‘A little light in the dark’: the former Chinese police officer bringing bubble tea to wartorn Ukraine

Par :Amy Hawkins · senior China correspondent

30 décembre 2025 à 13:00

Brother Dong is one of a growing band of Chinese volunteers who are lending their support to Ukraine

Are you looking for a way to stay sane in an environment that has been torn apart by war? Then perhaps what you need is a bubble tea.

That is the philosophy guiding Brother Dong, a Chinese-German volunteer in Ukraine. The 52-year-old former officer in China’s People’s Armed Police drives once a month from his home in Frankfurt to collect a haul of tapioca pearls from a warehouse in Berlin. From there he drives across Poland to reach Ukraine.

‘They want to destroy my career’: Kiwi Chow on life as a dissenting director in Hong Kong

The Guardian

Par :Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent

29 décembre 2025 à 07:00

With his new film rejected by official censors, the award-winning film-maker says he is being punished for his outspoken views

In Hong Kong, where dissent is now characterised by silence, few dare openly criticise the government or the Chinese Communist party (CCP) that controls it. Film-maker Kiwi Chow is one of the few.

“The Chinese Communist party’s practice is to try and destroy history and truth,” the 46-year-old director says from his home in the region. “It’s ridiculous that I can still live in Hong Kong without being in jail.”

China launches live-fire drills around Taiwan simulating blockade of major ports

The Guardian

Par :Helen Davidson in Taipei and Amy Hawkins

29 décembre 2025 à 14:40

Taipei condemns exercise that Chinese army calls ‘a stern warning’ against separatist and external forces

China has launched live-fire military drills around Taiwan, simulating a blockade of major ports, attacking maritime targets, and fending off international “interference”, in what it calls a warning to “separatist” forces in Taiwan.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) – the military wing of the ruling Communist party in China – sent its navy, air force, rocket force and coastguard to surround Taiwan on Monday morning for a surprise exercise called “Justice Mission 2025”, which began less than an hour after it was announced.

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