The Dalai Lama was recently hospitalized due to a chest infection. The world renown Buddhist leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient has since recovered but this incident has brought focus to a core doctrine in Buddhism: impermanence. All things are transient, Buddhist scripture states, and that includes the Dalai Lama.

When the Dalai Lama has passed on before, senior monks would go on journey to find his reincarnation, a practice that allowed the legacy to live on through the generations. For fourteen reincarnations, this quest was accomplished without hindrance.

But times have changed.

China invaded Tibet, the home of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism, in 1950. In the course of annexing the nation, they murdered hundreds of thousands of Tibetans. As a result of their control of the region and tight dominance, this long-standing tradition may, itself, suffer its own impermanence.

Chinese leadership has now weighed in on reincarnation, clearly indicating their intention to interfere with the succession.

According to CNN, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said there are “clear rules” regarding the reincarnation of “the living Buddha.”

“Reincarnation of living Buddhas, including the Dalai Lama, must comply with Chinese laws and regulations and follow religious rituals and historical conventions,” Lu said.

It’s not the first time the Chinese Communist Party has involved itself in a long-standing tradition. Three days after the Dalai Lama identified the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the Chinese government kidnapped him. He has not been seen in over 20 years since.

Video of Jasic workers protest: as workers continue to voice their demands to unionise, the local ACFTU held a meeting with company representatives and announce the efforts to establish enterprise union enter a new stage “after 2 months of working together.” #unionAccountability pic.twitter.com/5CeTQbnE7W

— CLB (@chinalabour) July 24, 2018

After generations of teaching Lenin and Marx in schools, many students have taken the lessons to heart, willing to come to the aid of the proletariat. They had their opportunity after a strike broke out in a Shenzhen factory, a strike which led to an arrest of workers in late August, the largest such arrest since 2015.

Factory workers at Jasic Technology, which exports welding machine parts to U.S. companies, had been demanding the right to form a union but the company rejected their efforts. Learning the news, students from leading universities around the country decide to join the fight and organized rallies, which only really made sense given their education.

5天了，我们的兄弟姐妹——岳昕、梦雨等左翼青年，尚杨雪、唐向伟等被取保候审的工友，小胡、吴大哥等声援团中的工友，冯歌、展振振等进步学生依旧下落不明！腐朽的反动势力进行暴力清场是要一条道走到黑的。我们不再心存幻想，张圣业已发布清场事件亲历书，吹响了重新战斗的号角！黑暗不散，斗争不息！ pic.twitter.com/AJYpfpQ7MT

— 岳昕 (@yuexinmutian) August 29, 2018

(In this tweet posted by members of the student movement, they reiterate their “solidarity with the workers,” refer to their arrested “brothers and sisters,” and call the authorities “reactionary forces.”)

In fact, the very symbols of their resistance were ripped from old communist icons:  they carried portraits of Mao, sung socialist anthems, and repeated old party slogans such as one in a petition that reads, “Our ancestors’ baton is firmly in our hands. Long live the working class!” Like early party activists, they spoke out against poverty, worker rights and gender equality. They also point to the nation’s constitution which dictates that the country is to be led by the working class.

However, despite this, authorities have been reacting more like it was 1989 and quickly moved to crush their efforts, detaining several dozen of the student activists and working to erase their presence online. However, the students appear to be undaunted, arguing that they are only doing what they were taught was right.

#jasic #北科大黑社会事件 #北京科技大学 #高校打压进步社团 #Beijing #marxism #PKU
【紧急快讯】这是北科现场发来的打人视频这些北科的黑社会推搡，抢夺，谩骂，打人，真是无所不用其极！这难道就是一个211高等院校的风采？ pic.twitter.com/CBHFo4gHyE

— 佳士声援团 (@jasicworkers) September 27, 2018

“What we are doing is entirely legal and reasonable,” said Chen Kexin, a senior at Renmin University in Beijing who took part in the protests. “We are Marxists. We praise socialism. We stand with workers. The authorities can’t target us.”

Ironically, it was President Xi Jinping who, most recently, implemented a policy to teach more Mao and Marx in schools. It would appear, as is characteristic of students in China, they took their lessons seriously.

施英：一周新闻聚焦：深圳佳士工运维权遭当局镇压，数十名工友和学生被抓https://t.co/htj5tDBCCd
持续数月的深圳佳士科技公司工人维权运动，因毛派势力介入，受到海内外人士关注，也令广东当局高度紧张，在互联网及微信群，相关文字及图片均遭屏蔽。 pic.twitter.com/4GTr7A831v

— Cai Chu (@caichu88) August 27, 2018

While this is shocking and unexpected it is not common for people to disappear in China. The nation has a standing reputation for kidnapping its own citizens for many reasons including alleged corruption or any kind of human rights collaboration against the government.

Citizens that have been abducted usually show up months later having been tried in court and prosecuted without representation if they even show up at all.

You read that right. Social media is lighting up with photos of inflatable penguins among exhibits of  geese, roosters and a tortoise in a tank sprinkled by money. And while the fake Happy Feet raised some smiles and a couple of laughs, some paying customers were not too happy.

The stunt got a mixed reaction on the popular social media site Sina Weibo. One user posted, “I can’t stop laughing. This is obviously deceiving the consumer. Don’t tell me the management were sleeping. This is making fun of our intelligence.” Another user posted it’s an “insult to our IQ.”

But the subject of animals is not always a laughing matter in China, as the country is known for having a dismal animal-rights record. And despite its title of having among the most censored media in the country, animal abuse is very well documented. Back In June 2017, video clips of zoo investors feeding a live donkey to tigers at a location in Changzhou city went viral on Chinese social media.

Footage of a bloodied endangered whale being dragged along the road by a pickup truck through the streets of China’s Xiapu County also went viral.

But on the bright side, China’s social media is also filled with stories like a cop’s retirement home for dogs. A video of that has been viewed millions of times.

As for the inflatable penguins, the odd attraction can be found in Yulin, Guangxi province.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang on Wednesday said, “We consistently oppose any country adopting unilateral sanctions based on its own domestic laws and regulations and the wrong method of exercising long-arm jurisdiction.”

Sanctions on 13 companies were triggered after U.S. President Donald Trump designated North Korea a state-sponsor of terrorism. Among the targeted companies was Dongyuan Industrial, which the U.S. Treasury Department said was working with front companies “for weapons of mass destruction-related North Korean organisations.”

Dongyuan was also sanctioned for exporting more than $28 million in goods including items linked to nuclear reactors to North Korea. The Treasury added that three companies alone had engaged in more than $750 million worth of business with the Hermit Kingdom, which involved computers, iron and coal.

Generally speaking, these new sanctions ban companies from using U.S.-linked bank accounts and they prevent foreign firms from doing business with such organizations.

The latest round of sanctions places a strain on what appeared to be a cooling of Sino-American relations. During President Trump’s recent visit to Asia, he urged his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and other leaders to take stronger efforts at curtailing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Trump even said Xi was working hard on that front. But China remains North Korea’s biggest trading partner, and some analysts believe Washington’s latest move on Chinese companies — even those with suspected ties to terror– may cause Beijing to step back.

“Trump will continue to use trade and investment issues to pressure China on North Korea,” says Shou Huisheng, a researcher with Tsinghua University’s National Strategy Institute, in an interview with the South China Morning Post. “It is a very easy-to-use tactic for Trump, which may help him address the North Korean issue, but at the cost of failing to solve the root causes of the US-China trade imbalance.”

Still, Trump’s latest efforts may ultimately set the stage for a massive internal blow to the North Korean regime, whether China is behind it or not.

The arrest opens the latest chapter in what activists are calling China’s “War on Law.” The BBC reports that more than 300 lawyers, legal assistants and activists have been questioned for their roles in anti-government activity and more than two dozen have been the subjects of formal investigations.

Amnesty International called Jiang’s trial a “Sham.” Speaking to Reuters from the United States, his wife Jin Bianling said she will not accept the verdict. She adds that she has not seen her husband since November 2016, when he disappeared while visiting the family of fellow rights lawyer Xi Yang.

In August, Jiang was put before state media during his trial when he read a confession which stated he had traveled overseas to receive training on dismantling China’s political system.

Before he was arrested, Jiang had a long clientele list of fellow rights lawyers, activists, Falun Gong supporters and Tibetan protesters. He was a vocal critic of the government’s suppression of descent, as well as its imprisonment of those seen by the ruling Communist Party as a threat to maintaining power and support.

China’s state-run media announced that Song Tao, head of Beijing’s International Liaison Department, will visit Pyongyang on Friday. According to the New China News Agency, Song will “inform” North Korean officials about the recent 19th party Congress, a major political conclave that saw Chinese President Xi Jinping assume another five years in power.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang during a regular briefing on Wednesday declined to comment on weather Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions will be on the agenda. However, he said Tao will “exchange views on major issues of common concern.”

China is the North’s biggest trading partner, covering 90% of the Hermit Kingdom’s trade volume. But in recent months, China has taken a tougher stance on the nuclear-weapons armed country. Recently, China announced it will coal exports from North Korea and cut ties with banks operating there.

President Trump on Sunday Tweeted  that Xi said he “is upping the sanctions” and working “very hard” to curtail North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Since February, the North has tested 15 missiles. Meanwhile, it’s leader Kim Jong Un has repeatedly threatened the U.S., raising fears that the country is bent on mounting nuclear warheads on missiles capable of striking the continental U.S.

China has also agreed to support the United Nations Security Council’s latest round of sanctions which could slash $1 billion from North Korea’s export revenue.

“The optimistic spin is that Donald Trump got through to the Chinese, and maybe the Chinese are taking this seriously — they’re going to send somebody to Pyongyang to talk about coming around on the nuclear program,” said Robert Kelly, associate professor in political science at South Korea’s Pusan National University, in an interview with The Los Angeles Times.  “But it’s probably more information sharing — the North Koreans want to know what’s going on.”

The new facility, expected to be in operation by 2020, is set to simulate flight speeds at 12 kilometers per second. A vessel traveling at such speed from China can reach the U.S. in 14 minutes.

The ground structure is meant to help scientists detect potential flaws and find solutions before actual test flights of new hypersonic vehicles commence.

“It will boost the engineering application of hyper-sonic technology, mostly in military sectors, by duplicating the environment of extreme hyper-sonic flights, so problems can be discovered and solved on the ground,” said Zhao Wei, a senior scientist working on the project, in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

Hyper-sonic speed is defined as traveling at least Mach 5 or five times the speed of sound. In March, China conducted seven successful test flights of its hyper-sonic glider WU-14, which travels at speeds between Mach 5 and Mach 10.

Currently, the title for most powerful wind tunnel stands with the United States. The LENX-X facility in Buffalo, New York, simulates speeds of up to 10 kilometers per second or Mach 30.

“China and the US have started a hyper-sonic race,” said Wu Dafang, professor at the school of aeronautic science and engineering at Beihang University in Beijing, in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

But they’re not the only ones with horses in the race. Russia, India and Australia have also tested early prototypes of the WU-14, which could be used to deliver nuclear-armed missiles.

Wu—who has helped develop hyper-sonic cruise missiles, a near space vehicle and other weapons under wraps for the People’s Liberation Army— says existing wind tunnels in mainland China have already helped solidify the success of its hypersonic weapons.

Organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Cantonese Opera Day is a government initiative meant to expand the art form for fans and newcomers. In fact, it has been inscribed onto the Unesco List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2009.

The free event will see performances of excerpts from Cantonese opera classics including “Purple Bamboo Forest” from “Merciless Sword Under Merciful Heaven” and “Saving Pei” from “The Reincarnation of a Beauty.” It will also feature talks on the stylised movements and postures adopted in Cantonese operas as well as on the singing styles and musical instruments used. Performing artists will include Lee Lung, Nam Fung, Sun Kim-long.

Hilvinn Wong Hai-wing tells the South China Morning Post that opera has been a part of her life from a very young age. Now at age 32, she will take the stage at the Cultural Centre this November 17th for a performance of “Kneeling by the Pond” – an excerpt from the Ming dynasty drama “Henpecked Husband.”

“My mother took me to see Cantonese opera performances at bamboo theatres when I was a child,” Hilvinn says. “Every time when there was a show, I wanted to go. We would eat snacks and we got to stay out late. But I had no idea what was happening on stage. I just thought it was beautiful and alluring.”

However, some artists say that childhood connection is stalling in modern Hong Kong society.

“As young artists, we must run an extra mile to promote the arts of Cantonese opera among the young generation,” she says.

Dennis Wan Chi-hung, 22, who will be taking part in the performance of “Merciless Sword Under Merciful Heaven” tells the paper that he was also exposed to the art form at a very young age. His father Wan Yuk-yu is also a Cantonese opera artist.

“But when I was in school, from kindergarten all the way to secondary school and university, there was little to no exposure to the art form,” Dennis says. “Students should be taught about the art form. Whether they like it or not, it’s up to them. But at least we will have a chance to have [a bigger] audience. Without an audience, we will not be able to survive.

According to the the Arts Development Council’s latest annual arts survey the audience for Chinese opera, including Cantonese opera programmes have dropped by 1.3 percent between 2015 and 2016 despite an increase in performances in that same period.

The Philippines, which hosted this year’s meetings, appears to be changing ties on the issue. “The South China Sea is better left untouched,” Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte told a business conference in Manila on Sunday. “Nobody can afford to go to war.”

Before Dutertre came to power, Maila was fiercely against China’s growing footprint in the region, where it has built and militarized artificial islands. Parts of the strategic waterway through which trillions of dollars in trade pass each year, are also contended by a number of countries including Vietnam and Malaysia.

However, Malaysia also appears to be edging closer to a pro-China stance as Beijing ignites economic influence throughout Southeast Asia in line with its Belt and Road initiative.

According to Philippine presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, United States President Donald Trump didn’t bring up the matter during the summit. Manila was Trump’s last stop on his tour throughout Asia. Trump has maintained that trade has been his main priority during his trip.

But even China is looking at calmer waters on the issue.

On Monday, the ASEAN-China summit concluded with nations agreeing to begin devising a code of conduct for the South China Sea in 2018 in order to ease tensions.

“We hope the talks on the code of conduct will bolster mutual understanding and trust,” Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told the summit, according to a transcript released by China’s foreign ministry on Tuesday.

China is known for fiercely shutting down its critics on the matter and for defending its claims to virtually the entire region. It even refused to respect a ruling by an international tribunal which de-legitimized China’s claims. That ruling, which had been led by The Philippines, was not brought up during the summit.

Recently, Trump has deployed NAVY warships into the South China Sea to defend freedom of navigation—a sight common during the Obama Administration. Those voyages were met with staunch criticism from China.

But Premier Li reportedly told his counterparts in Manila that China will assure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. China’s state-run news network Xinhua, even quoted Li as saying China wanted peace in the region  “more than any other country in the world.”

But not everyone is backing down without a fight. Vietnam continues to push for stronger territorial recognition in the South China Sea, which is one of the reasons China and other nations could not agree on whether the planned code of conduct should be legally binding.

President Trump has told Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang that he would be willing to act as mediator on the South China Sea issue if needed.