Stories about East Asia from June, 2014
How the Philippine President Managed to Anger Film Legend Nora Aunor's Legions of Fans
The Filipina actress who starred in one of the most memorable Asian films has been nominated for the National Artist title. But the Philippine president rejected the nomination.
Why Some Taiwanese Activists Are Accusing This Hotel of Caving to Political Pressure from China
Hotel Novotel found itself a target of criticism after management disrupted a protest against the minister of China's Taiwan Affairs Office. Some Taiwanese fear closer ties with their communist neighbor.
Hong Kong Lawyers Protest in Black Against Chinese Government's White Paper
The protest is in response to the Chinaese government's recent white paper on the practice of “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong.
Meet Xiaobing, the (Fun? Annoying? Creepy?) Chatbot Taking Over China's Weibo
Microsoft's artificial intelligence robot, which is modeled after a 16-year-old girl, has found new life on Twitter-like Sina Weibo after being blocked on messaging app WeChat earlier this month.
China's Pixar? A Sneak Peek From New Animation Studio Light Chaser
Below is an edited version of the post “A sneak peek from China’s new animation-house upstart” by Jason Li, originally published on the blog 88 Bar. Light Chaser Animation is a startup...
Interview with Wife of Laos NGO Leader Sombath Somphone Who Went Missing in 2012
Writing for the Southeast Asia Globe, Kearrin Sims interviewed Shui Meng, wife of the disappeared Laotian development worker Sombath Somphone. Sombath, a prominent NGO leader in Laos, went missing in...
This Philippine Wedding Video of a Dying Cancer Patient Will Move You to Tears
The groom died 10 hours after marrying his girlfriend. Diagnosed with stage IV liver cancer last month, his dying wish was to marry the mother of his two-year old daughter....
Farmers in China's Guangdong Province Are Buzzing About ‘Delicious’ Locusts
Charles Liu from Nanfang.com highlighted a new type of agriculture among farmers in Guangdong province: raising locusts to serve as a meal. Here is his suggested recipe: 1. Remove their...
This Film Is About the Remarkable Friendship Between a Buddhist and Muslim in Myanmar. So Why All the Hate?
A human rights festival in Myanmar cancelled a screening of the documentary "The Open Sky" after receiving threats on social media accusing the film of being a Muslim conspiracy.
‘A Shift From Surveillance Mode to Elimination Mode’ in China
The Chinese government under the leadership of Xi Jinping has been prosecuting citizen right lawyers, activists and dissidents in past months. Prominent Chinese human right lawyer Tien Biao pointed out...
Hong Kong Is ‘Haunted’ by China's ‘One Country, Two Systems’ White Paper
Famous blogger on mainland Chinese political news, @yanghengjun, ran into a protest against the mainland Chinese official document on the practice of “one country and two systems” in Hong Kong....
Thai Coup Leads to Exodus of More Than 180,000 Cambodian Migrant Workers
Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians are streaming over the border to escape a rumored crackdown on illegal migrants, only to be greeted by poor conditions and uncertainty.
‘Happy’ in Thailand? How the Coup Regime Is Still Suppressing Democracy
Mass media is being censored, Facebook is under fire and even the Hunger Games salute has been outlawed. Are Thais truly "happy" under the military regime?
People in Hong Kong Have a Legitimate Reason to Freak Out When Facebook Is Down
Denial-of-service attacks in Hong Kong have recently targeted an online referendum on democratic reform and a media outlet critical of Beijing. Some suspect mainland China are behind the attacks.
Debunking Rumors that Algerian Fans Burned Down a Church in Lyon, France after World Cup Win
On June 22 at the World Cup 2014 in Brazil, Algeria defeated South Korea 4-2 to keep its chance of qualifying to the knock-out round alive. Scenes of joy were...
Hundreds of Thousands of Hong Kongers Are Defying China and Demanding the Right to Nominate Their Next Leader
A total of 700,000 people have already voted in an unofficial referendum on democratic electoral reform, despite condemnation from China and massive DDoS attacks against the website.
Student Faces Criminal Charges for Disrupting Philippine President's Speech on Independence Day
A student leader in the Philippines was detained and subsequently charged with two criminal cases for disrupting the Independence Day speech of the President.
Ending Illegal Wildlife Trade in Southeast Asia
Daniel Besant of Southeast Asia Globe has interviewed photojournalist and activist Karl Ammann about the efforts to end the illegal wildlife trading in Southeast Asia: At the moment, I’m convinced...
China and Hong Kong Are Supposed to Be ‘One Country, Two Systems.’ Someone Remind China
The Sino-British Joint Declaration gave Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy from China. A recently released white paper from Beijing is seen as a threat to that autonomy.
Cloudflare CEO Updates DDoS Attacks on Civic Referendum in Hong Kong
The civic referendum on the election mechanism of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong has begun around noon time today on 20 of June. The voting system has been under...
Just Google It? Not In China, Where Google Remains Blocked
Google search, Gmail and Google Scholar are only accessible thanks to VPNs and mirror sites in China ever since they were blocked in late May before the Tiannamen massacre anniversary.
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