Figure 1 Huke, W. (2008, January 30). File: JuergenHabermas.jpg . WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JuergenHabermas.jpg Jürgen Habermas, a thinker who deeply shaped postwar European intellectual history and consistently defended and advocated for a more rational and civilized public world, has recently passed away. There is sadness in his passing. Even more heartbreaking is that the world he leaves behind seems to be drifting ever further away from th

Corruption is easy to condemn and hard to understand. In recent months, anti-corruption investigations and reforms have appeared in headlines from China to the United States, often framed as matters of financial stability, market confidence, and state credibility. Public discourse usually treats corruption as economically destructive. Indeed, corruption and bribery are condemned as sins, as Proverbs 29:4 declares: “By justice a king gives a country stability, but those who ar

This work examines the strategic expansion of Hutchison Whampoa (now CK Hutchison Holdings)—a Hong Kong-based conglomerate often viewed in Washington as a commercial proxy for the People’s Republic of China (PRC), or “the Dragon”—and how its port operations reshaped the geopolitical role of the Panama Canal from 1997 to 2026. The research is based on a long-term case study examining the controversial privatization of the Balboa and Cristobal ports, the associated legal benefi

Billie Eilish’s denunciation of ICE, distilled into a slogan-like line—“No one's is illegal on stolen land”—lands like a verdict. It stings because it ignites two emotional charges at once: shame and anger over colonial history, and anxiety and fear about border governance today. It names certain truths, yet it also smuggles in a leap of reasoning. If the conversation is to move from mutual condemnation to legitimacy, it must begin with a simple concession: moral intuition ca

The news cycle in Hong Kong at the end of November 2025 was dominated by a single event: the Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po. It took over 40 hours to extinguish, burning down several residential towers and claiming the lives of more than 150 people (Ho-him & Rising, 2025). The scale of the tragedy, combined with the government’s failure to prevent it, raised doubts about government regulation, contractor responsibility, the governance of public housing, and the shrinking space

The Tip of the Iceberg On February 23, 2024, a residency doctor ended her own life. Her name was Cao Liping . When I read about Cao...

Professor Zeynep Tufekci, a sociologist and public affairs scholar at Princeton University, remarked that the public's reaction should...

Introduction AI systems impact and shape the decisions of people worldwide in many aspects of life, from legal rulings and job...

The Forbidden Flourish November 23rd, 2024 09:00 China The gig economy , also known as the temporary worker economy , is a modern term...

By Yujia Wang In The Essentials Chuang Tzu , Big Goose Dummy is a wise sage figure who guides Cloud General through his troubles. In the...

By Yujia Wang Reflecting on the aftermath of personally experiencing sexual violence, Susan Brison argues that trauma fundamentally harms...

The Forbidden Flourish July 24, 2024 10:31 Shanghai "I died at the night after the college entrance exam ended" In June 2023, an...

by Zheng Jia Yi The Forbidden Flourish October 11, 2024 09:00 USA Introduction The Child Tax Credit was first introduced in 1997,...

Jimmy Ji The Forbidden Flourish June 25, 2024 10:01 Shanghai Introduction Taxation is a fundamental aspect of modern society; it is the...

Original Title: 拜登降不了美国政治的火 The Forbidden Flourish The following article is originally from FUTURE UTOPIAN Author Future Utopian FUTURE...