Asia’s Pivot to China
EMILY LIN chronicles the explosive growth and harrowing decline of shadow banking in China. China’s shadow banking sector has developed rapidly since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, sparking intense international debate over the potential financial risks that may arise in a largely unregulated private lending market. The scale of China’s shadow banking sector is estimated to encompass roughly 43% of China’s total GDP at RMB … Continue reading Invisible Money: Rise and Fall of Shadow Banking in China
