EastAsia
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)’s 2024 press freedom index. Photo: RSF. This report was written by Hilary Leung and originally published in Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) on May 3, 2024. An edited version is published below as part of a content partnership agreement with HKFP. Hong Kong has again ranked low in a global press freedom index, as a watchdog cited an “unprecedented series of setbacks” including newsroom closures and journalist arrests under Beijing’s national security law. The city placed 135 out of 180 countries and territories in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF)’s annual press fr...
Global Voices
Image by Tom Grundy / HKFP. Used with permission. International press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) issued 10 facts about Hong Kong’s repressive media environment last month in response to a Chinese government spokesperson’s claim that the city’s press freedom is “fully protected.” The Chinese statement came after an RSF representative was denied entry into Hong Kong. To commemorate World Press Freedom Day on May 3, we're unpacking the 10 facts with added local context. Journalists imprisoned in Hong KongTen journalists and press freedom defenders are currently jailed in Hon...
Global Voices
A cat in Houtung cat village in Taipei, 8 Jan, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. This photo feature was written by Kyle Lam and originally published in Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) on April 27, 2024. An edited version is published below as part of a content partnership agreement with HKFP. A once-thriving coal mining town in Taiwan has reinvented itself as a tourist attraction and home to over 100 feline residents. Houtong, in Ruifang — west of the capital Taipei — was originally called “monkey cave.” During the 20th century, the area led Taiwan’s coal production, with 220,000 tons clawed from the ea...
Global Voices
Screenshot of the Facebook page -A Concern Group on Shop Closure in Hong Kong (全港店舖執笠結業消息關注組), on April 11, 2024. Fair use. Since Beijing imposed the National Security Law (NSL) on Hong Kong in 2020, a large number of NGOs and independent media outlets have been shut down. After several individuals were charged with publishing seditious posts on social media, many Facebook pages were closed, and most Hongkongers set their social feeds to private and avoided commenting on public posts. The widely spread self-censorship practice led nearly all Hong Kong-based media outlets to refrain from printi...
Global Voices
Screenshot from the video “Hundreds march in Taipei City streets in support of Palestinians” on the AP Archive YouTube channel. Fair use. As a society, Taiwan, which relies heavily on the US for its security, often aligns with Washington on foreign policy issues, including its predominantly uncritical support of Israel. This renders any support for Palestine in Taiwanese society a rare occurrence. Yet, since the beginning of the war on Gaza that began on October 7, the island has witnessed a number of initiatives calling for an alternative discourse on Gaza. Read Global Voices’ Special Coverag...
Global Voices
Public domain image via Karen Arnold from publicdomainpictures.net. Free to use After mainland Chinese official media outlets started calling 2024 “the Year of Loong” instead of the Year of the Dragon, the word “loong” and its homophones have become a popular meme among Hongkongers on social media, representing the government's shift toward nationalistic policies and language. The Year of “Loong”This year, major Chinese state-affiliated media outlets have abandoned the term “dragon” and adopted the word “loong”, an uncommonly used transliteration of the Chinese word 龍 (dragon in English), to r...
Global Voices
Indonesian military forces during a parade in 2019. Image via Wikimedia Commons. CC0 1.0 DEED. The original version of this post was written by Girard Lopez and published in New Bloom on April 16, 2023. The following edited version is published on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement. In early March 2024, the Indonesian internet and its online periphery would be rocked by a shocking video: A Papuan native seemingly detained in a bucket of water and being punched excessively by what appears to be Indonesian military forces. Then, another soldier is seen mercilessly slashing the P...
Global Voices
Urumqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Screenshot from the video ‘Beautiful Xinjiang, China | Muslim Area | Urumqi City | A Paradise on Earth’ from EaziLine International YouTube channel. Fair use. The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in western China became known to the world through reports about the so-called “re-education camps,” in which the authorities held hundreds of thousands of local residents. Uyghurs, Kazakhs and representatives of other Turkic and Muslim ethnic groups were tried for any connections with Islam. The Chinese authorities have portra...
Global Voices
UAE singer Alira. Screenshot from GMA Pinoy TV‘s YouTube Channel. Fair Use Hong Kong has been drawn into a messy situation worthy of a K-drama involving a mysterious Dubai Prince, Sheikh Ali Rashed Ali Saeed Al Maktoum, his USD 500 million investment in the city, and officials’ failure to do due diligence in ascertaining who seeks to invest in Hong Kong. The Sheikh, presented as a Dubai Prince, emerged as a celebrity in Hong Kong in December 2023 upon signing a business partnership MoU with the Hong Kong Middle East Business Chamber. Only recently, Hongkongers found out that outside the city, ...
Global Voices
Screenshot of video showing officials trying to contain a forest fire in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Source: YouTube video of NBT WORLD. Fair use Since late March 2024, the level of PM 2.5 dust in Chiang Mai, Thailand, has increased at an alarming level until it became the world’s worst air quality. PM2.5 is a measure of particulate matter and an indicator of severe air pollution. Residents have bemoaned the slow response of the government in dealing with the emergency situation. The AQI scale. Screenshot via Youtube Authorities blamed the recurring haze on forest fires and the burning of land for a...
Global Voices
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