author

 
 

Meta

Farah Master
Elderly people rest at a park in Beijing on May 22.
BUSINESS
Sep 24, 2024
China's retirement reforms not enough to fix pension headache
Lawmakers fast-tracked the policy without public consultation in September
A food delivery worker rides through Shenzhen's Futian district in May 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 3, 2024
China's economic malaise seen accelerating obesity rates
Job stress, long work hours and poor diets are growing high-risk factors in cities, while in rural areas, agriculture work is becoming less physically demanding.
The Chinese national flag and the Hong Kong flag outside government headquarters in Hong Kong in November 2017
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 12, 2024
Hong Kong uses new national security law against exiled activists
Hong Kong authorities have outlawed more than a dozen overseas activists based in the United States, Britain and other countries.
Cleaning worker Hu Dexi, 67, at a shopping mall in Beijing on April 10
BUSINESS / Economy
May 8, 2024
In rapidly aging China, millions can't afford to retire
With a low retirement age, meager pension benefits and no family to support them, many in China feel they simply can't ever stop working.
Women attend a singing class at Mama Sunset, a learning center for middle-aged and senior people, in Beijing in January.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 18, 2024
Silver lining: Tutoring the elderly is growing fast in China
The growth potential of the industry contrasts sharply with the decline of the after-school private tutoring sector following a crackdown in 2021.
People wait to board trains at the Hongqiao railway station in Shanghai ahead of the National Day holiday on Sept. 28.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 7, 2023
China holds back from easing of Mao-era rules, in blow to economy
An internal passport system has largely tethered people's destinies to their place of origin since the 1950s.
Students stand during a flag-lowering ceremony on the first day of the new academic year in Shanghai in 2021.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 8, 2023
China's private schools struggle amid COVID and regulatory woes
The sector stumbled after Beijing imposed new rules in 2021 and cracked down on the private tutoring business.
Couples prepare to have their photo taken during a wedding photography shoot on a in Shanghai on Sept. 6.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2023
Fewer 'I dos' ruin the party for China's $500 billion wedding industry
The trend is worrying officials trying to revive marriage rates and birth rates, which dropped to record lows last year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 11, 2023
As China has fewer children, baby product firms scramble to diversify
With domestic sales shrinking, manufacturers are working to develop new streams of revenue — whether that involves offering products for adults, or boosting sales overseas.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Apr 29, 2023
China weighs giving single women IVF access to stem population decline
Concerned about China's first population drop in six decades, government advisers have proposed that single and unmarried women should have access to egg freezing and IVF treatment.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Mar 3, 2023
As China ages, investors bet they can beat retirement home stigma
Who takes care of the elderly in China, where pensions are tiny, is one of the major headaches policymakers face as they deal with the start of a demographic downturn.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Mar 1, 2023
Rust belt province got old before it got rich, as much of China will
As China's 1.4 billion population declines and ages, in part because of a policy that limited couples to one child from 1980 to 2015, pressure on pension budgets is soaring.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 28, 2023
Hong Kong to scrap COVID mask mandate from March 1
Hong Kong and Macao both followed China's 'zero-COVID' policy for much of the past three years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Jan 3, 2023
Casinos in Macao deal themselves a tough hand with nongaming investment pledges
Casinos have committed to investing a total of $15 billion in the coming decade, 90% of which must be spent on nongaming.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Dec 23, 2022
China lacked a 'zero COVID' exit strategy. Its people are paying the price.
The abrupt shift has left the nation scrambling to avert a collapse of its public health system.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 18, 2022
For China's women, this week's congress is unlikely to mean progress
Xi's decade in power has seen the number of women in politics and elite government roles decline and gender gaps in the workforce widen, academics and activists say.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 30, 2022
'It felt like my insides were crying': China COVID curbs weigh on youth mental health
Medical experts fear for teenagers and young adults, who are more vulnerable due to their age and lack of control over their lives.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Aug 9, 2022
More Chinese women delay or give up on having babies after 'COVID zero' ordeal
Strict controls on people's lives may have caused profound damage on their desire to have children, demographers say.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Mar 18, 2022
Clear roadmap needed for Hong Kong's revival amid COVID wave, experts say
Deaths have skyrocketed, the health system is swamped, morgues are overflowing and public confidence in the city government is at an all-time low.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Feb 19, 2022
Hong Kong's 'COVID zero' success now worsens strains of omicron spike
Like an immune system overreacting and harming the person it is meant to protect, the 'dynamic COVID zero' policies that had crushed the virus in Hong Kong have contributed to current woes.

Longform

Dul Saroth (left) and Soeum Samrach, deminers with the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, practice using the Advanced Landmine Imaging System in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province in August.
The Japanese tech that could one day make Southeast Asia landmine-free