A battle over the definition of the political system

Originally published on Global Voices

Image by Global Voices on Canva Pro.

This story is part of Undertones, Global Voices’ Civic Media Observatory‘s newsletter. Subscribe to Undertones.

On May 2, 2025, Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) officially designated the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a “proven right-wing extremist organization.” The classification followed an internal report that concluded the party fosters anti-immigrant sentiment, racism, and Islamophobia and actively undermines Germany’s democratic order.

The BfV’s designation permits authorities to use tactics to watch the party and its members, including recruiting AfD members and those connected to the party as confidential informants, known as “trusted persons.” It also allows for telecommunications monitoring in specific situations.

Germany’s far-right AfD party launched a counteroffensive on May 5, 2025, challenging its designation as a right-wing extremist organization and accusing the BfV of violating the constitution by seeking to criminalize what the AfD argues were legitimate expressions of opinion and criticism of Germany’s immigration policy over the past decade. In a statement, the party co-chairs, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, said that with their lawsuit, they were “sending a clear signal against the abuse of state power to combat and exclude the opposition.”

After receiving the AfD’s lawsuit, the BfV followed a so-called “standstill commitment” (Stillhaltezusage), putting its official reclassification of the AfD as a right-wing extremist party on hold. The action, part of the due process of Germany, which gives the court time to conduct a proper review, was classified as a victory by the AfD.

The debate around the classification of AfD arose simultaneously with conservative leader Friedrich Merz, from the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), trying and barely securing the parliamentary vote to become Germany’s chancellor after an unprecedented failure in the first voting round.

Narrative: Germany is a tyranny in disguise

The people asserting this narrative frame, mostly AfD politicians and supporters, believe that the classification of the AfD as a right-wing extremist organization by the BfV is evidence of the decline of Germany's democracy.

Publicly, the AfD seeks to maintain a clear distinction between itself and Neo-Nazi organizations. Yet investigative reports showcase that the party retains relations with such organizations, and one of its current co-chairs, Alice Weidel, has been linked to Nazi heritage.

The BfV’s classification of AfD is not the first effort against the alleged unconstitutional activities of the AfD and its affiliates. Three years before, on March 22, the administrative court of Cologne had ruled that the BfV could apply such a classification. On May 13, 2024, the Münster administrative court confirmed the decision of the lower court in Cologne, permitting the BfV to classify the AfD as extremist and allowing the domestic intelligence service to keep monitoring the opposition party.

In December 2022, German police arrested 25 members of the Reichsbürger movement for plotting a monarchist coup. Among them was a former far-right AfD parliament member. Another ex-AfD lawmaker went on trial in January 2022 for inciting the overthrow of the state and participating in the 2020 protests against COVID-19 measures at the German parliament.

In January 2024, Correctiv, the nonprofit investigative journalism newsroom based in Essen and Berlin, shared an investigation on a meeting held in November 2023, where members of AfD met with a far-right network. The topics discussed at the meeting reveal a plan for forced deportations of millions of people currently living in Germany and address the issue of “ethnic vote” — foreigners who can vote and would likely support immigration-friendly parties. At the encounter, the participants also discussed an agenda to set a favorable climate, including propaganda tactics questioning elections and discrediting the constitutional court. One of the AfD attendees, Roland Hartwig, personal aide to party leader Alice Weidel, indicated the party board was willing to discuss the topics covered at the meeting.

In addition to significant voter approval, the AfD has the support of Elon Musk, who has called it a “centrist” party and has used X to promote party leader Alice Weidel, calling on Germans to forget Hitler and Nazi crimes.

How this narrative is shared online

Narrative: Germany’s democratic freedom protections are not unconditional

Those asserting this frame consider that under the basis of Germany’s commonly referred to in English as militant/defensive democracy doctrine (“Wehrhafte Demokratie” in German, also translated as resilient democracy), those who attack the fundamental democratic order must face resistance from the country’s institutions, as democracy must protect itself. They consider that the BfV's classification of the AfD as an extremist far-right organization is within the scope of action of Germany’s defensive democracy and, consequently, is coherent with the country's values.

Germany’s concept of resilient democracy emerged in response to the National Socialists’ efforts to undermine the Weimar Republic. The country’s legal framework gives the BfV the power to conduct efforts and analyze information about possible activities that oppose the democratic constitutional order, threaten the existence or security of Germany or its federal states, endanger Germany’s foreign interests through force or its preparation, or undermine international peace and understanding, especially peaceful relations between nations.

The German government has historically employed constitutional safeguards to limit the influence of parties that threaten democratic principles. In 2024, the far-right extremist National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), now known as Die Heimat, was excluded from state funding for six years. This measure followed prolonged efforts to sanction and ban the party due to its anti-constitutional activities.

How this narrative is asserted online

Robert Francis Prevost, Pope Leo XIV, is a US citizen by birth and Peruvian by naturalization

Originally published on Global Voices

The city of Chiclayo celebrates Pope Leo XIV. Screenshot from video “PERÚ: La CIUDAD de CHICLAYO CELEBRA al PAPA LEÓN XIV | RTVE Noticias” on the RTVE Noticias YouTube channel. Fair use.

On May 8, the people who gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican saw the long-awaited white smoke emerge from the Sistine Chapel, announcing to the world the election of a new Pope. After three unsuccessful ballots, the conclave had finally elected Pope Francis‘ successor. Pope Francis was Latin America's first pope, who served from 2013 to April 21, 2025, when he passed away.

The Augustinian bishop Robert Francis Prevost, one of the candidates to succeed Francis, was selected. He chose to name himself Pope Leo XIV.

Así fue el momento donde se mostró el #humoblanco al mundo para decir que hay un nuevo #papa. #LeónXIV nacido en Chicago, naturalizado peruano invitó en su primer discurso a la paz. pic.twitter.com/YP0vcUg00m

— La Otra Escucha (@laotraescucha) May 8, 2025

Pope Leo XIV, newly elected, looks out to greet the people present in St. Peter's Square. Photo: Wikimedia commons under CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

This was the moment where the #whitesmoke was shown to the world to say that there is a new #pope. #LeonXIV born in Chicago, naturalized Peruvian, spoke about peace in his first speech.

Pope Leo XIV surprised the world when he broke protocol and interrupted his speech in Italian, and in perfect Spanish said:

Quiero agradecer a todos aquellos, y de manera particular, a mi querida diócesis de Chiclayo en el Perú, donde un pueblo fiel ha acompañado a su obispo, ha compartido su fe, y ha dado tanto y tanto para seguir siendo iglesia fiel de Jesucristo.

I want to thank all those, and in particular, my dear diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their bishop, shared their faith, and have given so much to continue being a faithful church of Jesus Christ.

Peruvians were overjoyed by this spontaneous greeting, and in Chiclayo it was especially overwhelming.

Momento exacto cuando recibieron la noticia en el Seminario Mayor Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo en la Diócesis de Chiclayo donde fue obispo Mons. Robert Prevost, ahora el Papa León XIV pic.twitter.com/QI882X0g0J

— Jóvenes Unidos Perú (@JovenesUnidosP) May 10, 2025

Front pages of some Peruvian newspapers on Friday, May 9, 2025. Images available online. Composition by the author.

The precise moment when they received the news at the Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Major Seminary in the Diocese of Chiclayo where Bishop Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was bishop.

News came out immediately that the new pope was born in Chicago, but also has Peruvian nationality. Pope Leo XIV began his clerical career in his hometown, and then was sent to Peru, where he served for nearly 40 years in the northern cities of Piura, Chulucanas, Trujillo and Chiclayo, where he was appointed bishop by Pope Francis in 2015. In that same year, he obtained Peruvian nationality and is eligible to vote in the 2026 presidential elections.

This brief news report from Spanish TV shows the parishioners of the city of Chiclayo, who are “ abuzz” after the announcement of the new pope. In Chiclayo, they remember him as “very humble and close to the youth.” The video shows a restaurant where the now Pope often ate, and his favorite table, from which he could see the cathedral while eating the typical “frito de chancho,” a local recipe of pork rind.

Boris Potozén, a public service worker, was present the day then-Bishop Prevost received his Peruvian nationality. Potozén told Global Voices that he spoke briefly with him, and when he pointed out that he was from Chiclayo and a student at the San Agustín school, Prevost told him that “God was opening the way for him.”

People were quick to spread memes alluding to the dual nationality of Leo XIV on social media:

¡INTERNET NO PERDONA… NI AL PAPA!
Desde que fue elegido, #PapaLeónXIV se ha convertido en el protagonista de los mejores memes del momento #LeónXIV #PapaMeme #HumorCatólico #Vaticano2025 #SantidadViral pic.twitter.com/3SCmGrpszP

— Altavoz EC (@altavoz_ecu) May 9, 2025

THE INTERNET IS NOT FORGIVING… NOT EVEN FOR THE POPE!
Since he was elected, #PapaLeónXIV has become the protagonist of the best memes.

There was also a merchandise opportunity in the so-called “Gamarra empire,” a textile business in Lima well-known for its many clothing and textile stores in general, where, in less than 24 hours, Pope-related goods were on display in their windows:

La creatividad y agilidad de los peruanos para sacar merch del Papa . Ojalá que los comerciantes vendan mucho :). #Papa #Gamarra #Peru #Chiclayo #RobertPrevost pic.twitter.com/qXa7Ed7ltm

— Angela (@antiginny) May 9, 2025

The creativity and agility of the Peruvians to bring out merch about the Pope . I hope the retailers sell a lot :)

El Comercio, Peru's leading newspaper, asked readers who had photos with the pope to share them with the paper:

Si tienes fotos con el cardenal Robert Prevost, hoy papa León XIV, compártelas con El Comercio https://t.co/Be8zOkt5wP

— Martin Hidalgo (@martinhidalgo) May 9, 2025

If you have photos with Bishop Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, share them with El Comercio

And the Pope even expressed his wish to visit Chiclayo:

Periodista peruano, Gunter Rave, logró conversar hoy con el papa:

—Lo esperamos en Chiclayo.
—¡Ah, ojalá! pic.twitter.com/FZD1B8qQL4

— Gente de Chiclayo (@gentechiclayo) May 12, 2025

Peruvian journalist Gunter Rave managed to speak with the pope today:

—We are waiting for you in Chiclayo.
—Ah, hopefully!

This isn't the first time a Uyghur researcher or advocate has been denied entry to Kazakhstan

Originally published on Global Voices

Qordai border control point at the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border. Photo from the Border Service of Kazakhstan. Fair use.

A Danish anthropologist, Rune Steenberg, who researches Uyghurs, was denied entry to Kazakhstan on April 12. This took place at the Kazakh-Kyrgyz land border near Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek. Despite having visited Kazakhstan many times before, the Kazakh border guards informed Steenberg that he would not be permitted to enter the country.

“I asked about the reasons. They said there was no information. I think it has to do with my research on Xinjiang,” Steenberg said.

Steenberg has been researching various Uyghur communities around the world for many years, including in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in China, also known as East Turkestan. Uyghurs substitute an ethnic and religious minority in China and live mainly in XUAR. Since 2014, they have been subjected to mass detention at the so-called “reeducation camps”, intensive surveillance, forced labor, and other rights abuses in the name of Chinese authorities fight against extremism.

He is currently leading an EU-funded research project at Palacky University Olomouc and is a teaching resident fellow at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek.

Initially, he was an ordinary researcher who did not set out to participate in political debates. However, since the beginning of the unprecedented political repression of Muslim and Turkic ethnic groups in XUAR, such as Uyghurs and Kazakhs, in 2014, and the introduction of widespread censorship about it, it has become impossible to be an objective Uyghur anthropologist without publicly covering this problem.

Amid this repression, he became not just a field researcher but also a publicist, political commentator, and one of the few outspoken voices on the horrors that Uyghurs were facing in China.

Perhaps that is what displeased the Kazakh authorities, who turn a blind eye to the mass illegal detentions of Uyghurs and Kazakhs in China. For example, during the visit of the Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Xinjiang in October 2023, the issue of the rights of the Kazakh population of China was not publicly raised.

This isn't the first time a Uyghur advocate has been denied entry to Kazakhstan. In 2021, Yevgeny Bunin, the creator of the largest database of victims of Xinjiang prisons and camps called Shahit.biz, was denied entry to Kazakhstan due to his work.

This can be explained by the close political and economic ties between Kazakhstan and China, evidenced by their agreement on a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership. Additionally, China is Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner and a major investor, having invested over USD 25 billion in Kazakhstan between 2005 and 2023.

Photo of Rune Steenberg. Used with permission.

Global Voices spoke to Rune Steenberg over email about how exactly he learned about his ban on visiting Kazakhstan, and what it’s like to be a Uyghur anthropologist without physical access to the largest Uyghur communities. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Global Voices (GV): Tell us exactly how you found out that you were banned from entering Kazakhstan.

Rune Steenberg (RN): I was on my way from Bishkek to Almaty, crossing at the Qordai-Dostuk border crossing point in the early evening of April 12, 2025. I was going to Almaty to meet friends. I passed through the Kyrgyz border control without problems. I got my exit stamp and walked along to the Kazakh side where I waited in line with everyone else.

When it was my turn, the Kazakh officer scanned my passport, asked me to remove my glasses and khuffiya, and took a picture of me with a small hand-held webcam. Then he looked closer at his screen. He called his colleague over, they discussed and then he turned to me and told me I couldn’t enter.

I asked why that was. He said there was no further information, only that I was ‘blocked.’ So I walked back to the Kyrgyz side. Thankfully, they let me in, canceled my exit stamp, and let me walk back to the bus, which I took back to Bishkek.

GV: You are suggesting that you were banned for actively studying the massive political repression among Uyghurs and Kazakhs in China and speaking out about it in the media. But you've never publicly criticized Kazakhstan itself, have you? Is the rights of national minorities in a neighboring state such a taboo topic in Kazakhstan?

RS: I do not know why I am banned. Also, I do not know for how long. I was not given any information about this yet. I went to ask at the Kazakh embassy in Bishkek and the Danish honorary consulate in Bishkek. I emailed the Danish embassy in Moscow, which the honorary consul told me was responsible for the matters of Danish citizens in Kazakhstan.

I know that people have before been banned from Kazakhstan for writing about Uyghur issues and Xinjiang (such as Gene Bunin, Dilnur Reyhan, and a few others), but I’m not sure that is why I am banned. At the same time, I can’t imagine any other reason they would have done it. I have always respected the time limits of my stay and never violated any laws or regulations in Kazakhstan. So it’s just a qualified guess.

GV: You are an anthropologist who studies Uyghurs. Ironically, you are now barred from entering the two countries with the largest Uyghur populations in the world. What are your research plans now?

RS: There are many Uyghurs across the world in more than a hundred countries. Also, I have so much material already that it would probably be wise to take some years to process, analyze, and write about it rather than doing further research. I have hundreds of Uyghur books that can now no longer be found in China because they have been banned or removed and they too deserve analytical attention. They are very important.

So I won’t run out of material. Also, as I am currently leading a research project called Remote Ethnography of XUAR, I am constantly improving my methods for researching without having direct on-the-ground access. There is so much to find and so much to do even when you cannot go in person. Do check out our homepage for tips and inspiration.

Pope Francis’s stance on Israel’s war on Gaza as a symbol of hope

Originally published on Global Voices

Image edited by Global Voices. Pope Francis in the Vatican, n.d., Photo: Catholic Church (England and Wales)/Fotos Públicas.

This story is part of Undertones, Global Voices’ Civic Media Observatory‘s newsletter. Subscribe to Undertones.

The Holy See’s calls for peace in the Holy Land and Jerusalem have been recurring for decades now, aiming for coexistence and freedom of religion for Christians, Jews, and Muslims. On April 20, 1984, in the Apostolic Letter Redemptionis Anno, Pope John Paul II, recalling a sentiment already shared by Pope Paul VI after visiting the Holy Land and Jerusalem in 1964, stated that from his point of view, the “failure to find an adequate solution to the question of Jerusalem” compromised further the “longed-for peaceful and just settlement of the crisis of the whole Middle East.”

Under the 1993 Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel, when the two states established formal diplomatic relations, the Holy See and Israel committed to the “promotion of the peaceful resolution of conflicts among States and nations, excluding violence and terror from international life.”

In March 2000, in his jubilee pilgrimage to the Holy Land, in the speech he gave when visiting Palestine's autonomous territories governed by Chairman Yasser Arafat, Pope John Paul II noted that the Holy See “has always recognized that the Palestinian people have the natural right to a homeland, and the right to be able to live in peace and tranquillity with the other peoples of this area.” Yet it was not until 2015, under Pope Francis’s papacy, that the Holy See officially recognized the State of Palestine in a comprehensive agreement.

Narrative: Palestine lost a friend and an ally in Pope Francis

Pope Francis's active advocacy for justice in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict has resonated deeply with Palestinians and defenders of their rights, regardless of their religious affiliation. Those asserting this narrative frame consider Pope Francis a true friend and ally of the Palestinian cause and see his death as a significant loss for those advocating for a peaceful solution that recognizes Palestinians’ rights.

Since the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis has been a vocal advocate for the rights of Palestinians, not only recognizing the State of Palestine but repeatedly calling for a ceasefire after the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023 and the consecutive launch of Israel’s war on Gaza and until his final address.

In November 2023, after meeting with relatives of Israeli hostages and Palestinian families affected by the war, Pope Francis denounced the violence in Gaza as an act of terrorism, criticizing both sides of the conflict. A month later, in December, he reiterated this condemnation, again describing the war as terrorism, this time in response to an Israeli attack on Gaza’s Catholic parish.

In mid-November 2024, Pope Francis called for an investigation to assess whether Israel’s actions in Gaza constituted genocide, stating that there was a need to carefully determine whether they fit “into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.” To date, the cost of human lives from this conflict has been enormous and is still rising. Pope Francis was not the only one asking if Israel’s actions are genocide; the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and other international actors have said the same.  

Some groups within the Catholic Church view Pope Francis’s stance on Israel’s war on Gaza, where he actively advocated for justice in addition to peace, as conflicting with the principles that uphold the unique relationship between Judaism and Catholicism, with some academics claiming that his statement on the investigation of the genocide accusation against Israel crossed a line, “that of neutrality,” and that his remarks posed a “risk for Israel as a state and for Jews worldwide.”

How this narrative is asserted online

Read more on the reactions to Pope Francis’s passing

The drone attack against a humanitarian ship bound for Gaza near Malta is not the first.

Originally published on Global Voices

The front of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship shows severe structural damage after the reported drone attack. Image via Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the early hours of May 2, 2025, the humanitarian aid ship the Conscience, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was struck by drones in international waters near Malta. The attack caused significant damage, ignited a fire, and disabled the ship, which was traveling from Tunisia to Gaza to deliver essential supplies and protest Israel's siege. 

The group shared a statement on social media:

BREAKING: At 00:23 Maltese time, a #FreedomFlotilla ship was subjected to a drone attack. The front of the vessel was targeted twice, resulting in a fire and a breach in the hull. The ship is currently located in international waters near #Malta. An #SOS distress signal was sent. pic.twitter.com/J6oEQafuOb

— Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) May 2, 2025

The vessel, registered under the Palau flag, was en route to deliver food and medical supplies and bring 30 global peace activists including climate activist Greta Thunberg to Gaza. 

“This is just another example of how international law and human rights are being disregarded. This is an act of terrorism to attack a humanitarian mission like that,” Thunberg said on social media. The freedom flotilla also accused the Maltese authorities of blocking the volunteers from reaching the ship and preventing it from docking for repairs and treating four injured individuals.

“We are currently watching a live streamed genocide in Gaza, where 2 million people are being deliberately starved,” Thunberg added.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@gazafreedomflotilla)

Malta denied the accusations, stating the ship's crew refused to allow official inspection and assistance. Prime Minister Robert Abela said Malta is willing to facilitate repairs once the cargo is verified as solely humanitarian, stressing national security concerns.

Not the first time

The incident echoes previous Israeli attacks on Gaza-bound aid ships, including a fatal 2010 event when Israeli commandos intercepted the Mavi Marmara, killing nine people onboard and injuring many others, including one who later succumbed to his wounds. 

The ship was part of a flotilla transporting humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip. “It was a big story, more than 600 humanitarian activists, politicians, and doctors from 40 different nations had put together this fleet to deliver things like baby incubators and medicine to the people of Gaza,” one of the survivors recalls. 

The United Nations Fact-Finding Mission to investigate the attack found that six of the people who were killed were summarily executed. Autopsies revealed that five were shot in the head from distances between two and 15 cm. 

The attack on the Conscience was largely met with international and Arab silence. While Turkey condemned the incident, citing that its nationals were on board, and pledged to seek accountability, many other nations remained silent, including the European Union, despite the attack taking place on the borders of its international waters. 

Systematic starvation

As the Conscience was attacked, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsened reaching what the UN secretary general described as “appalling and apocalyptic.” UNICEF warned of starvation, reporting that “more than 9,000 children have been admitted for treatment of acute malnutrition since the beginning of the year.”

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said that “dozens of deaths have been reported from malnutrition or lack of medical care. The latest is a four-month-old infant, Jenan Saleh al-Skafi, who died of severe malnutrition at Al-Rantisi Hospital in western Gaza City.”

The organization called on states parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfil their obligation under Common Article 1 and “and act urgently to halt the genocide occurring in Gaza.”

By May 2, the Israeli blockade had led to the deaths of at least 57 Palestinians due to starvation, as thousands of trucks carrying vital supplies piled up at the border with Egypt. 

The attack on the Conscience, the continuous starvation, and the subsequent international silence and inaction underscore the growing accusations of failure of the international community to uphold international law and stop what has been described as “the worst campaign of systematic starvation in modern history.” 

Authors need creative freedom to tell China's story well

Originally published on Global Voices

Zhang Lijia. Photo used with permission.

There are about 50 million Chinese people living outside of China. Often reduced to a purely economic actor, this large diaspora is also active in media and culture, including literature, whether its members write in Chinese languages or in the languages of the countries where they now live.

To understand the nuances of such literature written outside of China, Global Voices spoke with Zhang Lijia (张丽佳),  a rocket factory worker-turned writer and social commentator who was born in China and now lives between London and Beijing. She is the author of a memoir, “Socialism Is Great!” and a novel, “Lotus,” which discusses prostitution in contemporary China. She is currently finishing a historical novel based on the life of China’s first feminist and revolutionary at the turn of the 20th Century, Qiu Jin, known as China’s Joan of Arc.

Filip Noubel (FN):  In which way is writing in a language that came much later in your life liberating? Is it a matter of (self)censored issues? Does it extend to style and experimentation with the very process of writing?

Zhang Lijia (ZLJ): As a Chinese writer who grew up in China, speaking only Chinese, writing in English has been unexpectedly liberating. Politically, it grants me freedom. Writing for an international audience allows me to bypass the constraints of China’s strict censorship, which has long stifled creative expression. In fact, I believe this censorship is one of the key reasons why China’s literary scene isn’t as vibrant or dynamic as it could be.

Creatively, writing in English offers a different kind of liberation. Because it is not my native tongue, I feel more comfortable experimenting with form, structure, and style. The unfamiliarity of the language opens doors to fresh perspectives and a certain boldness. My adopted language has enabled me to explore and articulate thoughts and emotions that might have felt constrained in Chinese. For example, in my memoir “Socialism Is Great!,” I wrote a sex scene that was far more explicit than it would have been had I written it in Chinese, where cultural and linguistic nuances might have demanded greater restraint.

Writing in English has, in many ways, become an avenue for both creative exploration and personal emancipation.

FN: Do you still write in Chinese? How do you experience the relationship between those two languages in your creative process?

ZLJ: I rarely write creatively in Chinese these days, though I occasionally contribute pieces to Chinese publications when invited. Chinese is such a rich and expressive language, full of cultural depth and historical resonance. When I do write in English, I like to deliberately weave in dated expressions and traditional idioms to give the prose a distinctive flair — almost as if breathing new life into forgotten phrases. It’s a way to make the language feel fresh and evocative while connecting with its deep roots.

In my creative process, English and Chinese serve different purposes. English is my primary medium for storytelling — it’s where I feel most liberated and experimental. Chinese, however, remains the language of my inner world, tied to my memories and identity. Writing in English sometimes feels like building a bridge between the two, translating not just words but experiences, emotions, and cultural contexts.

FN: There is a lot of talk about global Sinophone literature that transcends geographic and language barriers (you, but also Xiaolu Guo, Ha Jin, Dan Sijie, Yan Geling): do you agree there is such a type of literature? If so, what defines it?

ZLJ: Yes, I believe global Sinophone literature is a valid and vibrant category. I think it refers to literary works written in Sinitic languages (such as Mandarin or Hokkien) or by authors of Chinese descent, often living outside mainland China. These works engage with a diverse array of themes and contexts, reflecting the complex interplay of language, identity, and geopolitics within the global Chinese diaspora.

What defines this literature is its multiplicity — it is not confined to one geography, style, or perspective. Instead, it captures the lived realities of Chinese communities across the world, often exploring themes like migration, displacement, identity, and cultural hybridity. It challenges the notion of a singular ‘Chinese literature’ by emphasizing the plurality of Chinese voices.

In an age of globalization, I welcome the recognition of Sinophone literature as part of the broader landscape of world literature. It offers an opportunity to deepen our understanding of how Chinese culture functions beyond national borders and encourages dialogue about postcolonialism and global interconnectedness.

On a related note, Xi Jinping’s ‘Tell China’s Story Well’ campaign aims to project a favorable image of China through soft power and international storytelling. While the idea is sound, its success hinges on allowing Chinese writers the freedom to express themselves authentically. Currently, the controls are too stringent for writers to truly ‘tell China’s story well.’ Without creative freedom, this vision remains unattainable. I write about this is an article, ‘Tell China’s Story Well: Its Writers Must Be Free Enough to Do So.’

FN: Who are the Chinese authors who have most influenced you? What about the non-Chinese?

ZLJ: Among Chinese authors, Cao Xueqin, the author of ‘The Dream of the Red Chamber,’ has had a profound influence on me. His intricate portrayal of familial and social dynamics, set against the backdrop of a crumbling aristocratic world, is unmatched in its emotional depth and literary craft. Another major influence is Lu Xun, whose sharp, incisive observations of Chinese society reveal an unparalleled understanding of the Chinese psyche.

Among non-Chinese writers, Tolstoy stands out. His sweeping narratives, set against vast social and historical backdrops, are deeply immersive, yet he never loses sight of the intimate details that make his characters so human.

I also greatly admire Arundhati Roy, especially her novel ‘The God of Small Things.’ Its lyrical prose, rich imagery, and poignant exploration of social and personal struggles deeply resonated with me and have inspired my own storytelling.

The Philippines has the largest Catholic population in Asia

Originally published on Global Voices

Despite a raging typhoon, Pope Francis visited Tacloban City to meet with disaster victims in January 2015. Photo by Benhur Arcayan / Malacanang Photo Bureau. Source: Wikimedia Commons.  Public Domain.

Filipinos are mourning the death of Pope Francis, who died on April 21, at the age of 88, in the Vatican. Pope Francis was from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was renowned for bringing progressive change to the Catholic church, advocating for peace and environmental protections, promoting interfaith dialogue, speaking out against capitalism and war, and for being a champion for the poor.

He was also the first pontiff from outside Europe in centuries and often used his platform to embrace and advocate for Catholics from the Global South.

Almost 80 percent of the Philippines’ 108 million population is Catholic.

During Pope Francis’ pastoral trip to the Philippines in 2015, he met not just church and government leaders but also street children, students, and urban poor dwellers. He even visited Tacloban City, which was heavily battered by a super typhoon, to express solidarity with disaster victims.

The Philippine government declared a period of mourning until the burial of the pope on April 26. Catholic bishops, Christian formations, and even the Bangsamoro autonomous region in the Muslim-dominated region in the southern part of the country paid tribute to the legacy of the pope.

Cardinal Orlando Quevedo from the Archdiocese of Cotabato recalled that Pope Francis was consistent in his advocacy to bring the church closer to the poor even before he became the pope in 2013.

His interventions at our Council discussions were usually about bringing the Gospel to the people in the peripheries, the poor and the needy. Go to the periphery was his clarion call to the Church and her pastors. He himself was from the peripheries, not from Rome but from far away Argentina.

Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David, the head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), wrote that the pope once paid homage to migrant Filipinos.

…with his characteristic wit and warmth, he once called our Overseas Filipino migrant workers ‘contrabandistas de la fe’ — smugglers of the faith —reminding us that the witness of simple, faithful lives can cross borders and touch hearts where formal missionaries cannot go.

Cardinal Jose Cardinal Advincula, the archbishop of Manila, praised the pope who braved a raging storm to meet with the Catholic faithful in 2015.

We will always remember his visit to our country in 2015 — a moment of grace forever etched in our national memory. Under the rain in Tacloban, standing with the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda, Pope Francis showed us what it means to suffer with others and find hope in the midst of pain.

‘LOLO KIKO IN THE HEARTS OF FILIPINOS’

Back in 2015, Pope Francis stood with unwavering faith and hope as he journeyed from Manila to Tacloban. His progressive stance and compassionate service have left a lasting mark on the hearts of Filipinos.

Now, with his passing, we… pic.twitter.com/sQggVkupIW

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) April 21, 2025

The post above mentions “Lolo Kiko,” which means “Grandfather Francis” in the Filipino language.

A Catholic university in Manila installed an exhibition that featured memorabilia from the pope’s visit in 2015.

LOOK: UST pays tribute to Pope Francis with an exhibit featuring memorabilia from his visit to the University in January 2015.

Among the items on display at the Main Building are the Papal Chair, signed UST guestbook, and the ID worn by the late pontiff.

(Photos by Djenhard… pic.twitter.com/l1MSTDbfmA

— The Varsitarian (@varsitarianust) April 22, 2025

Aside from church leaders, various sectors also recognized the legacy of Pope Francis. Rise Up for Life and for Rights, whose members are relatives of anti-drug war victims, acknowledged the solidarity of the Catholic clergy.

When our loved ones were killed under the drug war policy, some Church leaders stood with us, when almost everyone else scattered… We know that Pope Francis encouraged and nurtured this solidarity with us, even though it resulted in bishops and other Church people being berated and threatened.

Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment explained the historic importance of the pope’s decision to visit the “ground zero” of the super typhoon that hit the Philippines in 2015.

For the Filipino people, Pope Francis’s solidarity was not just in words but in militant action. His 2015 visit to the Philippines, especially to the storm-ravaged communities of Tacloban and Eastern Visayas after Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), was a direct rebuke to those who abandoned the survivors and profited from disaster. In the midst of another storm, Pope Francis stood with the people in the rain, declaring, ‘I will walk with you all with my heart’ He condemned the ‘scandalous social inequalities’ and the corruption that intensified the suffering of the poor. His presence was a rallying cry for justice, accountability, and resistance against those who treat our lives and our land as expendable.

Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, the highest-ranking Filipino in the Vatican Curia, is reportedly among the names being considered as the next pope, but the CBCP discouraged the public from speculating about this matter.

The Apostolic Nunciature in Manila has announced that books of condolence will be opened on April 29 to allow the public to express condolences and share their memories about the late pontiff.

Hong Kong exile journalists and political dissidents are often targeted

Originally published on Global Voices

Image created with Canva Pro by Oiwan Lam.

The crackdown on press freedom since the enactment of the National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong in 2020 has led to an exodus of hundreds of media workers. Many have established independent media outlets overseas to report on politically sensitive news and connect the scattered diaspora communities. While these exile media outlets have the freedom to amplify critical voices, they are still threatened by transnational political harassment.

Exodus of Hong Kong media workers

One year after Beijing imposed the NSL in Hong Kong on June 30, 2020, pro-democracy Apple Daily and Stand News were alleged to have committed the offence of foreign collusion and sedition and forced into shutdown. More than a dozen independent media outlets announced their closure.  

According to a 2023 survey, “Journalists in Exile – A Survey of Media Workers in the Hong Kong Diaspora,” conducted by the Association of Overseas Hong Kong Media Professionals, hundreds of Hong Kong journalists and media workers have left the city since 2020. Largely due to language barriers in their new homes, two-thirds of the exiled journalists left the media industry altogether. 

Those who continue working in the media field tend to have a strong commitment to filling the gap in heavily restricted information flows in Hong Kong under the national security regime, which has criminalised political criticisms as “inciting subversion” under the NSL or “sedition” under the domestic Article 23 security law. Among the journalist diaspora, more than half settled in local media outlets, and some re-established their careers in online media outlets founded and funded by the Hong Kong diaspora.

Many of these exiled media outlets operate on social media platforms, publishing political commentaries that are likely to be flagged as seditious in Hong Kong, as they are critical of both the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese governments. A number of them have adopted the independent media organisational model, reporting sensitive news that is suppressed in Hong Kong due to political and self-censorship practices. 

Although the journalist diaspora can enjoy free press away from Hong Kong, their journalistic work is not risk-free, as overseas media outlets and outspoken journalists are also targets of China’s transnational repression. 

Currently, among the 19 people wanted for national security cases related to secession and subversion, several are engaged in media-related work, including political news columnist Chung Kim-wah and veteran journalist Victor Ho Leung-mau. Due to their political work, their families in Hong Kong are now at risk of being dragged into police investigations.

Last month, the city's Security Secretary, Chris Tang, again accused Chung Kim-wah and news YouTuber Stephen Shiu Yeuk-yuen of inciting “soft resistance” in their commentaries. 

However, despite the ongoing political harassment, the Hong Kong journalist diaspora continues to commit to their duty of amplifying suppressed voices. Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, Global Voices is showcasing three overseas Hong Kong independent media outlets to help our readers better understand the resilience of the journalist diaspora in their struggle for press freedom.

The Chaser News (追新聞)

The Chaser News is a Chinese news outlet founded in March 2022 by several Hong Kong exiled journalists based in the UK. It addresses the context of its establishment on its website:

今日的香港，當記者被成為「罪犯」，報道新聞會觸犯國安法「重罪」，傳媒要履行第四權的天職，變得越來越危險。記者報道時擔心被亂扣「假新聞」的帽子，評論當權者的施政更隨時面臨惡法清算。

In today's Hong Kong, journalists have been turned into ‘criminals’ because journalism has become a ‘felony’ under the National Security Law. It has become increasingly dangerous for the media to fulfil their vocation as the fourth estate. Journalists are worried that their news stories will be labelled as ‘fake news,’ and commenting on the ruling class will result in retaliation by the draconian law.

And outlines its missions:

《追新聞》有三大目標，包括維護新聞自由、捍衞民主人權、維繫全球港人。我們會為香港人提供最真實、不設紅線、不會經官方審查的深度報道.

The Chaser News has three missions: upholding press freedom, defending democracy and human rights, and connecting Hongkongers worldwide. We will provide Hong Kong people with the most truthful and in-depth reports, without any red lines or government censorship. 

In addition to following Hong Kong-related news, the independent news site also reports on the UK’s policy toward Hong Kong and China, conducts interviews with overseas Hongkongers, and runs regular commentaries about Hong Kong and Chinese politics produced by overseas dissidents, such as Chung Kim-wah. 

However, most editors and journalists working for the news site have remained anonymous. It has 10,000 followers on Facebook and 107,000 on YouTube.

Green Bean Media (綠豆）

Green Bean Media is also a Chinese news outlet based in the UK. It was founded in July 2022 by a group of former journalists from Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), the city's public broadcaster, which has been transformed into a mouthpiece of the Hong Kong government following rounds of management restructuring, program reviews, and staff reprimands.

The mission of the independent media is embedded in its name:

取名《綠豆》，寓意即使大樹倒下，甚或被連根拔起，但種子仍會散落四周；只要有水和空氣，繼續拼命呼吸，種子就會再萌芽，茁壯成長。…我們希望透過影像、聲音、圖文等不同媒介，為這個流散的年代作一點記錄，讓身處世界不同角落的香港人，能夠看見彼此。

‘Green Bean’ is a parable that tells the story of how even if a tree falls or is uprooted, the seeds will still be scattered all around. As long as there is water and air, they will strive to breathe, sprout, and grow strong. We hope that through different forms — video, sound, image, and text — we can create a record of this diasporic era, so that Hongkongers can see each other, regardless of their whereabouts in the world. 

The independent media outlet not only covers news from Hong Kong but also addresses concerns of diaspora communities. It currently has 300,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Poton Media (光傳媒)

Poton Media was established in April 2023 by a group of former Apple Daily and Stand News journalists based in Taiwan. Its advisory team is composed of veteran journalists, including Mark Clifford, Ching Cheong, Stephen Vines, Lousia Lim, and Josh Rogin. 

Both Apple Daily and Stand News were forced to shut down in 2021. Seven Apple Daily’s senior staffers were charged with foreign collusion under National Security, and two from Stand News were convicted of sedition under the criminal ordinance. 

In an interview with Jeremy Goldkorn from the China Project in 2023, the co-founder and chief editor of the Taiwan-based independent news outlet, Shirley Leung, explained that the news platform would focus on political news and development in Hong Kong, but it has to source news from Hong Kong government, locally based and international media outlets as their news sources as they don’t have any reporters based in the city due to security concerns. The uniqueness of the new site relies on its news commentaries, which are written by overseas experts from a critical perspective. About 80 percent of the news outlet’s readers reside in Hong Kong, according to Leung.

Other Hong Kong exile media outlets, such as Points (棱角) and the Commons (同文), operate in a model similar to Poton Media, aggregating news from various sources and running commentaries critical of the Hong Kong and Chinese governments. 

Sustainability challenge

While exile media outlets may be successful in amplifying critical opinions, transnational repression, namely, the increasing targeting of overseas political dissidents and the extended political harassment of friends and family members of the “fugitives” and exiles, has, to a certain extent, successfully silenced critical voices from diaspora communities.

Meanwhile, as the city’s press freedom continues to be undermined by political harassment and self-censorship, more and more Hongkongers have avoided reading news altogether. A 2023 communication survey indicated that 4 in 10 Cantonese-speaking adults in Hong Kong said they sometimes want to avoid news about the changing social and political environment in Hong Kong. The trend is likely to affect the financial sustainability of these overseas media outlets, which rely on readers’ donations and subscriptions for their survival. 

Last month, Flow HK, an overseas HK media outlet founded by prominent exiled activists including Ray Wong, Sunny Cheung, Alex Chow, Glacier Kwong, and Nathan Law, announced that it was scheduled to shut down in July due to a lack of financial and human resources. The activist media was blocked from accessing the internet in Hong Kong in October last year, as the city’s national security police authorities alleged the outlet of incitement to subversion, a serious offence under the NSL. 

Leaders around the world question one of democracy's core institutions

Originally published on Global Voices

Illustration by Global Voices

This story is part of Undertones, Global Voices’ Civic Media Observatory‘s newsletter. Subscribe to Undertones.

In 2015, United Nations (UN) leaders, as part of their agreement under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, committed to a world in which “democracy, good governance and the rule of law, as well as an enabling environment at the national and international levels, are essential for sustainable development, including sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development, environmental protection and the eradication of poverty and hunger.” The 2030 Agenda reiterated the pledges already made during the 2005 World Summit and outlined in the Millennium Declaration.

Today, a decade after the launch of the UN’s 2030 Agenda, the goals set forth still appear far from being achieved. But what is preventing countries from moving faster? The list of factors is endless. Yet, the global rise of populism, a political approach that is “invariably divisive,” “thrives on conspiracy,” and “criminalizes all opposition,” seems to be one of the key variables undermining the pluralistic aspect of good governance and democracies.

As academic Kenneth M. Roberts explains in “Government and Opposition,” a journal published by the University of Cambridge, “polarization may be the most consistent effect of populism,” as it constructs “an anti-establishment political frontier, politicizes new policy or issue dimensions, and challenges democracy’s institutional and procedural norms.”

The principles of “separation of powers” and “judicial independence” are recognized by the United Nations as essential elements of a democratic system — a part of the “institutional and procedural norms” that Roberts describes as a target of populism.

Narrative: Members of the judiciary are operating as activists

This narrative frame is supported by the belief that judges and sometimes the whole judicial branch issue rulings and act in favor of a specific political party or side of the political spectrum.

The politicians and public personalities advancing this narrative frame portray themselves as champions of democracy, positioning their critique of the judiciary as a step toward building a more just democratic system in their nations. Yet, they fail to acknowledge that the criteria behind the decisions of the judicial branch should be the country’s law, as its crucial role is to resolve disputes by applying the rule of law, which does not always align with their interests. 

During the 2024 US presidential campaign, candidate Donald Trump and his allies portrayed the criminal investigations against him for actions in his first term as president as a deliberate effort to undermine his credibility, accusing his opponents of political persecution. Similarly, after assuming office, President Trump has repeatedly questioned, and at times ignored, the rulings of judges who issued orders blocking policies he sought to implement that did not always align with the country's legal framework.

More recently, on March 31, 2025, Marine Le Pen, France's leading far-right politician, was found guilty of embezzling funds from the European Parliament. The court imposed a four-year prison sentence and prohibited her from holding any public office for five years, effectively disqualifying her from the 2027 presidential race, where she had been viewed as a top contender. Le Pen and her supporters argue that the ruling is an effort to undermine her presidential candidacy, framing it as part of a political “witch hunt” to disrupt the upcoming elections.

Read how this narrative is also shared in Italy, Brazil, and Spain

We delve into two narratives reporting on those presumably green-lighting Turkish President Erdoğan's authoritarian escalation.

Originally published on Global Voices

Image edited by Global Voices. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan n.d., Photo: Fotos Públicas. Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels April 03, Photo: ucrania@vonderleyen/Fotos Públicas. Elon Musk in Washington, D.C January 12, Photo: RS/Fotos Públicas. Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. April 09, Photo: Daniel Torok/White.

This story is part of Undertones, Global Voices’ Civic Media Observatory‘s newsletter. Subscribe to Undertones.

On March 19, 2025, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained along with around 105 other municipal officials and politicians on the alleged crimes of corruption and aiding a terrorist organisation, in what Human Rights Watch has called an attempt to suppress legitimate political engagement. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office decision came just days before İmamoğlu was expected to win the primary election of Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, CHP), to run against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the next presidential elections to be held no later than May 7, 2028.

President Erdoğan's representatives promptly tried to clarify that the criminal investigations against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu were not politically motivated, claiming effective rule of law. Hours after the arrest, Turkey's Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc made a press statement about the actions of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, where he said that “the rule of law is essential” and that “attempting to associate judicial investigations and cases with our president is, to say the least, an act of audacity and irresponsibility.”

On the day of the detention of the Istanbul mayor, massive protests erupted, with demonstrators gathering in the streets, on university campuses, and even in subway stations, loudly voicing anti-government slogans — an expression of public outrage not witnessed in recent years. Since then, the protestors have taken to the streets not only to object to the mayor's arrests but to voice their concerns about the erosion of rights and freedoms in Turkey, as well as the ongoing economic crisis. The security forces have responded to the rallies using teargas, water cannons, and pepper spray — all classified by Human Rights Watch as “unwarranted and unlawful use of police force,” — and detaining hundreds.

Turkey's government's latest authoritarian move is being perceived by many as a significant escalation of the already questionable autocratic practices carried out by President Erdoğan.

Narrative: Erdoğan’s totalitarian pivot is emboldened by Trump and tolerated by the EU

People who communicate this narrative frame consider that President Erdoğan's move to arrest Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was made possible by the return of Donald Trump to power in the United States and by the erosion of European values underlying the European Union's “pragmatic” cooperation with President Erdoğan. Those asserting it see the strong return of Donald Trump, swamped with authoritarian patterns, as an indirect factor that gives further confidence to authoritarian leaders to maintain their practices. 

Turkey's relationship with the United States is partly shaped by their mutual interest in “Syria's stability.” Syria's uncertain future, after the collapse of the country's once ruthless and seemingly unshakable regime, has drawn intense interest from Israel, Turkey, and the United States — each viewing the power vacuum as a chance to further their specific regional ambitions. Additionally, Erdoğan has positioned himself as a key ally in Trump's attempts to broker peace in the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

Turkey's relationship with the European Union is marked by stalled negotiations around Turkey's possibility of joining the supranational political and economic union and a controversial yet “technically effective” migration agreement signed in 2016.

The 2016 EU–Turkey migration deal, created in response to the 2015 refugee crisis, has become a significant leverage point. This agreement aims to reduce the flow of migrants into Europe, mainly via Greece, by proposing that “for every Syrian being returned to Turkey from Greek islands, another Syrian will be resettled from Turkey to the EU taking into account the UN Vulnerability Criteria.” However, humanitarian and human rights groups like MSF and Amnesty International have opposed the deal since its inception, arguing that it prioritizes stopping migration over protecting human lives. 

Turkey also holds a vital position in the global grain trade as a key transit hub. It serves as a pivotal gateway for grain movement between Europe and Asia, allowing the country to help secure the export of essential food supplies through the Black Sea from Ukraine to the rest of the world. Likewise, Turkey is rapidly becoming a vital potential partner in reshaping European security, diplomats and analysts say, as Europe seeks to reinforce its defense capabilities and secure guarantees for Ukraine in the face of a potential ceasefire agreement encouraged by the United States.

Narrative: Elon Musk is supporting totalitarianism in Turkey by censoring opposition accounts on X

Elon Musk’s 2022 acquisition of Twitter (now called X), initially framed as promoting free speech, led to significant user migration and controversy. His policies and promotion of divisive narratives increased polarization and disinformation, and despite his stated intentions, he later enforced speech restrictions on the platform.

X's censorship practices didn't start with Musk's acquisition. Turkey became the platform's leading censorship country in the world after the Gezi Park protests between May and August 2013. During those months, the platform played a historic role and was used to expose government corruption, to the extent that Erdoğan vowed to eradicate the platform in the following year.

In 2023, Elon Musk faced criticism for restricting content before Turkey's elections. Later that year, Turkey imposed an ad ban on X, which was lifted in May 2024 after the company met local requirements by setting up an office and appointing a representative.

Musk's business dealings with the Turkish government may have played a role in his acquiescence to their demands — in September 2021, his other company SpaceX signed a deal to launch Turkey's first domestically produced satellite. In September 2023, President Erdoğan invited Musk to open a Tesla factory.

In March 2025, amid protests after the detention of the Istanbul mayor, the platform suspended multiple accounts of opposition figures in Turkey.

We examine two key narratives shaping the debate around what many consider “men's and women's roles in society.”

Originally published on Global Voices

Illustration by Global Voices

This story is part of Undertones, Global Voices’ Civic Media Observatory‘s newsletter. Subscribe to Undertones.

Last month, Netflix launched Adolescence, a four-episode series on cyberbullying and the influence of social media narratives on boys, which has become a call to action for parents and policymakers and has opened up the conversation around toxic masculinity and the manosphere. Yet, toxic masculinity is far from being a new phenomenon — misogyny, LGBTQ+ phobia, and other consequences of hegemonic violent masculinity have been around for a long time.

In Hungary, Viktor Orbán government's anti-migration narratives seek to define the country's “masculine” national identity in opposition to the “feminized” Western international sphere, using competing claims of sovereignty to reinforce this distinction, fortifying the tie between masculinity and power. Éva Fodor links anti-migration and anti-gender policies in her book, The Gender Regime of Anti-Liberal Hungary, where she explains that, in the fight against the European Union migration quota, the Hungarian government has framed the European Union as a “pro-gender enemy of the Hungarian nation.”

In Russia, since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, government propaganda has linked masculinity with the war in an attempt to recruit new soldiers. As we have mapped in previous research, the Russian government has presented joining the army as the best way to showcase patriotism and virility, which has fed the cycle of violence against women in Ukraine and Russia.

The hype around toxic masculine behavior has also permeated the leadership of Western countries. US President Donald Trump's current anti-diversity speech and policies are directly linked to the promotion of masculinity, with members of the administration and even the president correlating leadership inefficiency and weakness with women. 

The notion of strength behind the concept of masculinity has also reached social media platform executives, with Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg tying the company's policy changes with the need for more “masculine energy” and stating that “having a culture that celebrates the aggression a bit more has its own merits that are really positive.’

Narrative: “Women should know their role and abide by it. If they don't, they should deal with the consequences”

According to the people asserting this narrative frame, women who don't adhere to the roles imposed on them by traditional patriarchy as child-bearers, child-rearers, and home caterers should face the consequences.

The reasoning behind this idea upholds a gender-based hierarchy that impacts personal lives, careers, family roles, and broader societal structures, positioning both cis and trans women as subordinate to men.

The reinforcement of traditional gender roles for women in Western societies is often driven by a nostalgic glorification of “old masculinity” — an idea promoted as a response to the perceived emasculating effects of “woke culture.”

Narrative: “Women share a part in the demographic crisis and should assume their role in bearing children”

The proponents of this narrative frame affirm that women hold the responsibility to improve the natality rates because of their biological features. From their point of view, there is a direct tie between nationalism and gender roles. As Annabelle Chapman explains eloquently in her essay “Where gender meets nationalism,” “If, from nationalists’ perspective, men's role is to protect the nation, then women's role is to perpetuate it,” which naturally becomes a reason to pressure women into having children.

Demographic crises in places like the European Union have presented an opportunity for conservative leaders to promote this narrative. In Italy, for example, right-wing government leader Georgia Meloni has exploited what they call a “demographic winter” as the country's births reach an all-time low, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT).

This rhetoric regards the decision to have children through the lens of national survival rather than prioritizing women's rights, personal choices, and aspirations.

News from the Civic Media Observatory

We are excited to share that Undertones will resume weekly with stories on narratives catching the eye of our editorial and research team. If you haven’t already, subscribe.

Protesters fear that the mega-embassy would serve as a tool for transnational repression

Originally published on Global Voices

A mobilization poster for the March 15, 2025, protest outside the Old Royal Mint Complex in London. Via X user @benedictrogers. Used with permission.

More than 6,000 protesters gathered at the former Royal Mint Court in London on March 15, 2025, to protest against a proposed China mega-embassy project. The mobilisation, led by Hong Kong rights groups, Tibetans, Uyghurs, Taiwanese and local residents, was the second mass protest demanding the Labour government block the plan within two months.

Many protesters believe that China’s mega-embassy would serve as a “secret police station” which would execute the Chinese government’s transnational repression targeting political dissidents. 

Protests against the China mega-embassy project emerged in early February 2025 after the British foreign and interior ministers under the Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer signalled that the government would support China’s plan to transform the historic site of the former Royal Mint Court into its embassy.

The 2-hectare building complex, which was located near the Tower of London, was sold to China in 2018 for the country’s new London embassy. If approved, the plan will be the largest embassy of any country in all European countries. However, the Tower Hamlets Borough Council blocked the planning permission, citing potential public security risks caused by frequent protests. London police shared the council's concerns.

Yet, near the end of 2024, the UK Labour government stepped in and overruled the local Council’s decision, stressing “the importance of countries having functioning diplomatic premises in each other's capitals” and proposed that the controversy be resolved in a public hearing in mid-February and a final decision be made by May 2025. 

Beijing reportedly hired a consultancy firm, Lowick, to resubmit the plan after Labour Party Leader Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister in mid-2024.

As the  Labour government spoke out in support of the Chinese government’s plan, London police dropped opposition to the project, and the local council also decided not to argue against it:

The Metropolitan Police suddenly dropped opposition to China’s “super embassy” due to research paid for by Beijing

Met claimed decisive evidence is “new”

When I challenged this, it admitted it’s an old doc used in previous planning application

https://t.co/kj0636TmIx

— Gabriel Pogrund (@Gabriel_Pogrund) January 26, 2025

A coalition of more than 30 rights groups then decided to exercise pressure through protests. The first protest took place one week before the public hearing on February 8, 2025. Protesters fear that the mega-embassy would serve as China’s spy centre and facilitate transnational repression. Overseas Hong Kong Political Cartoonist @vawongsir visualized the messages through a cartoon:

2月8日塞爆倫敦·反對中國超級大使館
Feb 8 Oppose China’s Mega Embassy pic.twitter.com/MXVfaWmJlk

— vawongsir (@vawongsir) February 4, 2025

Human rights group Safeguard Defenders found that the Chinese authorities have set up over 110 “service stations” in 53 countries to monitor and intimidate Chinese dissidents and criminals in 2022. Upon investigation, the British police demanded Beijing shut down three stations in the UK in 2023.

An Amnesty International report in 2024 also pointed out that Chinese authorities have actively monitored and harassed Chinese and Hong Kong students studying abroad to prevent them from participating in protests and other political activities and groups while overseas. The report stressed:

The Chinese authorities’ assault on human rights activism is playing out in the corridors and classrooms of the many universities that host Chinese and Hong Kong students. The impact of China’s transnational repression poses a serious threat to the free exchange of ideas that is at the heart of academic freedom, and governments and universities must do more to counter it.

The UK is the top choice for mainland Chinese students who want to pursue overseas studies. In the 2022/23 academic year, more than 156,000 Chinese students enrolled in higher education programs in the UK. 

In the latest round of protest, the massive turnout of protesters highlighted the public security concern as the traffic to London city centre would be blocked by police vehicles, protesters and police officers during protests:

Evidence that the pedestrian area around the Royal Mint is NOT sufficient to contain the crowd protesting against the Chinese #MegaEmbassy. A protester was FORCEFULLY pushed back by a policeman and FELL when he accidentally stepped into the road because the island was too full. https://t.co/ZKVq7LX9Em pic.twitter.com/txcONOSsbK

— Catrina Ko (@dr_CatKo) March 15, 2025

Among the protesters, many were new immigrants from Hong Kong. After the UK government launched the special visa for overseas British nationals Hongkongers in 2021 in response to the Beijing government’s imposition of National Security Law in the ex-colonial city, more than 150,000 Hongkongers had settled in the UK within three years. The new settlers fear they will still be subjected to Beijing's transnational harassment even though they have left Hong Kong. Benedict Rogers, cofounder of Hong Kong Watch, spoke on behalf of Hong Kongers during the recent protest:

LIVE outside Royal Mint Court: Our Trustee @benedictrogers highlights the threats of transnational repression posed by a super embassy, and urges the government to block the establishment of the embassy to protect Hong Kongers and others who call the UK home. pic.twitter.com/nkPpgLncKf

— Hong Kong Watch (@hk_watch) March 15, 2025

Since overseas Uyghurs are major targets of China’s transnational repression, Uyghur activist groups, such as UK-based Stop Uyghur Genocide, have also been very vocal in opposing the mega-embassy:

Powerful words from our Executive Director @MahmutRahima during Saturday's protest against China's proposed Mega Embassy.#NoMegaEmbassy #Uyghur #StopUyghurGenocide #Protest pic.twitter.com/UM0JXO5McX

— Stop Uyghur Genocide (@UyghurStop) March 17, 2025

UK politicians from the Conservative Party, including Iain Duncan Smith, Kevin Hollinrake and other members of the Parliament, have joined the rights groups in protests and criticized the Labour government for submitting to Beijing’s pressure:

Plans for a new mega-Chinese embassy in London, if passed, would be the biggest act of ‘kowtowing’ in British history. This is an embassy for a brutal repressive Government that dismisses human rights, practices slave labour and genocide. Tower Hamlets council refused planning… pic.twitter.com/J5TqLCv9IH

— Iain Duncan Smith MP Chingford & Woodford Green (@MPIainDS) February 17, 2025

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner will decide on the Chinese mega-embassy by May, and the final decision will be a significant indicator of the Labour Government's China policy.

‘[O]ur colonists have found another way to extract our wealth …’

Originally published on Global Voices

Feature image created using Canva Pro elements.

On March 12, the UK government instituted changes to its visitor visa requirements for nationals of Trinidad and Tobago. The Caribbean nation is a former British colony and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, a political association primarily comprised of former territories of the British Empire.

Jon Dean, the newly appointed High Commissioner to the twin island republic, recorded a video explaining the change, which soon started to make the rounds on social media channels:

An accompanying press release sent to the media made it clear that the measure, which was immediately implemented, was taken because of “a significant increase in the number of Trinidad and Tobago nationals coming to the UK as visitors
only to claim asylum on arrival, constituting a misuse of the immigration system.” On March 13, a requirement for in-transit visas was also introduced.

There will, however, be a six-week transition period, ending on April 23, wherein travellers who made bookings and obtained electronic travel authorisations (ETAs) prior to the change will still be allowed to enter; this grace period also applies to in-transit passengers.

In an attempt to soften the news, which he understood people would find “disappointing,” the high commissioner stressed the “friendly ties” between the two countries, explaining that the measure was “designed to support safe and secure travel” while protecting UK borders. “As a valued Commonwealth partner,” Dean added, “Trinidad and Tobago remains an important part of the UK’s global community.”

To many, this felt like lip service. Timothy Christopher P Nokio suggested that the “deeper implications of this decision [extend] beyond personal inconvenience to matters of national dignity, historical ties, and diplomatic relations”:

Trinidad and Tobago was once a British Crown Colony, with deep historical, cultural, and economic links to the UK. Generations of our citizens have studied, worked, and built lives in Britain, contributing to its society and economy. Many of our laws, institutions, and governance structures still bear the mark of British influence. The ability to travel freely to the UK was not just a convenience—it was a recognition of this shared history. Now, with this new restriction, many feel as though our long-standing relationship is being eroded and that Trinidad and Tobago is being unfairly grouped with nations that have had no such historic ties.

Adding insult to injury is the hefty cost of GBP 115 (approximately TTD 1,012) for a six-month multiple-entry visa, making it one of the most expensive to acquire — and the cost only goes up from there. A visitor's visa for medical purposes is GBP 200 (TTD 1,760) and will grant you an 11-month stay. Academics pay the same price but can stay a year. Two-year, five-year and 10-year visas range from GBP 432 (TTD 3,800) to GBP 963 (just under TTD 8,500), all with six-month visit limits.

The heavy fees prompted Facebook user Janelle Phill-Thomas to quip:

Imagine paying for your plane ticket [and] organize a 10 year visa for close to 10,000 TT [/…] just to get blank. Pressure yes

Comparatively, a visitor's visa to the United States costs USD 185 (TTD 1,258), but once granted, remains valid for years, and short-term Canadian visas cost about CDN 100 (TTD 475). The UK visa's price point also seems excessive, given the ease and accessibility of Schengen visas, even after the ETIAS is due to be activated in the last quarter of 2026.

Speaking with the politics and sports news site Wired868, Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Amery Browne responded to the measure:

This move is within their rights as a sovereign nation, but we do not see it as a proportionate response to what UK authorities conveyed to us, which was their observation that a relatively small number of T&T nationals were misusing the UK immigration system by being processed for an ETA in the normal existing process and then suddenly applying for asylum after arrival.

To that point, Facebook user Marise Kelly Johncilla, in a private status update quoted here with permission, questioned the UK government's rationale that an increase in asylum-seeking Trinidad and Tobago nationals spurred the visa move. Citing GOV.UK immigration asylum statistics, she noted that in 2024, the UK received “a record high of 84,231 applications,” from which the refusal rate at initial decision was 53 percent. The largest individual nationalities among applicants, Johncilla observed, “were Pakistani (10,542), Afghan (8,508), Iranian (8,099), Bangladeshi (7,225), and Syrian (6,680).”

In contrast, the 88 records for applications from Trinidad and Tobago – 50 female and 38 male – accounted for 0.00104 percent of total applicants in 2024. Additionally, 47 of those asylum applications were lodged at the port of entry, while 41 were lodged in the country. “I love data,” Johncilla continued. “Tells wonderful stories. So, 0.00104 percent of asylum seekers in the UK have made it less attractive for 1.3 million of the rest of the TT Nationals to visit the UK. Do with this information as you wish.”

Another Trinbagonian national, in perusing the broader GOV.UK data, deduced that “209 people from TT applied in 2024, which comprised 119 applicants and 90 dependents.”

Facebook user Denny Ablack wondered:

How is APPLYING for asylum, abusing the system…applying shows compliance to legal channels…simply reject the erroneous applications.

Many other social media users felt the situation was a classic case of Peter paying for Paul. On the same comments thread, Jherrel Peters asked sardonically, “Meanwhile people from the UK can travel here VISA free?” while filmmaker Shari Petti addressed the double standard by drawing on the example of a British travel blogger:

Travel with Zoe & friends get to knock about the Caribbean (and many OVERSTAY without consequence) while we get hit with visa restrictions left right & center. On top of being drained of resources & left traumatised for generations, we can’t even want better for ourselves from countries who put us in this situation.

Minister Browne said that the Trinidad and Tobago government has “indicated [its] disappointment with the new visa requirement” and will continue “consistent engagement with [its] UK counterparts” in that regard:

We are not of the view that regular travellers to the UK should be negatively affected by a relatively small number of persons who have been trying to abuse the British immigration system.

Looking at the issue from a business angle, the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce expressed concerns that the move could potentially “affect key areas of bilateral engagement, including trade, investment, tourism, student mobility and cultural exchanges.”

Trinidad and Tobago is now one of 110 countries — including fellow CARICOM neighbours Cuba, Dominica, Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic – whose nationals must hold visas to enter the UK. Several nations on the list are part of the Commonwealth.

Netizen Ronald Roach was completely disheartened:

From cocoa to coffee to sugar cane to petroleum, now that there is no more to plunder from Trinidad and Tobago, our colonists have found another way to extract our wealth, by requiring us to pay for a VISA to visit and transit through the UK. Just as Canada has applied retaliatory tariffs to the US, the TT government and people alike should ensure that there is a just response to this announcement, including boycotting everything British […] its about principle, and if we can collectively stand up on principle then it can make a difference.

Others felt that the whole affair was tantamount to a failure of diplomacy. “These things do not come like a thief in the night,” said Razia Ali. “It indicates both the Foreign Ministry and the TT High Commission in London were completely asleep on the job and not looking after the nation’s business.”

On the Facebook thread that followed, Nazma Muller called for a protest to be held in front of the British High Commission, to which Ali responded that any demonstration should take place in front of Trinidad and Tobago's parliament, since the British were only “taking steps in their best interests.”

“400 asylum applications?” Muller responded. “Come on. That's nothing. It's the least they can do in the absence of reparations, which will never come.”

“The UK gets to decide how much is enough,” Ali countered, turning the conversation to reports of “criminal” asylum-seekers. Muller, however, was having none of it: “So why we must keep them? Let the British reap what they sowed. Most of our dysfunction is a legacy of colonialism.”

In that vein, Tracy Assing put it plainly:

Massa had a loaf and he give a slice. Somebody take two bite. Everybody hungry. Everybody vex. Massa say half slice from now on. People start to throw rock at each other. Is your fault Massa do that. All the while it have cassava to dig in the yard. […] Massa say hear what. I go sell yuh the next half ah slice. Ah go use that money to build a fence.

Or, as artist Ozy Merique said, complete with an impactful graphic, “FU.K. YOU!”

Management agreed to meet several union demands

Originally published on Global Voices

Workers set up a strike camp outside the industrial gate. Photo from the Facebook page of ALL Nexperia FIGHT. Used with permission.

Labor activists in the Philippines saw a major victory after a 74-hour strike of 1,800 workers at Nexperia Philippines, a Dutch semiconductors factory. The strike ended in victory on March 8 after the management agreed to increase daily wages and reinstate dismissed union officials.

Nexperia manufactures and exports transistor chips and microchips that are used in e-vehicles, phones, and other electronic devices. According to the union, their factory produces seven million products daily worth PHP 420 million (USD 7.3 million).

Negotiations on a Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2024 resulted in a deadlock after the management offered only a PHP 17 per day (USD 0.30) wage increase against a PHP 50 per day (USD 0.87) hike that workers were pushing for. In addition, four union officials were dismissed in December during the negotiations.

The union voted to hold a strike, but the government's department assumed jurisdiction of the labor dispute on February 5, further complicating the negotiations. Under the law, the labor secretary can invoke this power in industries “indispensable to the national interest.” Semiconductors compose the bulk of the country's largest exports.

Despite this legal obstacle, the union proceeded to continue with the strike by barricading the factory entrance. Workers remained defiant even after the labor department issued a “return to work” order. Workers who remained inside the factory said that they were restricted from getting food, water, and basic necessities from fellow workers and concerned citizens outside the industrial complex. They also accused the management of cutting off the electricity and water supply inside the factory.

Informal negotiations were held as the strike received support from various sectors. Finally, the management agreed to increase wages and reinstate two union officials who had been let go during the dispute. This led the union to declare the victory of the strike as work resumed on March 8.

The union saluted the unity and determination of its members.

Pinakikitunguhan, at pinangingibabawan natin sa loob ng tatlong araw ang iniindang puyat, gutom, mga karamdaman, alinlangan, at mga pangungulila. Sa tinatanaw nating layunin, kinakaya at pinagsusumikapan nating malagpasan ang bawat hamon, sa pabrika man o sa piket. Lumaban tayo hanggang tagumpay!

For three days, we faced and overcame fatigue, hunger, sickness, doubt, and homesickness. Inspired by our common goals, we hurdled and struggled to defeat every challenge, inside the factory or in the picket lines. Let us fight until victory!

Philippine labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (May First Movement) noted that the strike was the biggest in several decades and that it defied the “no strike” policy inside the export-processing industrial zone. Commentators noted that while union activists won this hard-earned victory, there are still several challenges that must be dealt with:

Kasabay nito ang nagpapatuloy na hamon — ang patuloy na paglaban upang ibalik ang 2 pang opisyales at biguin ang amba ng tanggalan, ang patuloy na paggigiit ng nakabubuhay na sahod sa mga larangang lagpas pa sa empresa — sa antas pambansa, para sa lahat ng manggagawa, at ang patuloy na pagtindig at pagtatanggol sa karapatang mag-unyon at magwelga!

There remains the following challenges — the need to continue the demand to reinstate the two other union officials and defeat the threat of retrenchment, the struggle for a living wage beyond the factory — at the national level, for all workers, and the fight to defend our right to unionize and the right to strike!

Nexperia workers and their supportors express joy after successfully ending the strike. Photo from the Facebook page of ALL Nexperia FIGHT. Used with permission

The strike was held two days before International Women’s Day. The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights praised the women workers of Nexperia and the role of women rights defenders in society.

We mark this year’s Women’s Day while we express solidarity with the striking workers of Nexperia Philippines Inc. Nexperia’s Cabuyao factory has a significant population of women workers, who are now fighting for higher wages, an end to mass retrenchment, and the reinstatement of union officials

Women suffer from trade-union repression. Wives of unionists and labor activists shoulder the burden of earning money and taking care of the family when their husbands are retrenched from work, imprisoned, or disappeared.

The Council for People’s Development and Governance, a network of people’s organizations, emphasized the importance of uplifting the conditions of workers.

There is no development and economic growth without full and productive employment, and decent work for all. Respect the rights to unionize, collectively bargain and the right to strike!

In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, union president Mary Ann Castillo acknowledged the significance of their strike.

Many became aware. That’s when we started again to strengthen our union. That’s also when other workers and other unions were inspired… that what we did with our fight, despite the AJ [assumption of jurisdiction], was possible.

In an interview with independent media Bulatlat, labor leader Rowena Matienzo credited the strength of the union for the success of the strike.

Our strike was successful because we showed the unity of the workers. This is the strength that will help us succeed; we can halt production if we work together to defend our wages, jobs, and rights. The workers of Nexperia demonstrated that workers with 40 years of union experience are not to be taken lightly.

Her platform connects, empowers and celebrates the achievements of African women in Europe

Originally published on Global Voices

Group photo at AWE UK 2024. Photo by Joy Machugu Zenz, used with permission.

This story was originally published by news agency Bird on January 27, 2025. An edited version is republished below as part of a content-sharing agreement. 

The wooden elephant figurine on the wall behind Joy Machugu Zenz seems to echo her presence: Strong, rooted, and unshakably confident. Sitting in her living space in Freiburg, Germany, where sunlight spilt through cream curtains to hint at the promise of spring, Zenz exuded the same balance of grace and power as the symbol behind her.

Her journey spanned continents, cultures, and careers. Raised in Kenya and based in Germany, Zenz described herself as a “perfect migrant”, a term she used with a wry chuckle.

She said:

I’ve spent half my life in Kenya and the other half in Europe. I’ve taken the best of both worlds.

This rich blend of experiences has fueled her drive to create thriving networks that connect women across Africa and the diaspora.

Zenz’s move to Germany at 24 was both exciting and daunting. Having studied German beforehand, she had a basic understanding of the language, but expressing herself fully was a challenge. She reflected:

The language was a barrier, but more than that, it was the mindset.

Her early years were filled with adjustment — to the culture, the language, and the isolation that came from being one of the few African women in her community.

“I didn’t want to lose myself because of the challenges. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do better”, she said.

With a background in project management and IT and experience working in Switzerland’s pharmaceutical and banking industries, Zenz’s ambition never waned. Her desire to carve out a space in Europe while maintaining her African identity led her to launch African Women in Europe (AWE).

In 2008, in the nascent days of social media, Zenz created a website to connect with African women living in Europe. What began as a personal quest to find community quickly grew into something much larger. She recalled:

I just wanted to know what other Africans were doing in Europe. Within five days of launching the website, 50 women had joined.

Today, AWE has over close to 10,000 members as well as partners like Kenya Airways, the Federation of Women in Business, Jumia and the International Trade Centre (ITC).

The platform has become a lifeline for women navigating similar challenges, providing a space to share stories, exchange advice, and support one another.

Over time, AWE evolved into a full-fledged organization, hosting events across Europe — from Madrid to Geneva — where women could meet in person and celebrate their achievements.

Zenz, the founder, explained:

The idea was to dive into the culture of wherever we met. If we were in Italy, we ate Italian food; in Spain, we danced flamenco. It was about celebrating where we were while staying connected to who we are.

AWE also began recognizing African women excelling in business and leadership across Europe through its awards program.

Zenz shared:

We realized that so many women were doing amazing work but staying under the radar. When you’re awarded by your own people, it feels different. It’s about being seen and celebrated by the community you represent.

Another key initiative born from AWE is its books, where African women who have made their mark in Europe and the UK share their personal stories.

Each chapter is written by a different woman, sharing how they overcame obstacles and built successful lives abroad. It’s not just about celebrating their achievements but creating a guide for others, so they don’t have to make the same mistakes we did.

After more than a decade of building AWE, Zenz turned her attention to a new challenge: empowering African women through trade. In 2021, she launched African Women in Trade (AfWITrade) as a response to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a groundbreaking initiative aimed at boosting intra-African trade by reducing tariffs and improving market access.

She noted:

The AfCFTA enables us to trade within Africa without exorbitant tariffs. For example, now we can pay from Kenya’s shillings to Zambia’s kwacha without going through the US dollar. That’s revolutionary.

One of the standout features of AfWITrade is its matchmaking program, which helps African women in the diaspora invest back home in ways that are fraud-proof.

We’ve seen too many cases where diaspora investments fall apart because of mismanagement on the ground. We vet the systems and connect women with trustworthy partners to ensure their investments are safe and impactful.

AfWITrade hosts monthly webinars to share information on trade on the continent.

Despite its success, Zenz’s work was not without hurdles. From navigating bureaucratic red tape in Africa to overcoming financial barriers for women entrepreneurs, the journey was far from easy.

“The systems aren’t always supportive”, she admitted. “For example, diaspora investors often face operational challenges on the ground, from poor accountability to outright mismanagement.”

The project manager was determined to change that. By encouraging value addition — such as packaging and processing goods locally — she aimed to ensure that African businesses retained more of the wealth they generated.

We’re tired of just exporting raw materials. We want to create jobs and build industries right here in Africa, she noted.

Zenz’s initiatives have not only provided practical tools for African women but have also worked to dismantle stereotypes about Africa and its diaspora.

I’m fighting this narrative of Africa as poor. We’re proving that African women are financially stable, capable, and driving change.

Her work with AWE and AfWITrade also brought her closer to her own roots. “We’ve spent so much time focusing on going back to Africa for holidays, but now it’s about going back for trade”, she said.

I want us to invest in our communities, not just with money but with ideas and opportunities.

“This is our time”, the mother of two said. “We have the tools, the networks, and the ambition. Now we need to act.”