This issue is dedicated to the Mid-Autumn Festival, using the traditional holiday as both a cultural touchstone and a lens to expose harsh realities. Pages One and Two feature a special section that highlights the festival’s history and humanistic value, while also uncovering the rampant use of food additives in China’s mooncake industry. Ordinary citizens are fed cheap chemicals, while “special supply mooncakes” reserved for Zhongnanhai elites contain no additives at all. This stark contrast reveals the nature of privilege under authoritarian rule. Page Three turns to political affairs, compiling several recent stories of note, and tracing the origins of Xi Jinping’s many nicknames. These satirical monikers, coined and spread by overseas Chinese communities, reflect not only popular wit but also a quiet form of resistance. Page Four is devoted to anti-CCP voices, reporting on the Chinese Democracy Party’s event in support of Yu Menglong. This is not only an act of solidarity with one individual persecuted for speaking out, but also a call on behalf of all those silenced by repression.
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