a media activist, researcher and educator currently based in Hong Kong. my chinese writings are in inmediahk.net and my twitter account is @oiwan.
Latest posts by Oiwan Lam
2 June 2020
Hongkongers strive to remember Tiananmen crackdown despite ban on candlelight vigil
The pretext for the ban this year is coronavirus, but an incoming national security law will likely make the three-decade-old vigil illegal.
27 May 2020
Protests, police crackdowns return to Hong Kong as Beijing tightens grip
"This is the future of Hong Kong under National Security Law: No freedom of assembly and speech."
22 May 2020
‘One Country, Two Systems’ on the line as national security law looms over Hong Kong
"Our way of life may soon be circumscribed but we will find a way to survive and prosper through this."
16 May 2020
Hong Kong reveals the city's agenda to construct an Orwellian ‘truth’
The release of a report on the police's use of force in protests seems to be "part of a wider set of coordinated announcements designed to deliver the new ‘truth’".
7 May 2020
Hong Kong protesters make online game their new home during pandemic
Hong Kong's protesters are aching to take to the streets again. In the meantime, they are taking to their screens.
4 May 2020
Netizens from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand brew ‘Milk Tea Alliance’ against Chinese speech police
Stars who depend on China's lucrative market have to watch what they say. Ordinary netizens? Not so much.
13 April 2020
Africans in China targeted by xenophobia amid fear of second-wave COVID-19 outbreak
China has seen a surge in the number of imported COVID-19 cases and the African community has become an easy target for "virus control" and xenophobic sentiments.
5 April 2020
Hong Kong censures public broadcaster for raising question on Taiwan's WHO membership status
"I don't really understand why when a reporter is asking something relating to health, she [...] has to remember there is ‘One Country, Two Systems'…"
23 March 2020
Classified data shows that China's official figure of zero domestic COVID-19 cases excludes asymptomatic carriers
According to classified data seen by the South China Morning Post, asymptomatic COVID-19/coronavirus carriers who tested positive have not been included in the official count of confirmed cases in China.
19 March 2020
Watchdog decries threat to press freedom as China expels some US journalists
China announced it would expel American journalists working for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. The ban would extend to Hong Kong and Macau.
13 March 2020
China government spokesperson suggests on Twitter that COVID-19 may have originated in the United States
Chinese Communist Party-affiliated media have framed the incident as part of the US information war against China.
9 March 2020
Campaign urging Wuhan residents to show gratitude to the Communist Party leadership in fighting COVID-19 backfires
"They don’t even have the strength to properly grieve and now somebody is telling them to learn how to say thank you. This is against humanity."
8 March 2020
How Chinese social media platforms control information on COVID-19
At the initial stage of the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, censors curbed public alerts on the threat. Later, censorship was broadened to include criticism of leaders and policies.
2 March 2020
China censors report of how authorities hid COVID-19 genome sequence test result for 14 days
China hid genome sequence study for 14 days and authorities lied about the extent of the outbreak.
1 March 2020
World Health Organization officials criticized for ‘slow response’ and ‘pro-China’ bias as COVID-19 spreads across the world
The anger directed at the World Health Organization's Director-General has gone viral and nearly 500,000 had signed up demanding his resignation.
28 February 2020
What kind of rumours were circulating during the 2020 Taiwan presidential election?
"...a majority of the rumors were aimed at dividing the Taiwanese society. They provoke people’s emotions and split the community into two political camps."
25 February 2020
Verifying the 2020 presidential elections: An interview with the Taiwan Fact Check Center
For the first time, the Taiwan Fact Check Center fact-checked the live, televised 2020 presidential debates on December 29, 2019.
21 February 2020
Chinese censorship demonstrates it can afford the cost of ‘the death of media’
A massive number of groups and user accounts were removed by platforms following the death of Dr. Li Wenliang, which set social media on fire.
16 February 2020
Positive energy floods Chinese social media as over 60,000 infected with COVID-2019
As of February 15, there are 66,577 infections and 1,524 deaths as a result of 2019-nCoV -- which has not stopped Chinese social media from being flooded with positive energy.
12 February 2020
Semi-quarantined: Living with the coronavirus outbreak in Hong Kong
"The park is half-empty, but we have decided to let our daughter enjoy a few hours of daily sunshine. We are determined not to let ourselves be overwhelmed by fear."
