Skip to main content
The Interpreter

Interpreter - Menu Links

  • Articles
  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • About

Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 26 Sep 2025
    • Asean
    • Bangladesh
    • Hong Kong
    • Indonesia
    • Myanmar
    • Nepal
    • Thailand

    The youth are revolting as Asia's gerontocracy is showing its age

    Erika Isabel Bulan Yague , Lukas Nagel , Helen Berents
    Across the region, leaders twice the median age of their populations face sustained resistance from a new generation.
  • 4 Mar 2025
    • China
    • Hong Kong
    • Human rights
    • Sex and Gender
    • China's Government

    Feminism is still a dirty word in China

    Ciara Morris
    Organised feminist activism is nearly impossible in China in 2025, but Chinese women are still talking.
  • 5 Feb 2025
    • Hong Kong

    Hong Kong: “One country, two systems” is breaking down, but not yet dead

    Ciara Morris
    Life in the city ranked “partly free”.
  • 3 Sep 2024
    • China
    • Hong Kong
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • International law

    Hong Kong keeps Russia’s dark fleet afloat

    Selwyn Parker
    Operating under flags of convenience, hundreds of vessels are evading the sanctions meant to stifle movement.
  • 31 Jul 2024
    • China
    • China's Government
    • Hong Kong
    • Human rights
    • International law

    Long arm of the law: China’s extraterritorial reach

    Danielle Ireland-Piper
    Political as much as legal considerations dictate the way Beijing exercises its laws – from Hong Kong to beyond.
  • 25 Jan 2022
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Hong Kong

    China’s new reality

    Evan Freidin
    Forget geopolitics and military muscle flexing. Reality TV is where Beijing and Taipei can put aside their differences.
  • 6 Aug 2021
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Hong Kong security law flexes Beijing’s international muscle

    Perry Q Wood
    Beijing’s heavy hand in Hong Kong showcases China 2.0 – more confident and less conciliatory.
  • 17 May 2021
    • Global Economy
    • United Kingdom
    • Hong Kong

    London and Hong Kong: Financial centres in parallel peril

    Daniel Woker
    Once mighty, two beacons of the modern global economy are shrouded by political clouds.
  • 16 Nov 2020
    • Hong Kong

    End of the road for Hong Kong’s opposition camp?

    Holmes Chan
    A gesture of solidarity, yes. But the mass resignation by 15 pro-democracy lawmakers was also an admission of defeat.
  • 29 Jul 2020
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Battle for Hong Kong takes on a new shape

    JJ Rose
    Squashed by Beijing’s new security law, the pro-democracy movement is going into politics – or going underground.
  • 7 Jul 2020
    • China's Economy
    • Free Trade
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    The economics of national security in Hong Kong

    Imogen T. Liu
    China’s new Hong Kong legislation shows how national security has become a part of the state’s economic arsenal.
  • 2 Jul 2020
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Hong Kong: The finishing blow

    Rowan Callick
    The new legislation marks the completion of Beijing’s total control and surveillance of every quarter of the PRC.
  • 11 Jun 2020
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Hong Kong: What China stands to lose

    Elliot Silverberg , David Blechman
    Xi Jinping’s attempted show of strength in Hong Kong only serves to betray his weakness in Beijing.
  • 26 May 2020
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Hong Kong: System override

    Holmes Chan
    Beijing’s proposed new national security law raises the stakes of pro-democracy protests.
  • 21 Apr 2020
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    New crackdown will deepen dividing lines in Hong Kong

    Ben Bland
    Both the Chinese Communist Party and the Hong Kong democracy movement are settling in for a long and painful struggle.
  • 23 Mar 2020
    • Hong Kong
    • Coronavirus

    Coronavirus and the Hong Kong protest movement

    JJ Rose
    Covid-19 may have put a damper on pro-democracy street demonstrations, but the spirit is very much alive.
  • 20 Mar 2020
    • Hong Kong
    • Coronavirus

    How people power has flattened the Covid curve in Hong Kong

    Vivienne Chow
    Quick adaptation has kept down the spread of coronavirus, but it’s no time to relax.
  • 30 Jan 2020
    • Hong Kong
    • Coronavirus

    As Hong Kong wards off coronavirus, authorities struggle to win trust

    Vivienne Chow
    The government's refusal to close the border has set off a public panic. Is it overreaction – or justified?
  • 14 Jan 2020
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Beijing’s Hong Kong appointment sends a clear message

    JJ Rose
    By installing an old-school party functionary as its chief liaison, China shows where it stands on reform.
  • 6 Jan 2020
    • Hong Kong

    What lies ahead for Hong Kong in 2020

    Vivienne Chow
    Tear gas instead of fireworks greeted New Year crowds on the streets in Hong Kong amid a shake-up of a political kind.
  • 24 Dec 2019
    • Hong Kong

    Best of The Interpreter 2019: Hong Kong protests

    The Interpreter
    One country, two systems – protesters on the streets have rallied to preserve an idea that Beijing insists it respects.
  • 26 Nov 2019
    • Hong Kong

    Hong Kong: The people’s voice

    Vivienne Chow
    The District Council election was seen as a de facto referendum on the protests – and the pro-democracy camp won.
  • 19 Nov 2019
    • Hong Kong

    How China is winning the Hong Kong propaganda war

    JJ Rose
    Discredit, attack, and marginalise. Beijing is showing just how to wait out the protests, then turn the tide.
  • 1 Nov 2019
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    In search of clarity on Hong Kong’s future

    Jieh-Yung Lo
    Hong Kong and China would both benefit from a clear understanding of the city status post-2047.
  • 23 Oct 2019
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Hong Kong protesters need a narrative – now

    JJ Rose
    News coverage is beginning to fall away with nothing new to report, because the demonstrations alone don’t tell a story.
  • 22 Oct 2019
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    China’s own “Great Delusion”

    Elliott Zaagman
    China has turned American hubris on its head – overselling realism and nationalism while ignoring liberalism.
  • 11 Sep 2019
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Cat videos meet Big Brother

    Elliott Zaagman
    China has harnessed domestic social media to spread its propaganda. What happens when it exports the same tactics?
  • 21 Aug 2019
    • China
    • Technology
    • Hong Kong

    Battleground states: Twitter and Facebook ban Chinese-linked accounts

    Sarah Logan
    It’s not only the complications of international politics here, but the commercial desire to keep platforms “social”.
  • 20 Aug 2019
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Hong Kong: popular protests, live-streamed

    Vivienne Chow
    Public backing for the demonstrations is bolstered by their propaganda-puncturing uses of social media.
  • 13 Aug 2019
    • China
    • Hong Kong
    • Rules Based Audio

    Hong Kong Protest City: Podcast out now

    Kelsey Munro
    Ben Bland and Primrose Riordan discuss the ongoing political unrest in Hong Kong.
  • 24 Jul 2019
    • Singapore
    • Hong Kong

    Hong Kong’s political trouble is Singapore’s gain

    Jason Lim
    History looks to be repeating, as earlier strife in Hong Kong helped the rise of another of Asia’s island cities.
  • 10 Jul 2019
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Hong Kong

    Hong Kong sets an example to push Taiwan even further from China

    Randy Mulyanto
    <p>Taiwan’s close watch on Hong Kong has only firmed its opposition to Beijing’s “one country, two systems”.</p>
  • 17 Jun 2019
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    The deeper malaise in Hong Kong’s civil service

    Alvin Y.H. Cheung
    <p>The political capture of once neutral institutions of government should be just as alarming.</p>
  • 17 Jun 2019
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Hong Kong climbdown eases external pressures on China

    Ben Bland
    Beijing is fighting many fires at once, so taking the heat out of Hong Kong will suit Xi Jinping.
  • 14 Jun 2019
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Umbrella Movement 2.0 exposes flaws in “one country, two systems”

    Vivienne Chow
    Even more than the last pro-democracy demonstrations, at stake is Hong Kong’s future with common law at its heart.
  • 13 Jun 2019
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Why China’s rulers won’t admit they could be wrong

    Audrey Jiajia Li
    By never conceding a mistake – whether over Tiananmen or now in Hong Kong – the cost is a loss of people’s trust.
  • 8 Apr 2019
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Closing the umbrella? The verdict on democracy in Hong Kong

    Graeme Smith
    A case against a group of non-violent protestors will be read as a comment on China’s one country, two systems approach.
  • 11 Feb 2019
    • Hong Kong

    Hong Kong: when rich dreams interrupt fortunate life

    Vivienne Chow
    Heritage and culture is cast aside in a society where it is sinful to block another person’s pathway to wealth.
  • 5 Nov 2018
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    How China changed its language on speech

    Vivienne Chow
    <p>Language helps preserve a unique culture but Cantonese&nbsp;is marginalised by authorities in southern China.</p>
  • 15 Oct 2018
    • China
    • Hong Kong

    Shifting sands in Hong Kong

    Vivienne Chow
    Hong Kong is being drained of it’s language, freedom of speech, and now it’s surrounding seas. Is a brain-drain next?

Subscribe to The Interpreter

Get the latest commentary and analysis on international events from experts at the Lowy Institute and around the world.

The Interpreter features in-depth analysis & expert commentary on the latest international events, published daily by the Lowy Institute.

© Copyright 2025 Lowy Institute

  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • Articles
  • About
  • Terms of Use
  • Log In
  • My bookmarks