China’s Pollution Successes

Until 10 years ago, China’s approach to environmental pollution was to place it a distant second in the rush to accelerate economic development. But growing evidence of the health impact motivated a change of tune. A ‘war on pollution’ was launched in 2013. As...

Snuffing out Alternative Tobacco Products

E-cigarettes and other ATPs have presented a challenge when it comes to controlling tobacco use. On the one hand, in the United Kingdom, the National Health Service touts them as a stepping stone to quitting traditional cigarettes. On the other hand, the World Health...

The Mix Master

Hong Kong, China and much of the non-Western world have one thing in common: they have embraced the Western idea of a university, where English is the lingua franca and modern academics pursue the goals of speaking truth to power and serving the economy. To the new...

All Systems Go

Transport systems often don’t talk to each other – ferry schedules don’t necessarily link up with train times, buses don’t stop in the exact location you want, ticket deals may be lacking – but now, using a unique combination of data from the government and private...

China’s Jumpy Take on Tech

In October 2020, Jack Ma Yun, the co-founder of Alibaba Group, gave a speech just days before his company’s FinTech arm, Ant Group, was about to launch the world’s largest IPO. The speech directly challenged the legitimacy of financial regulation in China. Not only...