A Seoul neighborhood is so crowded with tourists that the government is taking over (July 11, 2024, CNN)
As the issue of overtourism sweeps cities and countries around the world, authorities in South Korea have announced stricter controls and measures to protect a historic traditional village district in downtown Seoul from throngs of tourists, who have flooded its streets and caused friction with local residents over the years.
Chinese community hit hardest amid Malaysia’s suicide surge (July 10, 2024, South China Morning Post)
Suicides were second highest among foreigners since 2019 followed by Indians and Malays, government statistics reveal
South Korea abandons plan to suspend licenses of striking doctors to resolve medical impasse (July 8, 2024, ABC News)
South Korea's government announced Monday it will abandon its plan to suspend the licenses of striking junior doctors as part of its efforts to convince them to return to work and resolve the country’s monthslong medical impasse.
How a 19th-Century Scot’s Harebrained Quest Shaped Sovereignty in Western Sahara (January 19, 2024, New Lines Magazine) (Subscription required)
Locals call it the Casamar — short for “Casa del Mar” or “House of the Sea.” This British fortress with a Spanish name in a Moroccan town bears witness to Tarfaya’s role as a historical buffer zone, whose fractious tribal politics have mediated the ambitions of nations and empires since the Casamar was built. Its fall will erase the last visible legacy of an episode that history has all but forgotten, but which lit the touch paper on one of the world’s longest-running conflicts.
‘Whack-a-mole situation’: Algerian officials wrestle with water shortage anger (June 27, 2024, The Guardian)
Rationing had been introduced to deal with a drought in parts of Algeria and neighbouring Morocco where the amount of rainfall that had historically replenished critical reservoirs was much reduced. Taps had been running dry for months, forcing people in the region – a semi-arid, high-desert plateau increasingly plagued by extreme heat – to queue to access water.
Why many East Asians don’t have body odor or need deodorant (June 22, 2024, NBC News)
Social media is heating up over why Asians don’t have body odor. Between 80 and 95% of East Asians have little to none of that typical acidic body odor smell. And it all comes down to a gene mutation.
Islands in the Maldives Were Expected to Vanish. Climate Science Tells Another Story. (June 26, 2024, The New York Times)
Not very long ago, researchers began sifting through aerial images and found something startling. They looked at a couple dozen islands first, then several hundred, and by now close to 1,000. They found that over the past few decades, the islands’ edges had wobbled this way and that, eroding here, building there. By and large, though, their area hadn’t shrunk. In some cases, it was the opposite: They grew. The seas rose, and the islands expanded with them.
China stabbing attacks raise concerns of growing social tensions (July 7, 2024, Financial Times)
In an acknowledgment of the potential racial motivation for the Suzhou attack, major Chinese internet platforms banned hate speech against Japan. But the tragedy was just the latest in a series of recent violent incidents hinting at rising social tensions, said analysts.
A BeiDou-like satnav system for the moon? Chinese scientists plot a possible route (July 14, 2024, South China Morning Post) (Subscription required)
The proposed construction of 21 satellites to provide a navigation system for the moon would support China’s lunar ambitions
Fake police scammers convinced me I was on China's 'most wanted' list (July 7, 2024, BBC)
Chinese people around the world are being targeted by an elaborate scam in which criminals pretend to be Chinese police. A British-Chinese woman has told the BBC that she handed over her life savings to con men who wore uniforms in video calls and gave her a virtual tour of what appeared to be a police station.
AsiaBriefs, produced in partnership with ChinaSource, is a place for you to catch up on news items and analysis from around Asia that you might have missed. It is a curated list of links from published online sources. Clicking a link will take you to a website other than Asia Congress or ChinaSource. Neither Asia Congress nor ChinaSource is responsible for the content or other features on that site. Further, an article’s inclusion does not equal an endorsement. Links to China stories are from ZGBriefs, a weekly publication of ChinaSource that highlights important news and analysis from China. You can read the complete, unabbreviated version of ZGBriefs at ChinaSource, and subscribe to receive it by email every Thursday.
Editor
Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs. Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University …View Full Bio
Blessing Asia
In October-2022 more than 500 Christian leaders from across Asia gathered in Thailand for the Asia 2022 Congress, sponsored by the Lausanne Movement and various partnering organizations. I had the opportunity to participate in the Congress virtually and was mightily blessed. From Bible exposition to K-pop worship, and through seminars and workshops, the participants were encouraged by the stories of what God is doing in countries all over Asia. Clearly, God is on the move.
A beautiful vision was portrayed in a video of the popular worship song The Blessing, featuring singers from all over Asia. Here it is:
Many of the sessions have already been posted on their website and to their YouTube channel.
One that I found particularly helpful considering all that is going on in China was a presentation titled Church and State Relationship in Asia Today. You can see the video here.
I encourage you to spend some time on their website; there are fantastic resources for understanding God’s work in Asia today.
Original link: https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/blog-entries/blessing-asia/
Image credit: Andrea Brucker, via Unsplash
Explore Topics
Newsletter