BOORSEE

HONG KONG — Housing is famously cramped in the Asian financial hub of Hong Kong, thanks to sky-high property prices, but a single toilet and kitchen shared by four families would make for a challenging home situation anywhere.

“It’s so small here; it’s really inconvenient to live in,” said retired 60-year-old Xiao Bo, as she sat on her bed, eating homemade dumplings off a folding table in a tiny space adorned with pink wallpaper and a rack of colorful tote bags.

Single and opting to give only her first name, she said she had nothing but “painful” memories of the partitioned, cluttered walk-up where she has lived for three years, but could not afford a better flat.

More than 200,000 people in Hong Kong live in sub-divided flats like hers, often cloaked in a musty odor and plagued by bedbugs during sweltering summers.

The former British colony, ranked as the world’s most unaffordable city for a 14th consecutive year by survey company Demographia, has one of the world’s highest rates of inequality.

In October, Hong Kong vowed to adopt new laws setting minimum space and safety norms for sub-divided flats, where each resident lives in an area of about 6 square meters on average, or half the size of the parking space for a sedan.

“We just want to regulate … so the market will be providing flats of what we think will be a reasonable and liveable standard,” its leader, John Lee, said at the time.

Hong Kong aims to eliminate subdivided flats by 2049, a target set in 2021 by China’s top official overseeing the city. Beijing sees the housing woes as a serious social problem that helped fuel mass anti-government protests in 2019.

Authorities plan to boost the supply of public housing to shorten waiting times from as much as 5-1/2 years now, saying they have identified more than enough land to build 308,000 public housing units in the next decade.

Hong Kong’s housing problem is the top agenda item for the government, the Housing Bureau said in a written response to Reuters, and it is “determined to eradicate sub-standard sub-divided units.”

Since July 2022, about 49,000 applicants have been housed in public rental housing, and around 18,400 units of transitional housing have been made available for immediate and short-term accommodation, the Bureau said.

Tiny homes

Still, Hong Kong’s roughly 110,000 sub-divided flats have become notorious for high rents, with a median floor rate of HK$50 ($6.43) per .3 meter, a survey by non-government body the Society for Community Organization (SoCO) showed in 2022.

For so-called “coffin” homes, each roughly the size of a single bed, the rate is even higher, at HK$140, exceeding a rate of about HK$35 for private homes.

“All I hope for is to quickly get into public housing,” said Wong Chi-kong, 76, who pays HK$2,900 ($370) for a space smaller than 5 square meters. His toilet sits right beside his bed and under the shower head.

“That’s all I ask for. Amen,” added Wong, who stores all his belongings on the other side of the bed to keep them from getting splashed whenever he takes a shower.

Wong, who uses a walking stick to get around while contending with deteriorating eyesight, spends most of his summer afternoons in a public library to escape the scorching heat trapped in his home.

Yet some may consider Xiao Bo and Wong to be among the more fortunate, as tens of thousands of so-called “coffin” homes fall outside the scope of the new laws.

These windowless spaces are still more cramped, but just big enough, at 1.4 square meters to 1.7 square meters, for people to sleep in and store a few personal items.

But lack of ventilation forces them to leave open the small sliding doors to their homes, denying them any vestiges of privacy.

They also share washrooms with up to 20 others.

“Because the beds are wooden, there are a lot of bedbugs here,” said 80-year-old Leung Kwong Kuen, adding, “Insecticide is useless,” in eradicating them.

Leung used to manage a factory in mainland China before the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s, but now, estranged from his wife and two grown-up children, lives in a “coffin” home in Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

“I believe in Buddhism; letting go, the past is the past,” he said. “The most important thing is I can still manage to have two meals and a place to sleep for now.”

The sub-divided flats and “coffin” homes are usually located in outdated residential buildings in old business areas, allowing affordable access to workplaces and schools.

‘Shame of Hong Kong’

About 1.4 million of Hong Kong’s population of about 7.5 million live in poverty, with the number of poor households rising to 619,000 in the first quarter of 2024, to account for about 22.7% of the total, says non-profit organization Oxfam.

SoCO called for the new regulations to extend to “coffin” homes.

“This kind of bed homes is the shame of Hong Kong,” said its deputy director, Sze Lai-shan.

The Housing Bureau said the Home Affairs Department takes strict enforcement actions against unlicensed bedspace apartments.

Sum, a 72-year-old bachelor, has lived in a “coffin” home for three years, paying HK$2,500 in monthly rent. A Chinese New Year poster on the door to his home reads “Peace and safety wherever you go.”

Personal items, such as a television on the platform where he sleeps, take up half of Sum’s living space. He was formerly homeless and slept under a street flyover for a year.

“The most important thing is having a roof over my head, not worrying about getting sunburnt or rained on,” said Sum, who gave only his last name.

Chan, 45, who pays rent of HK$2,100 a month for his 2-square-meter home, said he hoped public housing would finally enable him to escape the bedbugs.

“I applied in 2005,” he said, providing only one name. “I have been waiting for 19 years.” 
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WASHINGTON — Analysts say that rising anti-China sentiment in Myanmar reflects widespread frustration with Beijing’s perceived support for the country’s military junta in the conflict-torn Southeast Asian nation.

Since the Myanmar military seized power in February 2021, critics have accused Beijing of backing the junta to safeguard its Belt and Road Initiative projects and maintain regional stability.

Public distrust of China also stems from its long-standing ties with Myanmar’s military, according to analysts and activists.

“There’s a widespread perception that China is stalling progress in the anti-coup revolution,” said Lin Htet, a Myanmar activist who fled the country after the coup because of his outspoken opposition to the regime.

According to a survey by the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar, or ISP-Myanmar, released in mid-2024, 54% of key stakeholders in Myanmar held a negative view of China as a neighbor. That figure rose to 72% among civil society organizations, with respondents describing China as either “not good at all” or “not a good neighbor.” Similarly, 60% of ethnic armed organizations and 54% of the People’s Defense Forces, the armed wing of the National Unity Government, or local defense forces — formed after the 2021 coup to oppose the military regime — reported the same sentiment.

“Many believed China supported the military takeover at the time,” said Nan Lwin, head of the Myanmar China studies program at ISP-Myanmar, an independent think tank. “While those sentiments initially subsided by mid-2021, they resurfaced later as Beijing began high-level engagements with the regime.”

Htet Min Lwin, a Myanmar expert at York University in Toronto, Ontario, highlighted the growing anti-China sentiment in Myanmar since Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Naypyitaw in August, where he met with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.

“Historically, Myanmar’s political stakeholders have rarely been united,” Htet Min Lwin said. “Yet, during Wang Yi’s visit, all revolutionary forces opposed to the military regime expressed unanimous anti-China sentiment. From political leaders to analysts, many view China’s actions as interference.”

Protests, public sentiment

In recent months, anti-military activists have staged protests and boycotts of products to draw attention to Beijing’s perceived interference in Myanmar.

In November, there was a call to boycott products “Made in China.” 

Lin Htet recently organized a demonstration outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington. He said the protest was to call on China to stop meddling in Myanmar’s affairs and to change its policies while emphasizing a desire to remain good neighbors.

“This is not about racial hatred,” Lin Htet told VOA.

During the protest, he recalled two Burmese-born ethnic Chinese individuals, Kyal Sin and Khant Nyar Hein, who were killed during the early days of the anti-coup demonstrations in 2021.

“Our Chinese brothers and sisters gave their lives on the streets for democracy. We have not forgotten them to this day,” he said, citing Kyal Sin’s burial in a Chinese cemetery and quoting Khant Nyar Hein’s mother’s plea to “please don’t hate Chinese in Myanmar.”

Chinese Embassy responds

In a written reply to VOA, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar said, “The current situation in Myanmar is of great concern,” and it urged all relevant parties “to adhere to dialogue and consultation, and to cease fire as soon as possible.”

“China is Myanmar’s largest neighbor. No other country wants Myanmar to restore stability and realize development more than China,” the embassy said. “On the Myanmar issue, China is committed to respecting Myanmar’s sovereignty, independence, national unity and territorial integrity, non-interference in its internal affairs, and the Myanmar-owned and Myanmar-led peace process.”

“It is hoped that all relevant parties in Myanmar will effectively safeguard the safety of Chinese enterprises, projects and personnel in Myanmar, create a secure environment for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, and better benefit the people of both countries,” the statement said.

Call for diplomacy

According to ACLED data research, which specializes in conflict analysis, resentment among Myanmar’s local population is expected to grow in 2025 amid China’s increasing public support for the military. However, experts warn that alienating China could backfire.

“We can’t do anti-China sentiment. We can’t just demonize China. It is no longer the 15th century,” said Sai Kyi Zin Soe, a Myanmar analyst. “We’re neighbors, so we must maintain some diplomacy. We have to understand China’s concerns and their political stance.”

Htet Min Lwin also emphasized the need to engage with Beijing constructively.

“China’s influence can slow the Myanmar resistance’s revolutionary war [against the junta],” he said. “Rather than simply criticizing China, the opposition should engage its policymakers and clarify Myanmar’s situation. Lobbying is vital. If the advocacy approach is effective, the revolutionary forces can maintain their momentum.”

Michael Martin, a senior adviser at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the National Unity Government (NUG), Myanmar’s opposition, lacks a coherent strategy to engage China.

“They don’t have an idea how to work with China,” Martin said. “They talk about, you know, ‘Why won’t you recognize us as a state actor?’ That’s not going to go very far with China. China recognizes the SAC [the military’s State Administration Council] as the state actor. They can’t have two.”

A path forward

As Myanmar’s conflict grinds on, analysts stress the importance of balancing public dissatisfaction with pragmatic engagement.

“China’s strategy is to hedge its relations with multiple stakeholders in the country, whether it’s the SAC or the NUG,” Enze Han, an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong, said in an email to VOA.

For those seeking democracy, the challenge lies in finding a strategic approach that acknowledges China’s regional interests while advancing Myanmar’s aspirations for democracy and equality.

“We have absolutely no need to hate China or Chinese people,” Lin Htet said. “But if the Chinese government continues interfering in Myanmar’s affairs as it does now, it could face even more resistance, further alienating itself from the Burmese people.” 
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Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week stressed at a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party Discipline Inspection Commission that “the fight against corruption is always on the way.” A new group of officials has confessed to crimes. Their confessions were similar to those of past officials publicly brought down by internal probes. They also call into question how effective Xi’s decade-long anti-corruption push has been.

Click here to read the full story in Mandarin.
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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — In late 2021, the wife of then-presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol appeared exasperated by several journalists she insisted were treating her husband unfairly. In a leaked phone call with a left-leaning reporter, Kim Keon-hee vowed to have “all of them” jailed if her husband won the presidency. 

The comment drew little attention, overshadowed by the scandals and mudslinging typical of South Korea’s elections. In hindsight, analysts say it hinted at how Yoon, now impeached and under investigation over his short-lived declaration of martial law, would later approach his critics as president. 

After taking office in May 2022, Yoon pursued criminal defamation charges against journalists at an unprecedented pace, according to a VOA investigation. As his political fortunes declined, Yoon adopted increasingly adversarial rhetoric, often framing his opponents as existential threats in a zero-sum battle against “communists” and “anti-state forces.” 

In declaring martial law early last month, Yoon used similar language, citing the need to “eradicate pro-North Korean forces.” He later defended the move as a temporary measure to warn his opposition rivals, whom he accused of obstructing governance. Critics, however, viewed the declaration as an authoritarian overreach. 

The martial law decree, South Korea’s first since it emerged from military rule in the 1980s, put the Biden administration in an awkward position, having touted Yoon’s South Korea as a democratic model. 

In 2024, Yoon hosted the U.S.-led Summit for Democracy, an event aimed at countering global authoritarianism. Weeks later, he made headlines by singing “American Pie” at a White House state dinner alongside President Joe Biden — a moment highlighting the administration’s embrace of Yoon as a key ally. 

Part of that support stemmed from Yoon’s efforts to reconcile with Japan, which reinvigorated trilateral cooperation with the United States. The partnership became so central to Biden’s Asia policy that Washington seemed unwilling to confront mounting concerns about Yoon’s leadership, according to some analysts. 

“The senior Biden team was so over-invested in Yoon as the key to its signature trilateral initiative with Tokyo and Seoul that it seemingly ignored all the many warning signs over the last year-plus of Yoon’s authoritarian bent,” said Rob Rapson, a recently retired U.S. diplomat who held several senior positions in South Korea, including acting ambassador.  

During a visit to Seoul this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sidestepped questions about Yoon, instead praising South Korea’s democratic resilience. Blinken acknowledged “serious concerns” about Yoon’s actions, saying they were conveyed directly to Seoul. 

Alliance frictions 

After Yoon’s martial law decree, the United States temporarily paused key diplomatic and security talks with South Korea. Even though those engagements resumed by late December, some analysts say it may be premature to declare business as usual. 

One sensitive issue is the U.S. claim that it was not notified in advance about the martial law declaration — a move that could have impacted the approximately 28,000 U.S. troops in Korea and heightened risks for both countries. 

If no requirement exists for such notification, that may need to change, said Sheena Chestnut Greitens, an East Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  

“The U.S. has reasonable grounds to say that having that information in advance is necessary for effective deterrence and defense on the Korean Peninsula,” she said. 

Chestnut Greitens also warned that Yoon’s unilateral actions could weaken South Korea’s position with the incoming Trump administration, whose first-term policies raised fears of abandonment in Seoul. 

Donald Trump frequently questioned the value of the U.S.-South Korea alliance, once asking why the U.S. needs “all those troops” in South Korea. His direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un further alarmed some South Korean officials, who feared being sidelined in any Trump-Kim deal. 

“The incoming Trump team… could now cite this lack of consultation as precedent if it chooses to justify either a unilateral deal with Pyongyang or a reduction in U.S. commitment,” said Chestnut Greitens. 

Trump silent 

Trump, whose America First policy often prioritized perceived interests over the promotion of human rights, has not commented on Yoon’s martial law declaration.  

His approach toward South Korea is unlikely to change, suggested Alex Gray, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council and former chief of staff at the National Security Council under Trump. 

“I think [President Trump] will prioritize his conception of core American security and economic interests as he did in term one,” said Gray. 

It is unclear how Trump will respond to Yoon’s conservative supporters, some of whom have appealed to him by waving “Stop the Steal” protest signs reminiscent of Trump’s post-2020 election fraud claims. 

If Trump were to back Yoon or endorse baseless South Korean election fraud allegations, it could “seriously damage the image of the U.S. among a majority of the Korean population,” said Ben Engel, who teaches at Dankook University outside Seoul. 

“The idea that the ROK [Republic of Korea]-U.S. alliance was undergirded by the shared values of democracy and human rights would be significantly undermined and possibly lead to the alliance becoming a partisan issue in South Korea, where the alliance has had broad support since the early 2000s,” said Engel. 

Still, Trump may see little reason to support Yoon, who faces possible removal from office and insurrection charges.  

“Why hitch yourself to a sinking ship?” Engel asked.  

South Korea’s reaction 

There has been little backlash to the U.S. response, even from liberal South Koreans who have at times been more critical of Washington. 

Moon Chung-in, a foreign policy adviser to several left-leaning Korean administrations, noted that Biden officials have quietly opposed Yoon’s martial law declaration. 

“If Washington maintains its current approach, it can demonstrate that for the U.S., democracy matters,” Moon told VOA, though he acknowledged the United States had a “bad track record” of backing authoritarian regimes before South Korea’s democratization. 

While Trump is unlikely to prioritize human rights in South Korea, Moon said he believes the incoming president would not overrule figures in his administration, such as Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, who take a more values-driven approach to international relations. 

Regardless, some experts argue that such U.S. messaging no longer resonates in South Korea. 

Lee Sang-sin, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, suggested this may reflect declining perceptions of U.S. democracy.  

“It may be that people have moved past the old anxiety that South Korea’s democracy cannot survive without U.S. support,” he said. 

“The lingering shock of domestic turmoil,” Lee added, “has also left people too preoccupied to focus on U.S. messaging.” 

 
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