Shanghai skyline (by MasaneMiyaPA via Wikimedia Commons) In a recent interview, Tesla CEO Elon Musk praised the Chinese government, calling it "sensitive" to public opinion. "When I meet with Chinese government officials, they're always very concerned about this. Are people going to be happy about a thing? Is this going to actually serve the benefit… Continue reading The Chinese Government’s “United Front” and the Threat to Liberal Democracies
Joshua Wong (image by VOA via Wikimedia Commons) Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong has been arrested by police, according to a statement released by his party Demosisto. "Demosisto secretary general Joshua Wong was arrested at roughly 7:30 this morning en route to the South Horizons MTR station, when he was suddenly pushed into a… Continue reading Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong arrested
Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protest, August 18, 2019 (image by Studio Incendo via Wikimedia Commons) Military vehicles carrying soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) have entered Hong Kong in the early hours of August 29 on what China's state-run media have called a "routine rotation". Hong Kong citizens who saw PLA vehicles driving… Continue reading Chinese army enters Hong Kong for “routine rotation”
Last year Taiwanese President Ts'ai Ing-wen warned of rampant Chinese interference in the country's elections through the dissemination of "fake news" (假消). Now Taiwan's National Security Bureau has revealed that Beijing is working together with Taiwanese media outlets to spread Beijing's propaganda. Legislative Yuan, Taiwan (image by Jiang via Wikimedia Commons) On May 2 the… Continue reading Taiwanese government says some local media work with China, send content to Beijing for approval
In 2015 Lam Wing-kei (林榮基), the founder of Hong Kong-based bookstore "Causeway Bay Books," which published salacious books critical of the Chinese Communist leadership, went missing after he travelled to mainland China. Lam was accused of trying to overthrow the Chinese Communist government by mailing illegal books to the mainland. He was one of five… Continue reading Abducted Hong Kong bookseller has fled to Taiwan to avoid extradition to China
Wang Zhimin (王志民), Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and a member of the Communist Party Central Committee, welcomed the guilty verdict of 9 democracy activists and claimed that China's national security supersedes Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy. Wang made the remarks… Continue reading China’s national security more important than Hong Kong’s autonomy, says director of Beijing’s liaison office
Hong Kong's June 4 Memorial Museum, which commemorates the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, was vandalized days before its scheduled re-opening. On April 7 at around 10 a.m. workers entered the museum, which is located in Hong Kong's busy district of Mong Kok, and found that the lock was missing, chairs, cardboards, power sockets, main switches… Continue reading Hong Kong museum dedicated to 1989 Tiananmen Square Crackdown vandalized
University professors from Jiao Tong University vote at a polling booth during the Republic of China legislative election in Shanghai, 1948 (via Wikimedia Commons) Since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has dominated public discourse through its control of the media and education. The CCP… Continue reading Is democracy possible in China? Democratic thought in Chinese history – Sun Yat-sen, Lin Yutang, Carsun Chang
Today Hong Kong's pro-democracy party Demosisto (香港眾志) denounced at a press conference the arbitrary detention by China's public security officials of two of its members. According to Demosisto chairman Ivan Lam (林朗彥), one member of the party was detained by public security on March 26 at around 6 p.m. at Shenzhen North Station while he was… Continue reading Chinese Police Detained Two Members Of Hong Kong’s Pro-Democracy Party ‘Demosisto’
In November 2014 the Guomindang (Chinese Nationalist Party) suffered a defeat in Taiwan's local elections, winning 40.7% of the votes and only 6 out of 22 local seats. The main opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), gained 47.5% of the votes. This setback led to the resignation en masse of the Guomindang executive cabinet. It… Continue reading China-Taiwan Tensions and the Guomindang’s Existential Crisis
