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Alexandra Stevenson
For Alexandra Stevenson's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
This year was set to be a tumultuous one for global markets, with unpredictable swings as economic fortunes diverge and voters in more than 50 countries go to the polls. But there’s one unforeseen reversal already underway: a change in perception among investors about China and Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 26, 2024
As China’s markets stumble, Japan soars toward record highs
China has not struggled for economic growth like Japan, but a protracted property market collapse has shredded consumer and investor confidence.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 17, 2023
China’s population falls, heralding a demographic crisis
Deaths outnumbered births last year for the first time in six decades. Experts see major implications for China, its economy and the world.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 30, 2022
How bad is China’s COVID outbreak? It’s a scientific guessing game.
In the absence of credible information from the Chinese government, researchers around the world are looking for any clues to determine the size and severity of the COVID-19 surge.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 20, 2022
From 'zero-COVID' to no plan: Behind China’s pandemic U-turn
Xi's own formula for beating back COVID may have inadvertently set China up for this jolting and potentially devastating turn.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 24, 2022
China’s grandparents are done babysitting and ready to go viral
Rapping grannies, crooning 70-year-olds and gamers in their 80s are challenging traditional Chinese views about aging and what it means to have a long and happy life.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 20, 2022
For women in China’s Communist Party, it’s lonely at the top
The Communist Party congress this week is once again a typical scene of suits and ties, with less than a third of the delegates being women.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 22, 2022
Hong Kong’s floating restaurant sinks at sea, laden with memories
The 260-foot, three-story eatery capsized and sank as it was being towed through deep water over the weekend, its owner said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 30, 2022
‘Escalation of secrecy’: Global brands seek clarity on Xinjiang
Companies that sourced cotton from the region in China are weighing evidence of forced labor, a lack of visibility into operations and new regulation.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 5, 2022
With each new crisis in Hong Kong, pressure built on a Beijing loyalist
On Monday, those pressures appeared to boil over as Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced that she would not seek a second five-year term.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 19, 2022
These vaccines have been embraced by the world. Why not in China?
Two years into the pandemic, China's 1.4 billion people still don't have access to one of the most effective coronavirus vaccines the world has to offer.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2022
For Olympic sponsors, ‘China is an exception’
The U.S. and a handful of other nations may have declared a 'diplomatic boycott” of the Winter Games, but some of the world's most famous brands will still be there.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 10, 2021
China Evergrande defaults on its debt. Now what?
A ratings agency's declaration confirmed what investors had already suspected, but they now must wait on a restructuring plan overseen by the firm hand of Beijing.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 6, 2021
In its war on COVID-19, China calls on ‘little inoculated warriors’
In China, 84 million boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 11, about half of the eligible population, have received the first of two COVID-19 vaccine shots.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2021
With its exit, Didi sends a signal: China no longer needs Wall Street
With plenty of its own money and a greater desire to control the private sector, Beijing is pushing its companies to tap investors closer to home.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Nov 19, 2021
China can’t censor away growing anger over athlete’s #MeToo accusation
Peng Shuai's case is the first #MeToo accusation leveled against someone within the highest ranks of power in China.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on