Stories about East Asia
8 September 2016
Hong Kong Lawmaker Receives Death Threat Four Days After Being Elected
NGOs are condemning the persecution of Chu and urging the police to put an end to political violence that threatens the rule of law and freedom of speech.
Filipino Fishers Living in a Scenic Cove Fight to Save Their Homes From Demolition and Land Grabbing
"Our forefathers have been here, 150 years ago. They were the ones who cleared the area. Now a giant developer wants us to leave the land where we grew up."
6 September 2016
Hong Kong Voters Elect Pro-Democracy Legislators to Defend the City's Autonomy From China
Despite a massive push by the pro-China establishment to influence the vote, Hong Kong's opposition won three more seats than in 2012.
4 September 2016
Singapore’s Foreign Domestic Workers Find Their Voices Online
"I was traumatized, frightened, and extremely sad. It was good intentions that brought me to work in Singapore and I cannot understand why I was treated so horribly."
Hijab-Wearing Football Club in Thailand's Deep South Is a Space for Diversity
"By starting a football club and encouraging women to join, we are saying to Patani society that women can do the same things men do."
3 September 2016
Don't Read Japanese? Four Blogs Bring Japanese Books to Life
If you're interested in Japanese literature, these bloggers should not be missed.
Japan's Most Astonishing Summer Festival
One of Japan's most impressive summer festivals involves dancing, drums and giant floats that make for irresistible Instagram uploads.
1 September 2016
A Postcard from Slovakia’s Vietnamese Community
"Even though in these neighborhoods, more Vietnamese are living, they are mostly not recognized by the municipality."
31 August 2016
Blue Skies, Fake Tourists and Maximum Security: China Prepares For a Flawless G20 Summit
Whether they like it or not, Hangzhou residents must comply with government efforts to present theirs as the best and safest city in the world.
29 August 2016
The Summer Season Brings an Orchestra of Cicadas to Japan
There are more than 30 different species of cicada in Japan. Each one has its own distinctive call. How many can you recognize?
27 August 2016
Super Mario and Prime Minister Abe Took Centre Stage in Japan's 2020 Promo at Rio
Japan invites the world to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo by emphasizing "otaku culture."
How Beijing’s Breach of ‘One Country Two Systems’ Gave Birth to the Hong Kong Independence Movement
"Their main method looks set to be trolling and rattling Beijing: identifying what makes the regime most paranoid, and piling it on."
25 August 2016
Earthquake Destroys More Than 200 Ancient Temples in Myanmar
The ancient temples of Bagan are as important as the Angkor Wat of Cambodia and Borobudur of Indonesia.
24 August 2016
These Videos Expose the Dirty and Destructive Impact of Large-Scale Mining in the Philippines
Residents and investigative journalists have been using mobile phones and even drones to expose how mining is destroying the country’s watersheds and rivers.
Chinese Volleyball Coach Lang Ping Has Spent Her Career Thinking Outside the Communist Party Box
"She is an independent Chinese who has been exposed to the international field of sport, she is not a cog in the machine of a national bureaucratic sports system."
23 August 2016
Philippine Sugar Farmers Facing Another ’Dead Season’ Turn to Government for Help
Tiempo Muerto, or “The Dead Season,” can be so brutal on farmers that more than a quarter of a million people—a whopping 385,000 sugar workers—are affected on Negros Island alone.
22 August 2016
Say Hello to Thailand’s New Constitution. And Say Hello Again to Thailand’s Military Rule.
By all accounts, Thailand’s new constitution boosts the dominance of the military, threatening to institutionalize even further a culture of censorship and state control over the media.
20 August 2016
Defying Web Censors, Chinese ‘Worship’ Toads to Mark a Former State Leader’s 90th Birthday
"While the toad's era was not free, it looked better than [Xi's] era...Chinese people worshiping the toad is similar to prisoners in confinement, missing their brief outdoor recess."
19 August 2016
The Dead Are Returning Home and It’s Time to Party in Japan
Instagram photos of Japanese people beating the heat by dancing under the stars and the lights of lanterns in mid-summer.
17 August 2016
Some Japanese Find the ‘Dangerous’ Giant Hornet Cute, Inspiring—Even Delicious.
If it's August, it means you have to watch out for giant hornets in Japan. Beware!
About our East Asia coverage
Oiwan Lam is the North East Asia editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
