1: Chinese students buying ‘guaranteed acceptance’ to elite US universities, by Xinrou Shu
The article describes how Chinese students are paying education “consultants” to get them into top US universities by falsifying grades, academic transcripts and personal statements.
The rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning is examined in Mike Hodgkinson’s story. Photo: captured from openai.com
2: AI is rewriting the rules of creativity. Should it be stopped? by Mike Hodgkinson.
The article describes how, from pop music to painting, the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning is changing the way people create, but says that’s not necessarily a good thing.
Shawn Yuan interviewed purported descendants of 15th century Chinese sailors in East Africa. Photo: Shawn Yuan
3: How the legend of 15th-century Chinese sailors lives on in East Africa, by Shawn Yuan.
Our reporter spoke to residents of islands off the coast of Kenya who believe they’re descended from shipwrecked sailors of 15th century Chinese admiral Zheng He’s fleet.
Nathan Paul Southern and Lindsey Kennedy’s story investigated Chinese gangsters in Laos’ Golden Triangle Economic Zone (above). Photo: Nathan Paul Southern
4: How Chinese gangsters operate freely in Laos’ Golden Triangle SEZ, by Nathan Paul Southern and Lindsey Kennedy.
The article explains how Laos’ Golden Triangle Economic Zone is home to the Kings Romans Casino, run by ex-triad boss Zhao Wei, and a number of prison-like call centres for online scams.
Afghanistan National Institute of Music students who fled the Taliban tell their stories in Ricardo Perez-Solero’s feature. Photo: © Thomas Cristofoletti/Ruom
5: The Taliban forbids music, and these musicians who have fled struggle to keep traditions alive, by Ricardo Perez-Solero.
His feature describes how, with music now forbidden across Afghanistan, young members of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music fled to Portugal, where they found new problems.
Duped by traffickers offering lucrative jobs, hundreds of Cambodian women and girls are trafficked to China each year, where they are forced to marry local men. Marta Kazstelan tells their story. Photo: Cindy Liu
6: The Cambodian brides smuggled into China, by Marta Kazstelan
Her feature describes how dozens of Cambodian women and girls are taken to China each year, where they are forced to marry local men. Only the lucky ones manage to escape.
Ching Ling Foo was hailed by Harry Houdini as a super magician in his book, Miracle Mongers. Photo: Samuel D Porteous
7: The magician so good an American pretended to be Chinese to copy him, by Samuel Porteous.
His feature recalls how Ching Ling Foo, the “Original Chinese Conjuror”, took the US by storm 120 years ago and became one of the highest paid entertainers in the country – twice.
Three illegal immigrants stare at their captors moments after a Hong Kong Marine Police patrol spotted them in Deep Bay, Hong Kong. Photo: C.Y. Yu
8: The inside story of Hong Kong’s freedom swimmers, by Jack Lau.
The feature recalls how, desperate to escape the fallout of the Cultural Revolution, swimmers braved deadly cold water, sharks and police patrols to reach the bright lights of Hong Kong.
Stuart Heaver recalls Hong Kong police’s long battle with speedboat smugglers. Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Marine Police
9: Hong Kong’s long battle with speedboat smugglers, by Stuart Heaver.
The feature describes how, in the 1980s and ’90s, police engaged in sometimes fatal pursuit of powerful speedboats heading to mainland China from Hong Kong carrying everything from VCRs to cars.
Tia Ray, also known as Yuan Yawei, is leading the emergence of contemporary R&B in China. Photo: Tia Ray
10: Who is Tia Ray and why does she have one of the bestselling singles in the world, by Cyril Ip.
The feature describes how the award-winning songstress, who names Mariah Carey as one of her idols, has an urban sound that is challenging the dominance of pop, rock and folk in China.
