Alexandra Stevenson

Six decades ago my father was one of the first reporters into Communist China. The country has changed so much since then and yet there are echoes of his observations today. A very personal project nyti.ms/39NiHka

First day back at work following parental leave and trying out Twitter .. erm X? ... again. Anything much happened on here??

In early December, China dismantled its “zero-COVID” policy. Within a month, the virus was everywhere. Sixth Tone’s @BeimengFu traveled to remote villages in the southwestern province of Sichuan, where she witnessed firsthand how the virus surge has inundated local hospitals.

Nobel laureate & Rappler CEO Maria Ressa holds back tears as she celebrates her court victory today. “Today, facts win, truth wins, justice wins,” adds her acquittal isn’t just for Rappler “but for every Filipino who has ever been unjustly accused.” @straits_times

“I never thought if you had a debacle like this, they wouldn’t let you withdraw your funds.”

“There isn’t enough work for everyone...You can’t go to bed every night having to look for work in the morning. It’s too tiring.”

What an explanation: “If the trial is to be conducted with a jury, there is a real risk that the due administration of justice might be impaired.”

Jiang Zemin, the Shanghai Communist kingpin who was handpicked to lead China after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and presided over a decade of meteoric economic growth, died on Wednesday. He was 96. nytimes.com/2022/11/30/obi…

When a picture is worth a thousand words. Sunday afternoon’s protest in Shanghai. Source: AP via a protester

Several people in Hong Kong’s central district tonight are commemorating the fatal #UrumqiFire One mainland Chinese living in Hong Kong, in her 20s, said she was “moved” by the protests in the mainland and wanted to express her support as well as grievances over zero-Covid

Interesting analysis of why the protests we’ve seen in cities across China this past weekend are different from earlier protests

Urumqi fire has unleashed defiant eruption of public anger against the CCP. Thousands gathered with candles to mourn the victims. Students staged vigils, many holding pieces of blank white paper in mute protest. w/@ChuBailiang @vwang3 @Changxche @muyixiao nytimes.com/2022/11/27/wor…

The deadly fire in Urumqi appeared to crystallize public anger over those pressures. “Before I felt I was a coward, but now at this moment I feel I can stand up.” nytimes.com/2022/11/26/wor…

This is now on Wulumuqi (=Urumqi) lu in #Shanghai. People holding up white sheets of paper. ‘We don’t need to write anything on it. It is a symbol of the revolution of the people’, someone says. (Don’t manage to send videos.)

“It’s maybe 10 steps forward and nine steps back."

Hardcore Gamer Yang, 86, plays Call of Duty. Another grandpa serenades fans with ballads. Rappers in their 60s offer jams like 'Spicy Hot Pot Real Rap.' “We sing out of tune. We are tone deaf," says one. But making videos keeps them busy and fans love it. nyti.ms/3GwH9IS

On China's sprawling internet sexagenarians rap, octogenarians croon and septuagenarians tango, serving up content for millions of fans. “What we do now is something we could only dream of when we were young." w/ @ZixuWang_News + photos via @GillSabrie nyti.ms/3GwH9IS

Meet the gang of 6 that is following me and ⁦@SLeplatre⁩ in #Guiyang. ‘We are looking out for your safety’. ‘Are you police?’ ‘No.’ ‘So who are you?’ ‘I can’t say.’

We’ve just left a major Chinese city after spending a day filming a story about a Covid outbreak. Less than 3 hours later our locally hired driver was taken into the police station and told he couldn’t leave until revealing what he was doing with foreign media.