Rubric Red Lanterns

Red Lanterns

Mainland Chinese scholars are increasingly challenging the Out-of-Taiwan theory for aboriginal peoples whose ancestors crossed the ocean and settled thousands of miles. This comes as Beijing and Taipei continue their battle over alliances in the Pacific.

| 13/02/2025
| RED LANTERNS
by Silvia Torriti

While not renouncing tradition, Generation Z is making significant changes in the way they celebrate the holiday these days. From ‘reverse trips’ to invite their parents to the cities where they work to new digital consumption.

| 06/02/2025
| RED LANTERNS

The explosion of "cheap" alternative to ChatGPT is the result of China’s bet on internal competition among large companies and startups to develop the most advanced AI systems. A stinging defeat in a Go tournament is having a greater impact than US sanctions on the advanced microchip exports to China.

| 30/01/2025
| RED LANTERNS

In agreement with the Holy See, the current bishop of Xiamen took office today in one of the most historically important sees of the Church in China. The province is right across from Taiwan in a politically very sensitive context. For him, the challenge of reaching out to underground communities, while reiterating cumbersome slogans about “patriotism”.

 

| 23/01/2025
| RED LANTERNS

Manufacturers in ASEAN countries are concerned about what might happen if a trade war with China breaks out once the US president takes office in a few days. The fear that Chinese products that no longer take the road to the West could be dumped in their markets, already grappling with tough competition from the “Made in China”.

| 16/01/2025
| RED LANTERNS

A Shanghai court convicted Chen Pinlin, born in 1991, even though he had signed a plea bargain for a two-year sentence over “Urumqi Middle Road”, a video he made and posted on YouTube in 2023 with eyewitness accounts from people who had suffered from the government’s strict pandemic measures.

| 09/01/2025
| RED LANTERNS

China’s official Xinhua news agency released the data while the National Health Commission presents a three-year plan to deal with rising mental disorders. The issue has come to prominence following a string of violent incidents, but it is also the legacy of the government’s zero-COVID policy.

| 02/01/2025
| RED LANTERNS

Increasingly, to crush house churches, Protestant communities independent of government-controlled bodies, the authorities are turning to charges of financial wrongdoings over tithes. Christian pastors, lawyers and faithful issued an appeal on behalf of the Linfen community hit by arrests. In their view, giving one’s “money to serve God, supporting church needs and caring for the poor” does not violate any law.

| 19/12/2024
| RED LANTERNS

​The Huangmao Sea Channel Bridge opened to traffic yesterday, an ideal infrastructure that links up with the majestic bridge that connects Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau. This is a further step to the creation of a metropolitan area of 70 million people that China wants to turn into an economic engine on a par with Tokyo and New York.

| 12/12/2024
| RED LANTERNS
by Silvia Torriti

The International City of Commerce in the south-eastern province of Zhejiang is the place of origin of most of the Christmas decorations sold these weeks all over the world. A gigantic 6.4 million square metre wholesale market open seven days a week for traders from all over the world who are arriving en masse again in 2024.

| 05/12/2024
| RED LANTERNS

New supply chain regulations adopted by the United States and the European Union are forcing many companies to take a stand on the issue of Uyghur exploitation. The German automaker sold its controversial Urumqi plant "for economic reasons", but it is still renewing its business plans in China. The Japanese clothing brand says that it does not use cotton from Xinjiang.

| 28/11/2024
| RED LANTERNS

Shanghai-based SpaceSail wants to reach remote areas of Brazil in the coming years thanks to an alternative to Starlink. The South American country currently relies on Elon Musk's company, but the latter has recently faced off the country’s Supreme Court.

| 21/11/2024
| RED LANTERNS

Xi’s tour of the region began yesterday. One stop included the virtual inauguration of Chancay Port, a key trade hub between China and the region. His aim is to boost cooperation and multilateralism. Donald Trump's return to the White House is a challenge for the future.

 

| 14/11/2024
| RED LANTERNS

The China Labour Bulletin posted some videos from Chinese social media showing workers fainting from the gruelling shifts at the Foxconn plant in conjunction with the release of its new smartphone models. Overtime can reach up to four times the limit established by Chinese law.

| 07/11/2024
| RED LANTERNS

A state research institute in Guangzhou is working on integrated offshore power plants based on the combined use of wave, wind and solar energy to create self-sufficient communities of up to a thousand people. The goal is to boost China’s presence on the artificial islands it created, and boost its claims to the sea, which are challenged by other countries in Southeast Asia.

| 31/10/2024
| RED LANTERNS
by Silvia Torriti

Trump shows a more aggressive and isolationist approach, Harris is more prudent and inclined to stability. Towards Beijing, a desire to protect national interests prevails on the US side. Over the years, China has softened the tone of ‘wolf-warrior diplomacy’. And it is looking ahead to the 5 November vote without officially exposing itself, although it seems to be betting on the Democratic candidate.

| 24/10/2024
| RED LANTERNS

Using satellite images, a recent report shows 20 new Chinese settlements with about 7,000 residents in Bhutanese territory. For experts, China’s strategy began in the 1990s and is aimed at India, becoming more aggressive in recent years. In the last year alone, seven new villages have been built in strategically important areas at around 4,000 metres above sea level.

| 17/10/2024
| RED LANTERNS

Just as the row over tariffs with the US and the EU intensifies, China is preparing to lift the last retaliatory measure still in place against Australia, Australian Prime Minister Albanese announced. In two years in office, the Australian leader has mended ties, keeping trade with China distinct from geopolitical issues.

| 10/10/2024
| RED LANTERNS
by Silvia Torriti

In villages still dominated by householders, women who marry an ‘outsider’ lose access to local services and compensation for expropriated collective land. With increasing levels of education and greater social connections, more and more of them are taking these kinds of disputes to court. But the road to their protection remains an uphill one.

| 03/10/2024
| RED LANTERNS

Priests from Fujian travelled to the province of repressions against the Uyghurs to ‘educate the patriotic spirit’ and ‘grow in the path of Sinicisation’. They were led by Bishop Vincenzo Zhan Silu, one of the two Chinese bishops who will participate in the Synod. Tourism promoted as the Party's preferred path to cover up the detention of figures like Ilham Tothi and other human rights violations.

| 26/09/2024
| RED LANTERNS

Sultan Ibrahim arrived in Beijing to mark 50 years of bilateral relations. Kuala Lumpur is looking to Chinese investments to build connectivity with neighbouring Singapore. Malaysian oil exploration in the South China Sea is a bone of contention between the two countries.

| 19/09/2024
| RED LANTERNS

A report by the China Labour Bulletin documents 10 years of violations and critical issues in healthcare. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and aggravated existing systematic issues and unresolved disputes, such as unpaid wages, violence against staff by patients and family members, excessive workloads, and disparities.

| 12/09/2024
| RED LANTERNS
by Silvia Torriti

A recent study found that almost half of all cancers diagnosed between 2007 and 2021 are linked to being overweight. Due to socio-cultural changes, more and more young people are obese. The Beijing government has launched a strategic plan to avoid exorbitant economic expenditure.

| 05/09/2024
| RED LANTERNS

From 4 to 6 September, Beijing is hosting the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (Focac), the first major post-Covid event in the capital. More and more Chinese companies have developed partnerships and collaborated with governments and businesses on the continent. A response to the protectionist policies of Brussels and Washington, but there is also a ‘dumping’ risk for Africa.

| 29/08/2024
| RED LANTERNS

Ruling on the case of an exasperated family who demanded a stop for a 30-year-old man who had been artificially fed for 11 years as he could no longer afford the costs. Judges: 'It would be death by starvation, not passive euthanasia. But the government should work to provide some form of support for the family." Dr. Carvalho, Indian Catholic bioethics expert: “A compassionate ruling.”

| 23/08/2024
| INDIAIN MANDALA

On social media, Geng He appeals to the US government and the international community for news of her husband, a Christian lawyer and activist. She is not asking for his release, but wants to know about his fate. Five members of the Shengjia Church in Shunde are on trial on spurious charges of "illegal business operations", a generic term used to persecute believers.

| 15/08/2024
| RED LANTERNS

In Shanxi, a court president illegally keeps three Protestant leaders in prison without trial. But the law can also be used to show that religious freedom conforms with the law, this according to Feng Xuewei, a legal expert who worked on China’s entry in the WTO.

| 08/08/2024
| RED LANTERNS
by Gianni Criveller

The editor-in-chief of AsiaNews recounts his trip back to the Chinese capital, which he had to forcibly leave in 2011 when his visa was cancelled in one of the moments of friction between China and the Holy See. The tale of "a great modern metropolis which, like it or not, shares  the uncertainty of a generation struggling to survive with many other cities in the world. A social and existential emergency that transcends the boundaries of political systems and ideologies".

 

| 01/08/2024
| RED LANTERNS

For years, China has been focusing on “minor” sports to get as many gold medals as possible. In Tokyo it won 38 against 39 for the United States. Most successes came in only six sports and mainly by women. This strategy is still pursued today in a highly centralised system with doping casting its long shadow.

| 25/07/2024
| RED LANTERNS

The government plans to raise the retirement age to 65 by 2045. But China’s pension system is already not working. While white collar employees and civil servants benefit from social security coverage, rural migrants in the cities are subjected to various forms of discrimination. Young people are also concerned about high levels of unemployment.

| 18/07/2024
| RED LANTERNS
Editor's choices
 
by Dario Salvi
The vicar of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem speaks about small stories amid war, an Israeli Jew donating an organ to an Arab in need of a transplant, a wonderful “sign” to behold. Although “Hatred, unfortunately, drops on you,” ...
| 14/02/2025
| ISRAEL – PALESTINE
 
Breaking all records at the Chinese box office, the animated film has enthused online communities, including the “Industrial Party”, which praises technological progress as a means to achieve China's cultural supremacy. With innovative ...
| 11/02/2025
| CHINA
 
The story of Mei Li, who was contemplating suicide: ‘The thing that attracts me most about God is hope’. The story of the little girl who tells her parents tshe is going to the mall but instead takes part in activities in a church and ...
| 09/02/2025
| ECCLESIA IN ASIA
 
by Dario Salvi
The parish priest spoke to AsiaNews describing a climate of "impunity" among settler attacks and army closures. At least 10 local families fled to the United States in search of peace and security, not for economic reasons. Israeli forces are forcing ...
| 07/02/2025
| ISRAEL – PALESTINE
 
by Nirmala Carvalho
Released today, “Sanatani: Karma Hi Dharma" is yet another picture that risks fuelling religious tensions. According to Christian activists, the meaning of baptism is misrepresented in the film. Several communities joined the protest, remembering ...
| 07/02/2025
| INDIAN MANDALA
 
by Dario Salvi
The archaeological site north of Nablus linked to the memory of John the Baptist targeted by settlers (and the Israeli army) attacks. The death of a 14-year-old boy hit by a soldier's bullets. Scholar Carla Benelli to AsiaNews: ‘Heritage ...
| 04/02/2025
| GATEWAY TO THE EAST
 
by Alessandra De Poli
Myanmar’s military regime has extended the state of emergency again, but its control over the country is faltering as ethnic militias and resistance forces now control 95 cities. Meanwhile, the UN is reporting war crimes, highlighting the imminent ...
| 01/02/2025
| MYANMAR
 
The explosion of "cheap" alternative to ChatGPT is the result of China’s bet on internal competition among large companies and startups to develop the most advanced AI systems. A stinging defeat in a Go tournament is having a greater impact than ...
| 30/01/2025
| RED LANTERNS
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”