Taiwanese spies use ‘money, sex, and even WeChat’ to seduce PRC students, and Swedish ‘police brutality’

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—Jeremy Goldkorn and team

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1. Video evidence contradicts Chinese embassy claims of Swedish police brutality

Swedish police “forcibly ejected a Chinese man surnamed Zeng and his parents from a hotel in Stockholm in the early hours of September 2 after they arrived a day before their booking and were asked to leave,” reports Reuters.

• Beijing seems to be taking the incident as an opportunity to play tit-for-tat about the detention of Gui Minhai 桂敏海, Swedish citizen and seller of books that Xi Jinping doesn’t like: The Chinese Embassy to Sweden released a statement saying the “three Chinese tourists were brutally abused by the Swedish police…stressing that what the police had done severely endangered the life and violated the basic human rights of the Chinese citizens.” A separate statement (in Chinese) warns citizens of the dangers of visiting Sweden:

In recent days, Chinese tourists in Sweden have been robbed and mugged multiple times, losing their property and having their lives threatened. Recently, Chinese tourists have been treated harshly by Swedish officials. The Chinese Embassy in Sweden is highly concerned about the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in Sweden.

• Nationalist rag Global Times and some Chinese social media users are also complaining that the Chinese tourists were treated brutally.

• However, video and eyewitness evidence does not appear to show any police abuse. Jojje Olsson has compiled video clips and eyewitness accounts of the incident.

• The family arrived one day early to check in, according to accounts reported by Olsson. Then the family refused to leave when the hotel could not offer accommodation, which is when the police were called. Judging from the video, this is a case of badly behaved tourists unwilling to accept local norms, not an incidence of police brutality.

• Olsson’s journalism has previously been the target of a hit piece press release from the Chinese embassy in Stockholm.

• Other reporting:

  • Accusations of a ‘nightmare’ vacation test China’s relations with Sweden / NYT (paywall)

  • China joins row over tourists’ complaint of ill-treatment by Swedish police after hostel booking confusion / SCMP

  • “This is Swedish police!” – Sweden under fire in China for “brutal abuse” of Chinese tourists / What’s on Weibo

  • Netizens debate Chinese family’s ‘mistreatment’ in Sweden / Sixth Tone

2. Typhoon Mangkhut aftermath

Typhoon Mangkhut’s toll: at least 69 people dead in the Philippines, and four deaths so far in southern China, where more than around 3 million people were evacuated before the storm. Other Mangkhut news:

• On-demand bikes, food delivery, ride hailing, and logistics services in Guangdong Province were suspended over the weekend, reports TechNode, although it seems most have resumed as of September 17.

• Angry Hong Kong internet users have flooded the Facebook page of city leader Carrie Lam 林鄭月娥 with complaints about traffic disruptions in the aftermath of Mangkhut, reports the South China Morning Post.

• More than 900 flights to and from Hong Kong were suspended, but most services have now resumed, according to Bloomberg (porous paywall).

• In Hong Kong, some people are sawing off bits of downed camphor trees as souvenirs, according to the South China Morning Post.

3. Xu Zhiyong is back

Xu Zhiyong 许志永, legal rights activist, was released from prison on July 16 this year after serving four years for his role in the Chinese New Citizens’ Movement (中国新公民运动 zhōngguó xīn gōngmín yùndòng).

• China Change has published the translation of an essay by Xu reflecting on his four years of incarceration. The translation includes a “new, 6-minute video in which Xu Zhiyong speaks about his current projects and hopes for the future.”

• “It’s been a year since my release from prison. Friends often ask about my life during those four years,” Xu writes, going on to describe his arrest and interrogation. He explains how he coped with long abusive questioning sessions without saying anything about his associates, and conditions inside the prison.

• “I’m back, China.” That’s Xu’s conclusion. I hope he has not spoken too soon.

4. Taiwanese spies use ‘money, sex, romance, and even WeChat’ to entrap P.R.C. students — state media

The New York Times reports (porous paywall): “China has accused intelligence agencies in Taiwan of targeting mainland students on the island, drawing accusations of hypocrisy from Taipei as it investigates possible espionage by Beijing.”

• Central state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) first made the accusations on Saturday. By Monday, the Times says, “at least six other news outlets followed with reports on Sunday and Monday.”

• “How Taiwanese spies use money, sex, romance, and even WeChat to entrap mainland students” is the headline of the Global Times version of the story (in Chinese).

• State security organs will crack down, warned a spokesperson from the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing (in Chinese), adding: “We demand that the relevant parties in Taiwan immediately stop the infiltration of and malicious behavior to the Mainland, to avoid further damage to increasingly complex and severe cross-strait relations.”

• Another state warning about security threats (not specifically associated with Taiwan) was sent to mobile phone users in China today, as tweeted by Matthew Stinson: “Chinese government phone text this morning reminding citizens that September 17-23 is National Cybersecurity Awareness Week. ‘Without cybersecurity there is no national security.’”

• Further reporting:

  • Beijing tells Taiwan to halt all spying and ‘sabotage’ in mainland China / SCMP

  • China tells Taiwan to stop spying as TV show details honey traps / Guardian

  • Beijing accuses Taiwan of blackmailing students into spying for the self-ruled island / SCMP

Other Taiwan news:

• Taiwan officials in New York on United Nations charm offensive / SCMP

• Is Beijing’s offer of residence permits to Taiwanese a trick or treat? / SCMP

—Jeremy Goldkorn

5. New tariffs: Negotiations dead before they start — trade war, day 74

Just as we were about to send this newsletter, the White House released a statement from President Trump:

Today, following seven weeks of public notice, hearings, and extensive opportunities for comment, I directed the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to proceed with placing additional tariffs on roughly $200 billion of imports from China.  The tariffs will take effect on September 24, 2018, and be set at a level of 10 percent until the end of the year. On January 1, the tariffs will rise to 25 percent. Further, if China takes retaliatory action against our farmers or other industries, we will immediately pursue phase three, which is tariffs on approximately $267 billion of additional imports.

Earlier over the weekend, with the tariffs imminent, media such as Reuters were reporting: China may reject new trade talks, won’t negotiate ‘with a gun pointed to its head.’

Well, the negotiations are certainly dead now.

Here’s all the other trade war-related reporting we saw and thought worth mentioning over the weekend:

• Indications of Chinese government moves
  China could ban exports of products crucial to U.S. manufacturers, former finance minister says / Caixin (paywall)
  “Lou emphasizes at forum that he was only offering an analysis of a possible scenario, and his views do not represent those of the Chinese government… China could respond to U.S. tariffs by banning exports of key components, intermediate materials and equipment that U.S. manufacturers depend on, former Finance Minister Lou Jiwei suggested at a forum.”
  China paper warns it won’t play defense on trade as Trump lauds tariffs / Reuters
  “‘We are looking forward to a more beautiful counter-attack and will keep increasing the pain felt by the U.S.,’ the Chinese-language column [in the Global Times] said.”
  Trade war will not derail China’s promise to open up its financial markets, central bank chief says / SCMP
  “China is committed to opening up its financial services markets to foreign players irrespective of the trade war with the United States, the head of its central bank said on Sunday, countering claims it had suspended license applications as a result of the dispute.”

• Four pieces on big trends in the trade war
  A twist in the US tariff battle: ‘It’s helping China be more competitive’ / WSJ (paywall)
  “In the Pearl River Delta, companies are racing even faster toward more advanced manufacturing and products.”
  As Trump’s trade war mounts, China’s Wall Street allies lose clout / NYT (paywall)
  Beijing convened a last-minute forum with Wall Street veterans in Beijing, largely coordinated with the help of Stephen A. Schwarzman, the Times reports. But “even as [Wall Street executives] win tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks from the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress, they appear to be able to do little to stop the trade war.”
  China prepares for new phase of Trump-led trade war / FT (paywall)
  At the forum with Wall Street veterans in Beijing, “reform-minded Chinese participants in the talks argued Beijing should adopt long-heralded economic reforms in its own interest rather than seek to time the US election cycle, the people briefed on the meetings said. Some American participants, on the other hand, argued that there was no point in China offering any concessions before the midterms.”
  A roadmap for the Great U.S.-China Divorce / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Economist Christopher Balding writes, “If the Trump administration is intent on shifting supply chains away from what it considers a strategic adversary, it should accelerate plans to encourage this trend. Trade agreements that grant allied countries special access to U.S. markets with higher-quality governance and legal systems will increase the appeal for firms of moving out of China. That could mean revisiting the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”
  Also advised by Balding: “Washington must also actively open its domestic markets to Africa, Latin America and emerging Asian economies in lower-skilled products, where China dominates.”

• Market effects, near and far
  S&P 500, Dow snap win streaks as U.S.-China trade war escalates / MarketWatch
  Metals and mining shares hit by Trump’s proposed China tariffs / FT (paywall)
  The next crisis could be triggered by the US-China trade war, interest rates: Sovereign wealth chief / CNBC
  “Economic troubles in emerging markets and the ongoing trade war between the United States and China could potentially increase the risk of the next financial crisis, according to the chief executive officer at South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund.”

• Effects on U.S. economy — Baltimore
  US port weighs cost of Trump’s trade war / FT (paywall)
  “The Port of Baltimore — one of the main hubs on the US east coast for car and light truck shipments as well as farm and construction machinery — is on track for a record year, partly a reflection of the expanding US economy. But the activity is paired with growing anxiety over the disruption to business triggered by Mr. Trump’s protectionism — even if Baltimore handles a much smaller share of US trade with China than ports on the west coast such as Los Angeles and Long Beach.”

• Some business going on as usual
  Michigan and China to team up on car technology as more trade war tariffs loom / SCMP
  “In the Chinese capital heading up a business delegation from the state, Michigan governor Rick Snyder said he and Science and Technology Minister Wang Zhigang did not discuss the trade war in their talks, keeping the focus on technology, particularly autonomous vehicles.”
  China-US tensions set aside for joint military forum on health / Reuters via SCMP
  “One of China’s top generals, Song Puxuan, head of China’s Central Military Commission’s Logistics Support Department, posed for pictures with Terry Rauch, acting US Deputy Assistant Secretary of defense, at the opening ceremony” of the 2018 Asia Pacific Military Health Exchange, in Xi’an.

• Chinese teaching in U.S.
  America needs more Chinese teachers, but Donald Trump’s immigration policies may make it harder to get them / SCMP

• UnionPay and payments and poor old Visa and MasterCard
  UnionPay kicks off European push with UK launch / FT (paywall)
  Gabriel Wildau on Twitter: “China UnionPay can waltz right into Europe and start issuing debit/credit cards, while Visa and MasterCard are still waiting for RMB clearing licenses in China, 6 years after the WTO ruled that China was discriminating against them.”
  Briefing: Alipay and UnionPay join forces on barcode payment / TechNode

• China economic indicators
  China’s home prices rise at fastest rate for 2 years / Bloomberg via SCMP
  “New-home prices gained 1.49 percent from the previous month, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data for 70 cities released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday. That compared with a 1.2 percent increase in July.”
  Collapsing investment doesn’t mean collapsing China / WSJ (paywall)
  China’s stocks drop to lowest level in nearly four years / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Trump’s trade war is hitting U.S. and China stocks equally / Council on Foreign Relations
  “As we show, China-sensitive U.S. stocks underperformed the rest of the U.S. market by 3.2 percent between June 15 and August 24, while U.S.-sensitive Chinese stocks underperformed the rest of the Chinese market by 3.4 percent. The market impact of tariffs is therefore almost identical in the two countries.”
  “Broadly speaking, the president is wrong: his trade war has damaged U.S. stocks as much as it has Chinese stocks.”

—Lucas Niewenhuis

—–

Our whole team really appreciates your support as Access members. Please chat with us on our Slack channel or contact me anytime at jeremy@thechinaproject.com.

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief

BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Fan Bingbing disappearance ? fallout
  Fan Bingbing tax evasion scandal: Four luxury brands caught up in the Chinese actress’ fall from grace / SCMP

• Google and the hazards of operating a search engine in China
  Google China prototype links searches to phone numbers / The Intercept
  “A central concern expressed by the [human rights activist] groups is that, beyond the censorship, user data stored by Google on the Chinese mainland could be accessible to Chinese authorities, who routinely target political activists and journalists. Sources familiar with the project said that prototypes of the search engine linked the search app on a user’s Android smartphone with their phone number.”
  Response from China Law Translate on Twitter: “They are required to report illegal content they find during the provision of search services. And there are real name registration systems required for all internet access.” With a link to the article “Provisions on the management of internet search services.”

• Lenovo and the hazards of being global
  Lenovo claims CEO comments that “We are not a Chinese company” is being misunderstood / TechNode

• Artificial intelligence
  Live blog: China’s AI future at World Artificial Intelligence Conference / TechNode
  Microsoft to set up Asia AI research branch in Shanghai / TechNode
  “During the World AI Conference taking place in Shanghai, Microsoft announced they will launch an R&D affiliate Microsoft Research Asia’s branch for AI in Shanghai. Big data, cloud computing, and deep learning are the three elements Microsoft acknowledges as driving forces.”

• People’s Bank of China opens tap
  China central bank unexpectedly injects 265 billion yuan via one-year MLF, rate unchanged / Reuters
  “China’s central bank said on Monday that it lent 265 billion yuan ($38.58 billion) to financial institutions via its one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) with rates unchanged.”

• Tencent submits to game regulations
  Tencent enforces real-name verification in Honor of Kings / TechNode

• Tencent to manage the money that has already fled China
  Tencent, Hillhouse team up for China’s offshore trillions / Bloomberg (paywall)
  “GaoTeng Global Asset Management Ltd., the duo’s one-year-old venture in Hong Kong, plans to start accepting money shortly from retail Chinese investors who have existing assets internationally.”

POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS:

• The Vatican and the current crackdown on Christianity
  Editorial: The Vatican’s China syndrome / WSJ (paywall)
  “Imagine if Donald Trump insisted that the Catholic church give him the right to choose the list of men from which Rome would select American bishops. Ridiculous. So why does it make more sense for the Vatican to concede that right to Communist leaders in China?”
  China bulldozing churches and replacing holy imagery with Communist in religious crackdown / AFP via SCMP
  With wider crackdowns on religion, Xi’s China seeks to put state stamp on faith / Washington Post
  “Christianity has come under new scrutiny since Xi’s government introduced new religious regulations entitled ‘Principles for Promoting the Chinese Christianity in China for the Next Five Years’ in March.”

• Xinjiang internment camps
  China’s pitiless war on Muslim Uyghurs poses a dilemma for the West / Guardian
  Uyghurs in Canada fear deportation after China’s crackdown on Turkic Muslims / CBC Radio
  “’My life is over if I go back to China,’ says 18-year-old Uighur refugee claimant.”
  Opinion, by Robert D. Kaplan: Why China is brutally suppressing Muslims / WSJ (paywall)
  “The repression of the Turkic Uighur Muslim community in western China — including the reported internment of up to a million people in secret camps — is a key part of Beijing’s new imperial policy.”
  Internet sleuths are hunting for China’s secret internment camps for Muslims / The Atlantic
  “‘All you need is Mandarin skills, a computer, and an internet connection,’ said Timothy Grose, one of the China scholars involved in this effort, which he characterized as virtual detective work. ‘The situation is becoming urgent because the government is becoming more aware that there is this paper trail and they’ve been erasing a lot of documents. So anyone who wants to get involved should.’”
  Chris Buckley on Twitter: “A teacher’s account (Chinese) of her kindergarten class in Xinjiang, where most of the children’s parents were absent — either working or in re-education. They were, she says, ‘introverted, anxious, some didn’t even say a word.’” With a link to the story (in Chinese).
  Josh Chin on Twitter: “I’m sure Google isn’t hearing this as long its China search fantasy still draws breath, but it’s been driving me nuts lately: Google Translate has: Xhosa (<9 million speakers), Belarussian (<7 m), Icelandic (<400K !!). Google Translate doesn’t have: Uyghur, 10+m speakers.”
  Isaac Stone Fish on Twitter: “There is even a Google Translate Yiddish! But no Uyghur, and no Tibetan either.…”

• Propaganda
  China’s propaganda mission in 15 characters / China Media Project
  “In the latest edition of Seeking Truth (求是 qiúshì), the Chinese Communist Party’s chief official journal of theory, the president of Xinhua News Agency, Cai Mingzhao 蔡名照, conveys to his ranks the ‘spirit’ of President Xi Jinping’s speech last month to a national conference on propaganda and ideology.”
  “Worthy of note in Cai’s piece…is the emphasis of what is being referred to since last month as the ‘15-character mission’ (15字使命任务 shíwǔzì shǐmìng rènwù).”
  Web users expose faked propaganda photo / China Media Project

• Japan and the South China Sea
  ‘Improve strategic techniques’: Japan conducts first submarine drill in disputed South China Sea / AFP via HKFP
  “The anti-submarine drill was conducted on Thursday in the South China Sea to ‘improve strategic techniques,’ the defense ministry said in a short statement. A spokesman declined to comment further.”
  Japan challenges China with submarine military exercise in South China Sea / SCMP

• Russian war games
  Russia rolls out advanced weapons during Vostok 2018 military drills with China / SCMP
  Opinion: Large war games distract from the complexity of China-Russia ties / Al Jazeera
  J Berkshire Miller, a senior fellow at the EastWest Institute, argues that “Russia and China may have shared interests, but they are not on the verge of a traditional alliance.”

• African swine fever
  China’s Anhui Province launches emergency response to control African swine fever: local media / Reuters
  “The regional government in eastern China’s Anhui Province has launched a Level-1 emergency response to control an outbreak of deadly African swine fever, a local government-backed newspaper reported on Monday.”

• Nepal and India
  Did Nepal snub India for China with military drill decision, or is it just a nation in flux? / SCMP
  “Nepal’s last-minute decision to withdraw from India-led regional military drills is indicative of the struggle facing the South Asian nation’s new government as it tries to strike a balance in its relations with India and China, diplomatic observers said.”

• Pakistan
  Pakistan’s army chief visits Beijing after ‘Silk Road’ tension / SCMP
  “Pakistan’s army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa began a three-day visit to China on Sunday, Pakistan’s military said, days after a Pakistani minister stirred unease about Chinese Silk Road projects in the South Asian nation. Bajwa is the most senior Pakistani figure to visit staunch ally China since the new government of Prime Minister Imran Khan took office in August.”
  In Pakistan, Chinese money grapples with a Karachi-Lahore divide / SCMP

• Opinion and debate: China’s future
  China’s Silicon Valley dream bumps against reality / Bloomberg (paywall)
  Nisha Gopalan writes, “President Xi Jinping’s grand plan to bind Hong Kong and Macau with the southern tip of China using the world’s longest bridge and a cross-border bullet train faces some large roadblocks.”
  Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser Liu He meets pro-market liberals as debate over China’s future direction rages / SCMP
  “Chinese President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser, vice-premier Liu He, has met a group of pro-reform economists in a show of support for a liberal vision of the country’s economic future. Liu did not address Sunday’s 20th-anniversary conference of the Chinese Economists 50 Forum, a club he helped co-found when he was a government adviser.”

• Australia, New Zealand, and frenemy China
  As Canberra’s ties with Beijing come under pressure, Chinese-Australians are facing a new kind of discrimination / SCMP
  The curious case of the burgled professor / NZ Herald
  “Five police staff have worked over the past seven months investigating the February burglary of the home of University of Canterbury Professor Anne-Marie Brady, as well as other break-ins at her office on campus.”
  ‘Let me buy Rio Tinto’: China’s brazen bid to buy our companies / Sydney Morning Herald
  Geoff Wade on Twitter: “New Zealand: Importance of Auckland for China underlined by Politburo Member Li Xi’s 李希 visit to GridAKL [Auckland’s Innovation Precinct] and much stress on his meeting with Auckland Mayor Phil Goff” — with a link to a photo album of the meeting.

• Africa and debt diplomacy
  Debt trap? Chinese loans and Africa’s development options / South African Institute of International Affairs
  “African governments are voluntarily seeking out debt. Arguing that China plies clueless African governments with debt fails to acknowledge that African nations are aware of these debt obligations.”
  Zambia continues to borrow as its debt to China rises / Voice of America

• Endangered trees
  Chinese consumers’ crazy rich demand for rosewood propels drive toward its extinction / SCMP
  “Currently, between 40 and 50 percent of rosewood timber in the Chinese market originates in West Africa, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a global nonprofit that tracks forest crime.”
  Illegal hardwood logging is also a serious problem in Madagascar, touched on in this Sinica Podcast: The strange tale of a kung-fu master in Madagascar.

SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

• Too many graduates, not enough jobs
  Victor Shih on Twitter: “College grads wages fall across the board, alarming if true.”
  Eric Fish responds: “A long-brewing problem with no end in sight. Has roots in the Asian Financial Crisis, when university enrollment was dramatically expanded in a half-baked gambit to avoid ‘social instability.’ Could now have opposite effect.” With a link to “Crisis management, regime survival and ‘guerrilla-style’ policy-making: The June 1999 decision to radically expand higher education in China.”

• Chinese students abroad with fast, expensive cars
  Chinese computer science student Tang Kaijing dies in car crash in United States / SCMP
  “Pennsylvania State University exchange student Tang Kaijing was driving a white Chevrolet Corvette when it hit a tree on a residential street in the campus town of State College, Pennsylvania, at about 4.22 am on Saturday.”

• Ian Johnson on Buddhism and the #MeToo movement  
  #MeToo in the monastery: A Chinese abbot’s fall stirs questions on Buddhism’s path / NYT (paywall)
  See on The China Project: Head of Beijing Longquan Temple denies sexual abuse allegations.

• Hong Kong traditional foods brands
  Son of Wing Lok Noodle Factory founder hopes to revamp Hong Kong business and revive sunset industry / SCMP
  “Angus Chan, 30, used to hate the noodle factory his father founded 42 years ago, now located in an industrial area in Kowloon Bay. ‘I never got to see my father. The noodles took him away from me,’ he says.”

• New York Fashion Week
  NYFW winners and losers, the China perspective / Jing Daily

• TV shows
  Heartbreak and hormones: A history of China’s TV matchmaking / Sixth Tone
  “From flashy hosts to fake romance, the evolving format of China’s televised dating shows reflect changing attitudes toward dating and marriage.”

• Snooker
  ‘First billiard sports capital’: China builds new ‘home for snooker’ to rival Sheffield / Hong Kong Free Press
  “Yushan County, which bills itself as the ‘first billiard sports capital’ worldwide, is indicative of China’s hopes to play a major role in the growth of snooker.”

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Flipped jet is fake: Here’s what Typhoon Mangkhut actually looked like

No, the largest typhoon in Hong Kong’s recorded history did not flip a plane 360 degrees right before landing — that viral video is fake. But the wind and rain were spectacles to behold throughout southern China. Four people died, more than 100 were injured, and over 3 million were evacuated before the storm hit.

ON SUPCHINA

Click Here

Kuora: The political life of Chinese students overseas

Political participation by Chinese students overseas is rare, but not entirely absent. But where there has been any kind of participation in recent years, it’s been both on the left and on the right — from anti-racism rallies and pro-immigration events to pro-Trump rallies and Asian Lives Matter marches — and it’s hard to say which has the greater draw.

Sinica Podcast Early Access: Paul Haenle on North Korea, Taiwan, U.S.-China relations, and more

This week, Kaiser chats with Paul Haenle, who is Maurice R. Greenberg Director of the Carnegie Tsinghua Center for Global Policy and previously served on the National Security Council as a staffer under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Their conversation — which runs the gamut from North Korea to Taiwan to the Belt and Road — was recorded live at Schwarzman College in Beijing on September 6.

• Subscribe to Sinica Early Access by plugging this RSS feed directly into your podcast app.

The Caixin-Sinica Business Brief, episode 63

On this week’s Business Brief: What does Fan Bingbing’s disappearance say about the film industry in China? Plus, a new American Chamber of Commerce in China survey showing tariff pain, David Kirton on petrochemicals in China, Doug Young on Nio and Meituan’s IPOs & more:

• Subscribe to the Business Brief on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, or Stitcher.

PHOTO OF THE DAY — FROM SUPCHINA PHOTO CONTEST

Jianbing

I took this photo of an old migrant worker running a food cart around Dongzhimen Station as I was walking to Sanlitun in 2016. It was my first trip back to China in six years. There was a tension in the air that I hadn’t felt before in my previous visits. From talking to migrant workers like her, I learned that, with the combination of stricter law enforcement and rising costs of living, life for those on the city’s margins had started to become precarious and difficult to bear.

—Lei Gong

Click here to view this photo on TheChinaProject.com, along with more reflections on Beijing’s changes from Lei Gong. The grand prize winner of the photo contest will be announced on September 21!