John Ai

The Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant is under investigation by Beijing for tax issues and land consumption. The real reason, however, would be the company founder Terry Gou's candidature for the presidential elections in Taipei in January next year.

Hunan Television, a popular TV channel, broadcasts a prime time show in which variety meets Communist Party ideology. The aim of the programme is to show that Marxism is compatible with traditional Chinese culture. A new last-ditch effort by the leadership to reinforce the ideology among the youth; but on the web there is also mockery of the initiative.

The man had climbed onto the capital's Sitong Bridge and put up banners demanding the resignation of President Xi Jinping and an end to the 'zero covid' policy. Several student protests had subsequently broken out, reminiscent of the Tiananmen protests of 1989. While it is not known where the protester has been confined, his family members are in police custody, activists and volunteers abroad report.

In the translation of a speech by Foreign Minister Wang Yi at an international forum, Tibet is renamed 'Xizang'. A choice adopted with increasing frequency by the official Chinese media. For scholars at official academic institutes, the new translation will strengthen 'power' over speeches about Tibet. Independent observers speak of a purely 'political' move.

Deemed a “rebel province”, Taiwan is investigating four companies involved in the construction of a microchip plant in Shenzhen. Taiwanese authorities are also planning to establish a list of key technologies banned from export for its own national security.

One of the hostages taken by Hamas at the rave party in the Negev desert was born in Beijing. The Organisation for Assistance to Chinese Businesses in Israel reports more Chinese nationals are missing. Israel is putting pressure on China to condemn Hamas. On Chinese social media, there is little solidarity for the young woman, while influencers close to the Communist Party support Palestine.

According to Freedom House's latest report, Beijing, Naypyidaw and Tehran have the 'worst' environment in the world when it comes to internet use. Global freedom has been declining for a decade, but the level of democracy has also worsened in recent years. Artificial intelligence is a new tool in the hands of disinformation and censorship regimes.

A computer programmer from Chengde had three years' salary confiscated by the police for using a VPN. The device makes it possible to circumvent the block on foreign websites imposed by the Chinese authorities. The affair is viewed with concern by professionals and companies operating in the internet services and foreign trade in China. Meanwhile, abroad, Beijing is very active in defending its narrative on the same social networks that are 'banned' at home.

The new textbook contains the Chinese president's speeches, while the cultural aspects related to the Anglo-Saxon world have disappeared. This is the first time this has happened since the end of the Cultural Revolution, marking a return to the cult of personality. Moreover, even in the best universities, students will no longer be obliged to pass the English exam for graduation. Fears of isolation from the rest of the world.

Chen Siming, 60, commemorates the Tiananmen massacre in Hunan every year and has already been arrested for it. Threatened with internment in a psychiatric hospital in July, he escaped clandestinely to Laos and then to Thailand, countries that are no longer safe for Chinese dissidents. He applied for protection during a stopover in Taipei with a plane ticket to Guangzhou. Taiwan does not have a refugee law, more likely to accept the request from a third country.

Pre-cooked food is a booming industry after the Covid pandemic changed people's lifestyles. In the country of food scandals, parents boycott meals distributed to students' canteens for safety reasons. However, the authorities strongly support a rapidly growing sector.

Titled "Welcome to Milele", the 32-episode mega-production by China's National Radio and Television Administration began filming in Tanzania to mark the 60th anniversary of the first Chinese medical team sent abroad and the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. For Beijing, cooperation and geopolitics go together in exchange for support over Tibet, Taiwan and Xinjiang.