Featured stories about East Asia
Stories about East Asia
25 March 2019
Censored on WeChat: #MeToo in China
The term “rice bunny”, which sounds similar to “me too” when spoken in Chinese, was used as a replacement hashtag to get around the censors.
Outgoing baseball superstar Ichiro Suzuki's oddball t-shirts make him fan favorite
Ichiro, who has set more records than any other baseball player, recently announced his retirement.
23 March 2019
Deprived of citizenship, the Vietnamese of Cambodia live on the edge of society
“They tell us to go back to Vietnam. They say we fish everything and leave nothing for them. They tell us to go home. They don’t want us here.”
22 March 2019
Controversy at Malaysia’s Women’s Day march leads to its organizers being probed for sedition
"The government must not take the side of the bullies. Denying a group of marginalised groups their right to participate in democracy is truly an abuse of democracy."
18 March 2019
Japanese stray cats get VIP treatment on Instagram
An anonymous photographer has befriended and taken thousands of snapshots of stray cats from an undisclosed location in Japan.
15 March 2019
Censored on WeChat: the disappearance of Ye Jianming, former chairman of CEFC China Energy
With Ye's disappearance, the details of quiet agreements between his multi-billion dollar company and the Chinese government began to unravel.
11 March 2019
Foreign domestic workers contribute to Hong Kong economy but lack access to basic financial services
"We are treated as foreigners, low-class workers and therefore the government has been pushing for policies and practices that exclude and isolate migrant workers from the whole Hong Kong population."
8 March 2019
March 7th: The day Gandhi preached non-violent revolution in Myanmar
“I have no other and no better guidance to offer to you than to commend to your attention the general principle of non-violence, in other words, self-purification.”
How an Uyghur activist felt the long arm of the Chinese Communist party, in Canada
Chinese student organizations decried activist's talk on the mass incarceration of Uyghurs in Xinjiang as separatism “promoting ethnic hatred” and demanded McMaster university administrator to protect Chinese dignity.
7 March 2019
Censored on WeChat: Chinese megastar Fan Bingbing's tax evasion scandal — and her disappearance
The news of Fan's tax evasion penalty and her apology made the actress a top target for censorship on social media.
6 March 2019
‘We've got two sessions': China promotes communist party meetings with English-language rap video
In China's latest party propaganda video, lyrics like “Gotta be the Ready One Player when in front of dirty polluter" are puzzling netizens.
The French Yellow Vests movement seen through global lenses
As we witness the rise of the Yellow Vests, France revisits its bloodthirsty history.
3 March 2019
Late night Japanese TV show takes aim at foreign convenience store clerks
According to Nakai, instead of saying "change in 1,000 yen notes" (釣り千円で, or surisenyende), the convenience store clerk said masturbation, or zurizen (ずりせん).
1 March 2019
Chiang Mai, Thailand celebrates its first LGBT Pride in a decade
"We stand for the right to be safe from violence. We stand for the right to raise our quality of life and reflect on the history of our community."
Censored on WeChat: Huawei, ZTE and ‘Amazing China’
The censorship of ZTE and Huawei has strong association with the censorship of "China-U.S trade war".
As patriotic propaganda video praising Huawei goes viral, netizens mock the company's political connections
"The lyrics is so straightforward with no rhetorical consideration -- Huawei is good, Huawei is beautiful --, this is a kind of aestheticism with Chinese characteristics."
26 February 2019
Life, death, and puppets: the stop-motion animation of Tomoyasu Murata
Murata, born in 1974, has produced films since at least 1998 and has recently gained attention outside of Japan.
25 February 2019
Is your favorite movie promoting toxic masculinity? Mango Meter can tell you
"We have every right to enjoy entertainment that does not demean us, and we certainly have a right to voice our views and opinions."
Journalists, teachers, and activists targeted in attacks on free speech in the Philippines
"These are attempts by those in power to drown out the voice of the marginalized...displaying Duterte’s fear of committed journalism that seeks to inform, educate and guide the public."
About our East Asia coverage
Oiwan Lam is the North East Asia editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
Nevin Thompson is the Japan editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.
