A weekly roundup of news and analysis to help you follow key developments in China and the Chinese church.
Chinese social media users are not impressed with your ham sandwich (July 3, 2023, NBC News) The plain ham sandwiches, simple salads and other American-style packed lunches that fill office refrigerators don’t exactly scream “Instagram.” But they’re a social media sensation in China, where they have their own hashtag: #WhitePeopleFood.
Temple visits rise in China as jobless young people seek spiritual assistance (June 22, 2023, The Guardian) The phrase “incense-burning youth” has caught fire on social media, referring to young people who have turned to spiritual offerings in an attempt to increase their prospects. “Between going forward and going to work, I choose incense,” is one popular catchphrase.
Last Lockdown: Why Are China’s Campuses Still Closed to the Public? (June 19, 2023, The World of Chinese) Months after China lifted its “zero-Covid” policies in December 2022, marking a sudden end to three years of mandatory testing to enter public spaces and other strict measures, one space has yet to return to normal—university campuses.
Marriages in China drop to record low despite government push (June 13, 2023, The Guardian) The number of marriages in China last year dropped to 6.83 million, the lowest since records began in 1986. Data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed the number of couples tying the knot in 2022 fell by about 800,000 compared with 2021, beating that year’s record low. China’s marriage rate has declined rapidly over the past 10 years, since peaking in 2013 when nearly 13.5 million couples wed, nearly double last year’s count.
China’s ‘Parachute Generation’ Grows Up (June 2, 2023, Sixth Tone) Prior to the pandemic, tens of thousands of Chinese kids left home every year to attend high school in the United States. Was it worth it?
Connecting a City: A Journey in Pictures (May 31, 2023, Sixth Tone) Archival photographs offer a vivid glimpse into the Shanghai Metro’s past, showcasing the stories and scenes that helped shape a city.
They Sang ‘a Heavenly Song’ in a Dark Chinese Jail (May 24, 2023, Christianity Today) As Xiaohui moved from cell to cell, she told her new roommates about Jesus and his sacrificial love. She told so many prisoners about Jesus that a police officer reprimanded her. After he interrogated her about gathering to worship with her house church, he said, “You can’t gather here in the detention center either.”
The Transformative Power of Deep Listening (May 2023, Lausanne Global Analysis) Only then can we listen and respond collectively to who God is and what God is doing in the world, and ultimately participate in the global mission of God (missio Dei) in a broken and divided world.
Podcast: Should foreign businesses have contingency plans? (May 5, 2023, The China Project) In this week's episode of The Signal, Lizzi Lee speaks with Anne Stevenson-Yang, the co-founder of J Capital Research, about the broadening of the anti-espionage laws in China and how it will affect foreign businesses in the country.
Should you be frightened by China’s revision to the anti-espionage law? (May 2, 2023, The China Project) Last week, Beijing broadened the scope of its anti-espionage law. Some fear that it will create a more hostile environment for foreign individuals and organizations operating in China.
Video: Enjoying Jet Lag: Resuming In-Person Travel and U.S.-China Relations (April 17, 2023, Center for Strategic and International Studies, via YouTube) A discussion on the role of in-person travel and direct communication in increasing mutual understanding and stabilizing U.S.-China relations.
Young people in China struggle to find jobs as the country's youth unemployment rate rises (April 19, 2023, ABC News (Australia)) The national unemployment rate for 16-to-24-year-olds is now 19.5 per cent, nearly 3 per cent higher than in December.