ZGBriefs | June 8, 2023
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?
A weekly roundup of news and analysis to help you follow key developments in China and the Chinese church.
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.
Mayflower Church members arrive in U.S. after Thailand deportation scare (April 11, 2023, Radio Free Asia) Dozens of members of a persecuted Protestant church in China have arrived in the United States after escaping the country via Thailand, where they were also detained by the immigration authorities amid fears of repatriation. The Mayflower Church members touched down in Dallas on Good Friday after a coordinated effort from advocacy groups and politicians to bring them to the country.
Chinese Christians Adapt Under New Restrictions (March 30, 2023, The Gospel Coalition) The Gospel Coalition asked Chinese pastor, Reformed theologian, and church network leader Zhang San about increasing restrictions, ways he’s seen God at work, and what worries pastors even more than registration apps or closing churches.
Easter and the Tomb Sweeping Festival Share a Nerdy Connection (March 27, 2023, Christianity Today) (registration required) An order known for astronomy and mathematics, the Jesuits drove the reforms in both the Western world and China that dictate how we plan our days, months, and holidays.
Xi and Putin pledge to shape a new world order as the Chinese leader leaves Russia with no peace in sight for Ukraine (March 22, 2023, NBC News) As Xi departed he told Putin: “Now there are changes that haven’t happened in 100 years. When we are together, we drive these changes.”