Stories about China from April, 2023
Pro-Beijing politicians urge Hong Kong to scrap the Gay Games 2023
Anticipating political pressures from the conservatives, Gay Games Hong Kong has adopted a depoliticised strategy by stressing the economic benefit of hosting the international event in Hong Kong.
‘Overseas Chinese writer is now a label’: Interview with youth author Xia Zhou
Overseas Sinophone writers tend to continue writing in Chinese no matter what, according to young Chinese author Xia Zhou who now lives in the US.
The reasons behind the myth of Cantonese as a more authentic Chinese language
Claims that local languages, including Sichuanese and Cantonese, only lost one vote to Mandarin to become China’s “national language” have kept popping up on the internet from time to time.
How do Mandarin Chinese-speakers reference their own language in Mandarin Chinese?
Mandarin Chinese-speakers have about a dozen terms to describe the different spoken and written forms of the language, offer alluding to various cultural or political affiliations.
State violence and the standardization of the Chinese language
After implementing compulsory education in 1986, Putonghua was promulgated as the primary language in schools, and recently it has replaced indigenous languages in autonomous regions, including Xinjiang, inner Mongolia and Tibet.
‘History of love in the country of hatred': influencers detained in Russia for LGBTQ+ ‘propaganda’
Apart from widespread censorship, the Russian "anti- LGBT propaganda" law leads to unprecedented pressure on LGBTQ+ people and the organizations helping them.
New study finds internet censorship in Turkmenistan reaches over 122,000 domains
"One of the worst blocking rules in Turkmenistan is that the government blocks every website that ends with w.org, which is Wordpress, used by activists and bloggers."
China rolls out ‘Down to the Countryside Movement 2.0′ to address youth unemployment problem
Some observers believe that the campaign is meant to prevent unemployed youths from causing trouble in big cities. Youth were key actors in the anti-zero COVID protests this year.
How will Hong Kong react to the Gay Games: Support or suppression?
Local organizers downplayed censorship as a non-issue and stressed that “she hoped all participants from around the globe could abide by local laws and respect the local culture.”
Mongolians celebrate and fear for an 8-year old boy as Dalai Lama names him their next spiritual leader
Mongolia has got not only a spiritual leader but a powerful trump card with which it can influence relations between Tibet and China.
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