Contradiction

In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the many facets of crisis - the theme of last years China Story Yearbook - fractured into pictures of contradiction throughout Chinese society and the Chinese sphere of influence.

Contradiction: the ancient Chinese word for the concept holds within it the image of an unstoppable spear meeting an impenetrable shield. It describes a wide range of phenomena that English might express with words like conflict, clash, paradox, incongruity, disagreement, rebuttal, opposition, and negation. This year's Yearbook presents stories of action and reaction, of motion and resistance.