Tag: China Current Events
ZGBriefs | August 1, 2024
Interview—Understanding China's Transformation Firsthand with David Moser (July 29, 2024, National Committee on US-China Relations) Arriving in China more than thirty years ago with nothing more than an interest in Chinese culture and philosophy, David Moser ended up witnessing China's monumental evolution from a country just discovering Coca-Cola to a wealthy, worldly, and confident nation. His experiences in China inspired his enthusiasm for cultural exchange, the importance of curiosity, and the necessity of dialogue to grow greater understanding of the country he calls home.
ZGBriefs | July 25, 2024
Remembering Hong Kong’s “Queen of Swords” (July 19, 2024, Sixth Tone) Cheng Pei Pei, a pioneering actress and star of movies like “Come Drink with Me” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” died July 17. She was 78. One of the foremost stars of Hong Kong’s wuxia martial arts boom in the 1960s, Cheng returned to acting in the 1990s and 2000s with a series of high-profile roles. Her representatives confirmed her death Friday.
ZGBriefs | July 18, 2024
Young Chinese Seek Havens for a Better Restart (July 11, 2024, Global Times) Often referred to as "retirement homes for the young," these centers attract people seeking a slower pace of life, physical and mental relaxation, or a chance to rethink their life direction. Despite the name, they function more like a new social space combining leisure and social interaction, helping young people recharge, relieve stress, and prepare to better return to daily life or embark on a new journey.
ZGBriefs | July 11, 2024
Archaeologists Recover 900 Artifacts from Ming Dynasty Shipwrecks in South China Sea (June 18, 2024, Smithsonian Magazine) “The discovery provides evidence that Chinese ancestors developed, utilized, and traveled to and from the South China Sea, with the two shipwrecks serving as important witnesses to trade and cultural exchanges along the ancient Maritime Silk Road,” says Guan Qiang, deputy head of the NCHA, in the agency’s statement.
ZGBriefs | July 4, 2024
What You Need to Know about China’s Terra-Cotta Warriors and the First Qin Emperor (Updated April 19, 2024, Smithsonian Magazine) In March 1974, a group of peasants digging a well in China’s drought-parched Shaanxi province unearthed fragments of a clay figure—the first evidence of what would turn out to be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of modern times. Near the unexcavated tomb of Qin Shi Huang—who proclaimed himself first emperor of China in 221 BCE—lay an extraordinary underground treasure: an entire army of life-size terra-cotta soldiers and horses, interred for more than 2,000 years.
ZGBriefs | June 27, 2024
In China, Even Stanford Grads Are Fighting for Civil Service Jobs (June 19, 2024, Sixth Tone) China’s intense competition for civil service jobs appeared to hit new heights this week after it emerged that a world top university’s graduate had chosen to take a job with an obscure township government in the eastern Anhui province.
ZGBriefs | June 20, 2024
Podcast—Peter Hessler On His New Book, “Other Rivers: A Chinese Education” (June 13, 2024, Sinica Podcast) This week on Sinica, the highly-regarded writer Peter Hessler joins to talk about his new book, out July 9: Other Rivers: A Chinese Education. Over 20 years after teaching with the Peace Corps in Fuling (the subject of his first book, Rivertown, Pete returns to China to teach at Sichuan University in Chengdu. He writes about the two cohorts of students, with whom he has maintained extensive contacts, to offer fascinating insights into how China has changed across this momentous period with touching, deeply human stories.
ZGBriefs | June 13, 2024
A Cartoon Cat Has Been Vexing China’s Censors—Now He Says They Are On his Tail (June 9, 2024, BBC News) On X, unfettered by China’s censors, yet accessible through virtual private networks, Mr. Li’s following grew. But it only really exploded, to more than a million, in late 2022 during the White Paper protests against China’s punishing zero-Covid measures.
ZGBriefs | June 6, 2024
When studying the current state of Christianity in the People’s Republic of China, Western observers often quickly fixate on the controls imposed by the current government. Only one Protestant church is legally recognized—the Three Self Patriotic Movement—and therefore many Christians have chosen to worship in house churches that are underground. The government regulates baptisms and prohibits or closely monitors contact with foreign Christians and churches. All of this seems so foreign to our Western concepts of religious freedom. But is it China or America that is the anomaly?
ZGBriefs | May 30, 2024
Everything You Need to Know about Sight (March 7, 2024, Angel Studios) Sight, starring Terry Chen and Greg Kinnear, follows the true story of Dr. Ming Wang, a Chinese immigrant who defies all odds to become a world-renowned eye surgeon. Drawing upon the grit and determination he gained from a turbulent uprising in his upbringing, Dr. Wang sets out to restore the sight of a blind orphan.