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Hey there Inkstoners, It’s Juliana typing. As a journalist with a lot of journalist visas in my passport, it’s not easy for me to visit North Korea as a tourist. A lot of tour groups don’t like to take my kind to avoid trouble, which I can understand. The closest I got physically to the Hermit Kingdom was in 2004, when a lot of Beijing-based reporters rushed to the China-North Korea border to cover the aftermath of a massive explosion. 
It wasn’t a particularly fruitful trip for any of us. But a few things stuck in my mind: 1) My local Chinese driver offered to smuggle me into North Korea for a small fee. He said it was really easy to do. My boss freaked out, so I declined. 2) I went on a “border tour” on the Chinese side with Chinese tourists. They threw items like cigarettes and bread to a North Korean soldier across the border. The soldier swallowed his pride, walked over and picked up the items. The tourists talked animatedly and self-righteously about how “behind” North Korea was, compared to China. As the inter-Korean peace summit kicks off in Pyongyang, we showcase, in our second story, a series of portraits by AFP photographer Ed Jones. He’s based in South Korea but regularly travels to North Korea. |
The South Korean President Moon Jae-in has arrived in Pyongyang to meet his North Korean counterpart. Moon got a red-carpet welcome. And it was his first time in North Korea. The high-stakes talks come amid a lull in diplomacy after the historic Singapore summit in June. Moon has promised to try to push for a resumption in US-North Korea talks. But will he succeed? Watch our story by Arman Dzidzovic. |
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These photos aren’t inherently political, but they clearly show differences (and similarities) in life and lifestyles between North and South Koreans, as this intimate photo gallery by Adam White suggests. It’s not a perfect analogy, but the situation of the Koreas has some similarities to what we see between China and Taiwan: two nations divided by politics and ideology. But what’s different is how much both Koreas seem to think about and talk about unification. |
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Donald Trump has announced new tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports. And as expected, Beijing has vowed to retaliate against the US. Although Trump has been a strong advocate of tariffs (he once tweeted: “Tariffs are the greatest!), he has exempted some products from the upcoming taxes after complaints from US companies. Viola Zhou went through the 6,000-item-long list to find out what they are. Here are some of the things that will NOT be taxed. |
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What sparked this trade war in the first place? According to the Trump administration, one of the main culprits was the Made in China 2025 plan, announced in 2015. The goal is to make China much more self-sufficient in terms of its high-tech industry. But Trump took issue with the Chinese companies trying to do just that. |
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One of the sectors specifically targeted for improvement as part of Made in China 2025 is robotics. For lots of reasons (wage rises, declining population, increasing rent), China needs to have more industrial robots. In this story, He Huifeng and Celia Chen look at what’s driving China’s robot revolution. |
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A hair salon in Taiwan has come under fire for using a swastika as its logo. From a Nazi-themed cafe in Indonesia to an Indian clothing store named after Hitler, similar incidents have taken place across Asia.
Most of the offenders aren't Neo-Nazis, and it’s unclear how much they know about the history of the symbol.
In this case, the salon owner said the logo was only made up of four razors, according to Grace Tsoi.
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Cameroon bride and Chinese husband find fame online in China CNN profiles a mixed-race Chinese-African couple who live in northeast China, and who have become online stars. |
In China, Bruins are not having a smooth preseason The Boston Bruins NHL team is touring China, and Chinese-Canadian squad member Derek Dun is the star of the show, reports the Boston Globe. |
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 |  | | | Get more Inkstone | | | Inkstone is a daily digest of 6 China-focused stories providing unvarnished insight into a rising potential superpower. |
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