Author: Roy Liu
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A New Deal on TikTok
After years of legal battles, national security fights, executive orders, and shifting political winds, TikTok’s U.S. operation has officially been sold to American investors, averting the long-threatened ban that could have cut off more than 200 million American users from the platform. Terms of the Deal ByteDance, the China-based parent company that built TikTok into…
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A Nail on the Coffin of Democracy in Hong Kong
On 15 December 2025, Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy media figure, Jimmy Lai — founder of Apple Daily and a long-standing critic of Beijing — was convicted in a high-profile national-security trial. The court found Lai guilty of conspiring with foreign forces and publishing seditious material; he faces a still-pending sentence that could be decades…
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Who is Zohran Mamdani?
In 2025, Zohran Mamdani surprised everyone when he defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic nomination in New York City’s mayoral election. Cuomo had outpolled and outraised Mamdani in every measure, and yet he, the scion of a prominent New York political dynasty, went down in defeat to a young democratic socialist whose most…
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Israel & Palestine Explained
Origins & the Post-1948 Period The wider Israeli–Palestinian conflict traces back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with competing nationalist movements: Zionism (Jewish nationalism) and Palestinian Arab nationalism. After World War I, Britain took control of Palestine under “The Mandate for Palestine,” created by the League of Nations after the fall of the…
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China’s Military Parade on the 80th Anniversary of the End of WWII
On Wednesday, China staged a massive military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender to the Allied Powers, marking the end of the Second World War. This event, China’s first such grand-scale military parade since 2019, underscores Beijing’s growing assertiveness on the global stage. The commemoration came after a summit of the Shanghai…
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On the Case of Abortion
Note: The views and opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Polinsights. For decades, the fight over abortion has stood at the center of America’s culture wars, shaping political platforms and dividing communities. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade (1973),…
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Should the Death Penalty Still Exist?
Note: The views and opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Polinsights. The death penalty remains one of the most contentious issues in American politics and criminal justice. Supporters argue that it ensures justice for the most heinous crimes, often invoking the…