South China Morning Post

After years of foot-dragging, one of China’s biggest cities finally made much-needed changes to its school curriculum: easier classes, fewer tests and no more after-school tutorial classes.

The recent reforms made in some public elementary and middle schools in the eastern city of Nanjing are part of a long-standing national campaign. They’re meant to reduce the pressure cooker-like academic atmosphere for students as young as six years old.

But the new educational philosophy is facing strong…

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been banned from running in local elections next month, a move that could further fuel public anger at the city’s limited democracy underpinning months of social unrest.

Wong was the only candidate disqualified from the polls, to be held on November 24, on the basis of his political stance.

“The ban is clearly politically driven,” Wong said.

“My disqualification will only trigger more people to take to the streets and vote in the coming…

Chinese stocks associated with blockchain jumped after President Xi Jinping extolled the technology popularized by Bitcoin.

Dozens of Chinese financial and technology firms making use of the digital database rose to their daily 10% limit on Monday.

It was the first day of trading in China after Chinese state media reported on Friday evening Xi’s speech urging the development of blockchain technology.

Xi’s remarks represented a stamp of approval from the highest level of China’s government of…

Hong Kong must reform its economic policy to restore social calm. While political issues are important and should be addressed, economics is critical to any lasting peace.

The essence of Hong Kong’s current economic policy, which is billed as a laissez-faire nirvana, is a regressive tax in the form of high land prices. It strangles the middle class.

When economic growth is fast, it obscures the negative impact of the policy. But prolonged slow growth exposes the corrosive effect the policy…

Animal protection groups in China have expressed sadness and disappointment about the arrival of some 30 baby African elephants from Zimbabwe, in a case that has caused outrage among global wildlife campaigners.

The wild-caught baby elephants, estimated to be between two to six years old, arrived last week at Shanghai’s Pudong Airport, according to two animal rights groups. 

The elephants are believed to be undergoing one month of inspection and quarantine at an unknown location before being…

“You have been brainwashed since young.”

This is the most frequently heard accusation against someone born and raised in mainland China. Of late, especially, it is targeted at those who oppose the protests in Hong Kong that had been triggered by a now-withdrawn extradition bill. 

People in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United States and elsewhere who support the months-long anti-government protests are outraged that many mainland Chinese take issue with the protests.

They believe China’s “Great…

A college in China has expelled 40 students for slacking off.

That’s a rare move in a country where millions of students who start college every year are almost guaranteed to graduate, thanks to what analysts say is a lax culture that breeds lazy students.

The expulsions underscore a renewed effort by Chinese universities to improve the quality of education amid a slowing economy and changing demands for the workforce.

“To graduate from college is like a breezy walk in a park. That has to…

The deaths of 39 people in a refrigerated truck in the UK have sparked heated discussion in China about the arduous, sometimes ill-fated journeys taken by migrants seeking a better life. 

The British police said the victims, 31 men and eight women, were believed to be Chinese nationals. The Chinese embassy in London said their origins had not been confirmed. 

The suggestion from the British authorities that the victims could be illegal migrants risking their lives to be in the UK left many…

While Hong Kong’s political crisis is often seen as a major challenge to China’s leaders, a recent trip to Hunan province has brought home to me the Chinese state’s adeptness at turning the situation to its advantage.

Given the Communist Party’s tight control over the media behind the Great Firewall, the Hong Kong narrative the party has created in the hearts and minds of Chinese citizens is basically: thank goodness I don’t live there.

In fact, the violence in Hong Kong benefits Beijing.

…

I still remember my first ice hockey fight. All the movies I’d watched as a kid, where highly choreographed fight scenes looked like expertly planned dance routines, had horribly lied to me.

By the time I realized I was in a fight, at the tender age of 16, it was already half over and I’d taken three or four solid shots to the face and my jersey had been pulled well over my head, rendering me blind.

The experience was jarring: unfiltered chaos, blurred vision in one eye from an errant thumb…