Alicia Chen
@yingyuchen9
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Freelance journalist. Formerly @washingtonpost in Taiwan. @Pulitzercenter grantee. @sopasia winner w/ @erc_earth . Words @TheGuardian @AJEnglish @tw_reporter_org
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Joined April 2019
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In Nov, I went to a town close to the
#Colombia
-#
#Panama
border to cover Latin American migration across the
#DarienGap
to the US. Surprisingly, I discovered dozens of
#Chinese
citizens lining up for boats headed for the jungle crossing themselves. (1/10)
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After the
#TaiwanElections
, I'm sharing my experience to advocate for better working conditions and mutual respect in the industry. Local journalists/fixers play a crucial role in international reporting, but sadly, not all foreign journalists show the respect they deserve.
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Students from Uganda came to
#Taiwan
to realize their study abroad dream, yet their uni failed to provide them with a scholarship and internship as promised and forced them to work as cheap labor. They ended up like slaves, being tricked into working overtime to repay debts.
＃漫畫讀新聞【「我活得像奴隸」——來台留學卻淪廉價學工，烏干達青年Collines的遭遇】
2019年11月，Collines帶著學習夢，從非洲烏干達來到台灣彰化的中州科大，然而在台灣迎接他的卻是：聽不懂的中文課、與科系無關且超時的勞務工作，以及跟著發薪日準時而來的學費催繳單⋯⋯
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#China
’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said he has never heard of
@iamjohnoliver
and his program
@LastWeekTonight
. Neither does he have time to watch it, in response to its recent episode on
#Taiwan
.
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Today is
#TaiwanElection
day. A beautiful day. 🗳️🌞My family and I just voted. Everyone was quiet, polite and respectful. The whole process was smooth and organized.
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After they succeeded in crossing the Darien Gap, he wrote on Twitter, “The place where everyone wants to go might not be heaven, but the place where everyone risks their lives to escape from must be hell.“ (10/10)
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A Chinese model defended herself on Sunday against a “morbid obsession” after people launched a barrage of criticism towards her for her perceived “slanted eyes”.
@TingYanalice
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Special thanks to
@theodorayuhk
,
@Yaoyu_c
, Lyric Li
@WilliamYang120
and other foreign journalist friends in Taiwan who have supported me in sharing this experience.
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After helping a visiting journalist
@timkmak
between Jan 8-11 for
@thecounteroffensive
, I felt disappointed.
I arranged a boat with local fishermen to take us to the median line between Kinmen and Xiamen. He published a story without mentioning my name anywhere in the article.
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With 5+ years of experience collaborating w/international&local media, I don't seek extra credit to validate my dedication and competence. I’m speaking out to shed light on the challenges faced by local journalists/fixers who often contribute their expertise behind the scenes.
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It's not a new issue, but I’ve heard fellows who worked as fixers for parachute journalists to cover this election faced even more unpleasant experiences, including last-minute interview cancellations, poor pre-trip communication, below-standard pay, exclusion of break times,etc.
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In Necoclí, I met Zhou Jun, a 52-year-old Chinese dissident, who had protested for human rights in rural Tibet and Yunnan. He was traveling with his 8-month-old dog, Niu Niu. He has now reached the U.S.-Mexico border, but his dog died near the exit of the Darien jungle. (8/10)
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#Taiwan
’s annual air defense drill starts today. The government sends cellphone alerts to residents with a hyperlink that inform people of nearby air-raid shelters.
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In early Dec, I approached him, and on our first call, he said, "Let's collaborate." But I was the one who wrote pitches, crafted a proposal, organized interviews, and handled all logistics.
I did all the translations during the Kinmen trip too.
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Chinese migrants have flooded Necocli, buying tents and rain boots to prepare for the trek. Some told me they were fed up with China’s strict regimens of lockdowns and nucleic acid testing. Others said they left to seek more freedom. (6/10)
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One 35-year-old man from Guangzhou brought his wife and three children (3-6 yrs) across the jungle in Oct. He told me their mother was swept away by a river on the fourth day of the Darien Gap crossing. Fortunately, she was rescued by other Latin American migrants. (9/10)
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The migrants enter South America via Ecuador, which allows Chinese nationals to enter without visas, before moving through Colombia and six Central American countries to reach the US. And the number of Chinese nationals making this trek has surged in recent months. (3/10)
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He wanted to interview KMT supporters at an event instead. But after we received the falsely-translated missile alert, he asked if I could interview them by myself, while he was busy tweeting. I said no.
This was disrespectful to both me and to our interviewees.
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Hopefully, by raising awareness, it can foster a more inclusive and respectful environment for journalists and fixers in Taiwan and beyond.
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I was asked to provide local perspectives to their story.
However, his team took all the credit.
He explained later that their bylines were for people who wrote the article. And asked, “Would a contribution line help?” two days after the story was out.
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In January, I went back to Necoclí, Colombia and found more Chinese migrants attempting to reach the U.S. by crossing the Darién Gap, even after China lifted its zero-Covid policy and border controls.
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Latest with
@gerryshih
: Amid the recent political change in the region, Taiwan’s younger generations have increasingly embraced island’s indigenous culture as an expression of being distinctly Taiwanese.
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485 Chinese citizens crossed from Ecuador to Colombia irregularly in Nov, according to Colombia’s immigration office. All of them continued on to
#Necocl
í, the town where they begin their journeys. 192 crossed in Oct, after just 351 in all of Jan-Sept. (4/10)
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Then, 2 days before a 4-day reporting trip arranged by me, he decided to cancel plans for one full day, when there had been 4 weeks to make changes. After the boat trip, he cancelled another interview I arranged on the same day (he argued I didn’t say I had fixed a time).
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In late Nov, a deadly fire in
#Xinjiang
ignited rare protests condemning
#China
’s
#ZeroCovid
policies. But Chinese disillusionment toward their government, and their future prospects, was already swelling in the months before the mass demonstrations. (5/10)
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At the end of the Kinmen trip, I told him politely that I felt he had been disrespectful. He apologized, saying that he was just almost burned out after covering the war in Ukraine for eight months.
I accepted his apologies and agreed to help his team for another two days.
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Students from SEA and South Asia also faced similar plights. A group of Vietnamese students said they were coerced into low-paying work at factories after being assigned to
#Taiwan
on an “internship” program, or the so-called 新南向產學專班.
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Simplified Chinese version can be found on RFA
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One morning, I met more than 20 Chinese citizens, including a 10-year-old child, at a pier in Necoclí. Some wore life jackets, waiting for a ferry to the Darien jungle. On another morning, 19 Chinese waited at the pier, including 5 women and 3 children. (7/10)
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“This year the ceremony is not open for humans!” A fascinating piece by
@heldavidson
and
@SummerL82079302
on
#Taiwan
's Ghost Month at the tail-end of its worst
#Covid
outbreak.
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One evening, a
#Venezuelan
teacher spoke to me in excellent Mandarin at a bar in Colombia. In his notebook were dozens of topics in simplified Chinese characters, including
#China
’s billionaires and electronics hub in HK. One paragraph is about award-winning TW filmmaker Ang Lee.
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Taiwan's Dajia Mazu pilgrimage, one of the world's biggest folk festivals, has rapidly gained popularity among Taiwanese youths, as an expression to embrace its distinct identity.
@JohnLiuNN
/ pc
@naomilgoddard
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Excited to share that I'm the host of the 2nd season of
@ghostislandme
's
#5StarNation
podcast! This season focuses on
#China
's influence in Europe. The 1st episode features a Ukrainian scholar's experience in China/Taiwan and his views on China’s role in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Women journalists. Like ALICIA
@yingyuchen9
who specializes in forced migration, conflict resolution, humanitarian affairs. She reported from Ukraine last year and is journalist/host of Season 2 of our
#5StarNation
🚩 podcast on China's presence in Europe:
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A group of people in full military gear broke into Taiwan’s embassy in Haiti on Thursday morning, following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse,
@MOFA_Taiwan
's spokesperson Joanne Ou said on Friday. 11 armed suspects were arrested. w/
@evadou
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@TingYanalice
She asked if people who looked like her have “humiliated China since the day we were born?”
“With small eyes, am I not Chinese?” she wrote on Weibo on Sunday.
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Here’s the final print edition of
#AppleDaily
in Taiwan after 18 years of publication. It was launched by jailed media tycoon
#JimmyLai
, whose assets were frozen by the
#HK
city’s government on Friday.
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Some restaurants and cafes in
#China
are marketing themselves as “Syrian debris style” and set up check-in points, gaping holes or run-down walls that look like they have been bombed in a war.
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Tomorrow is International Worker's Day. A dozen overseas Chinese workers behind the scenes of
#China
's
#BRI
projects told
@lilkuo
and I they were stranded abroad, desperate. One worker said a moment he decided to seek work overseas is when he's unable to buy his daughter a doll.
“The entire Belt and Road initiative is based on forced labor.”
@yingyuchen9
and I spoke to a dozen overseas Chinese workers on BRI projects who said they were held against their will, forced to keep working, beaten and barred from returning home.
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“In Their Teens (度日）”, a story shedding light on the daily struggles of youths from the countryside of
#Taiwan
, was awarded ‘Best Documentary short film’ at The 58th Golden Horse Film Award.
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For those who want to but are not able to buy the final edition of
@appledaily_hk
, the staff uploaded the files and videos to the cloud.
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'We're all fleeing persecution': Chinese asylum-seekers head to US via Darién Gap. English version is published on
@RadioFreeAsia
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It’s such a honour to conduct a workshop on challenges of becoming an independent journalist for media students at
#TJ19
.
@journalism_talk
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@TingYanalice
online user’s comment:
normal slanted eyes: 正常的眯眯眼：(-_-) (·_·) (▸_◂)
overly slanted eyes considered humiliating China
侮辱国人的眯眯眼：(` _ ´)
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Taiwan is discussing whether Dajiz Mazu pilgrimage, once acclaimed by Discovery as one of the world’s three major religious festivals, should cancel or postpone, especially after the wide spread of the virus among members of the Shincheonji Church in South Korea.
1
5
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While
#Taiwan
partially lifted the level 3
#COVID19
alert on July 27, one of my interviewees told me last weekend she still had to return to her dormitory within two hours of finishing her shift. Latest for
@equaltimes
. Also published in Spanish/French.
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To boost birth rate,
#China
on Mon announced plans to reduce the number of "nonmedical abortions" performed in the country.
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“Can you imagine some shop calling itself ‘Wenchuan earthquake debris style’ or ‘Zhengzhou flood debris style’?” one Chinese user commented.
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Level 3 will close down most non-essential places (will be a rolling process) and ban outdoor gatherings of more than 10 and indoor gatherings of more than 5. The two cities for the first time amid the pandemic are shifting to a semi lockdown status.
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Such an honor to be part of
@erc_earth
’s Oceans Inc team to cover
#IUU
fishing and human right abuses involved in global fishing industry. Check out our investigative reporting project. It's also beautifully presented.
🏆 Congratulations to
@erc_earth
for winning the Carlos Tejada Award for Excellence in Regional Investigative Reporting. "Ocean Inc" takes the story of the deaths of Indonesian fishers on Chinese fishing boats a step further.
#SOPAwards2022
📰
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@heldavidson
@SummerL82079302
My friend and I were camping on top of the mountains on the July 15th of the lunar calendar, while my dad warned me not to. And the full moon on that night was astonishing.
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This story was fun to do. Drinking or having chocolate while doing interviews. Thanks
@lilkuo
As Lithuania faces pressure from China for drawing closer to Taiwan, Taiwanese are buying up Lithuanian goods and cheering Lithuanians in Taiwan. “It happens everywhere. I go buy a lunch box and when they hear I am from Lithuania, everyone starts clapping.”
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Residents said this year’s festival helps them channel their frustration and tiredness amid the
#COVID19
pandemic and gives them hope on a smooth transition towards normalcy.
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@lnachman32
@tingsquareliu
@Wenyee_Lee
@katweiyc
@AngryTaiwanman
@silvashih
@betty_hou_1108
@amy_changchien
Thank you, Lev! Look forward to meeting all these amazing reporters sometime soon. (already met some of them!) adding another brilliant reporter
@Yaoyu_c
& my incredible colleague
@stronghead_yo
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My latest for Southeast Asia Globe on recent migrant debate sparked by a controversial ban on gatherings in the hall of Taipei Main Station. Thanks to
@SEA_GLOBE
for the support :)
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@tw_reporter_org
revealed a recording of an interview with Chinese citizen journalist
#ZhangZhan
before she’s jailed. Zhang, who reported Covid-19 pandemic from Wuhan, is gravely ill after prison hunger strike.
#報導者Podcast【12月10日是世界人權日，聽見被關押、命危的中國公民記者聲音】
中國是全球關押最多記者的國家，據統計至少有122位記者在獄中，而出生陝西的公民記者張展是其中之一。她被捕原因，是2020年2月
#COVID19
剛爆發時前往武漢記錄疫情下的情景、並在網路上曝光。
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On the first day of the Tomb Sweeping Festival, when many set to travel domestically over the long weekend, a train crash in Taiwan killed at least 48 people and injured dozens, marking the deadliest railway accident in decades.
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Fascinating piece by
@amyyqin
n
@amy_changchien
. As Taiwan’s constitutional court considers a case on Indigenous rights, the reporters joined an evening hunt with a 70-year-old Bunan man in Zhuoxi and learned his group's hunting culture and spirituality.
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The Wang Ye worshipping ceremony in Donggang is a massive folk ritual which celestial missionaries are believed to patrol the world once every three years to hunt disease and evil, and taking them back to heaven.
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Panama govt data shows 405 Chinese citizens made the journey during the 1st half of 2022. In Nov last year, the figure rose to 377, then to 695 in Dec. In Jan 2023, a record-breaking 913 Chinese nationals crossed, making them the 4th-largest group of migrants to do so this year.
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@brendansherida5
@erinhale
Most are the basements that can be shelters. Each pin says what type of shelters it is and how many people approximately it can accommodate.
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Learning Mandarin has become a trend among young Venezuelans who want to find a better-paying job in the country, he said, especially after the US froze diplomatic relations with Venezuela.
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0
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This summer, Chinese residents flock to underground cafes and “cave hot pot" restaurants to escape
#China
's record-breaking heat wave. By Lyric Li
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0
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So glad to know that he’s safe.
The Chinese guy who filmed 18 detention facilities in 8 cities in
#Xinjiang
have uploaded a new video to share his thoughts with the world after his initial video attracted a lot of attention:
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“After I leave the country [China], I have no plans to go back alive,” said Xu, a 31-year-old migrant from Jiangsu province. “I feel like this country has been deceiving us, persecuting us. I have to do something.”
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Prior to the upheaval in Haiti, Taiwan’s last African ally eSwatini has faced its largest unrest in decades.
@Yaoyu_c
’s great piece analyzes how the country’s ongoing protests and China’s consistent overtures will affect its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan.
My first byline at
@dwnews
on Taiwan, China and the US's intricate relationship as Taiwan's last African ally eSwatini goes through its biggest civil unrest in decades.
Thanks to
@Mishraesque
for the great insight!
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“It’s very ironic that, in order to mitigate the impact of global warming, you have to cut down our trees … just to support the initiatives of Elon Musk.” By
@Nick1Aspinwall
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Founders Confidential
#billMelinda
Gates Foundation
#Luminate
#Ijf19
#europeanjournalismcentre
#opensocietyfoundations
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A Chinese photography blogger was found dead near a coastal city in
#China
on Wed, days after he turned 25, sparking widespread outcry online. His last Weibo post said he had been constantly bullied at school due to his alleged effeminate behavior.
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It’s such an important topic amid the global pandemic. My pleasure to be part of this discussion with a group of inspiring media fellows.
Can we actually stop the infodemic?
Join us in the coming hours!
*At 1 PM GMT* Hosted by *Leon Lindigu* on **
We are not just dealing with a pandemic.We are dealing with infodemic too.
How do we
#StopTheInfodemic
?
An amazing panel to guide the discussion:
@yingyuchen9
,
@Julio_Bizimungu
, Gireesh Sharma ,
@TerryanneChebet
&
@BukhalaMuhatia
Host
@LeonLidigu
&
@MTotoNews
Be part!
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Xu had no regrets. “I don’t know much about the US, but at least it’d be better than living in China,” he said. “We’re like animals. We migrate to a warmer place, instead of staying in a cold place. We don’t want to be frozen to death.”
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Children were given teddy bears and met with welcome banners at an airport in
#SouthKorea
, where hundreds of
#Afghan
evacuees arrived. The authorities don't call them refugees, but “persons of special merit,” in a bid to deter anti-migrant backlash.
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Despite our different political views, my family and I always go vote together and have 蛋餅 for breakfast. I think that’s part of the beauty of Taiwan’s democracy.
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#Taiwan
’s indigenous singer Abo quoted an aboriginal elderly who thought
@SpeakerPelosi
was a name of a typhoon, “it’ll come at once, and it won’t come later.”
A local fan page said today everyone goes to work or to school as usual, in a tone of broadcasting a typhoon news.
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“There’s a saying that the tribe is like a small stream. Now, the tribe must gather together and become a river so it can flow even farther. Stories will only be remembered if we all gather and remember them.”
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It's my honour to begin working as Asia correspondent for
@migrantsotmed
. I'll document the stories of migrants among the Asia Pacific through humanitarian storytelling. Thanks to Pamela Kerpius for this great opportunity. More to come!
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“When there’s fighting, everyone is terrified because people will die,” said Duan, an ethnic Chinese Myanmar restaurant owner who gave only his surname. “If you can walk a few steps to stay alive, of course you’re going to walk over here” to China.
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A
#Uyghur
man told BBC in
#Kabul
that he and his family feared the
#Taliban
would arrest them and hand them over to
#China
. About 2000
#Afghanistan
’s Uyghurs might remain in the country, and their ID cards still say “Uyghur” or “Chinese refugee”.
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Liang Zixuan, a Chinese immigration agent based in Tokyo, also believes Chinese migrants will continue attempting the dangerous trek in the coming months. “For those who saw the government’s real face, they will leave regardless,” he said.
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Are you willing to change your name to Salmon for sushi?
This story just gets better. A 19-year-old surnamed Hong changed his name to “Hong Salmon” and invited users to join him for a meal, offering time slots. For now, he is going to keep the name, saying it represents his courage to do whatever he wants. by
@yingyuchen9
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"Delivery workers are people, not robots. But delivery platforms treat us like cogs in the machine," Chen Guojiang, who made videos about life as a delivery worker and tried to improve working conditions, said on his Douyin channel. Now he's in detention.
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The story is part of the series of
#Taiwan
’s Unfinished Governance of High Seas Fisheries, which is shorlisted for
@sopasia
’s award in Chinese Investigstive Reporting. Thanks to the dream team 🦈
🏆 Carlos Tejada Award for Excellence in Chinese Investigative Reporting goes to 今周刊 Business Today for "中資狼爪伸進台灣護國群山 / Silent Invasion: How did China wage economic warfare against Taiwan's tech sector?" Congratulations!
#SOPAwards2022
📰
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Thanks to
@sopasia
for the recognition and to
@tw_reporter_org
for the profound support. This report
won the 2023 Award for Honorable Mention in Chinese Feature Writing.
🏆 Overcoming immense reporting difficulty in a fluid situation to pull off coverage characterized by both timeliness and maturity in writing, the Award for Excellence in Chinese Feature Writing goes to
@initiumnews
. Congratulations!
#SOPAwards2023
📰
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A Chinese migrant who successfully reached the U.S. after crossing several Latin American countries asked me to capture the voting experience today; he’s never had a chance to vote in his life.
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The accident has raised concerns about Taiwan’s transportation safety, following another deadly train crash three years earlier. In 2018, 18 people were killed and 215 injured when a train derailed in northeastern Taiwan.
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