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This Year in Asia: Huawei, Hong Kong protests, domestic workers and toxic masculinity in K-pop are our most-read stories from 2019

  • From Huawei to the Hong Kong protests, via toxic masculinity in K-pop and the continued mistreatment of domestic workers, here are the most-read stories of the year

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The ways in which the Hong Kong protests affected the rest of Asia were the year’s most widely read topic. Photo: Reuters

It’s been a big year, what with protests in Hong Kong, the regional fallout as Huawei became a target in the continuing joust for influence between the United States and China, and a spate of controversies everywhere from South Korea to the Philippines. Here are some of the stories that most resonated with readers over the past 12 months – some are quirky, others topical, and many deal with how the shifting tides of geopolitics affect all those who live in this endlessly fascinating continent.

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These are your top pieces of the year – and here is a chance to go over an old favourite, or dive deep into a piece you might have missed.

1. The mistreatment of Asia’s domestic workers

Campaigners demand justice for domestic worker Adelina Lisao, who was forced to sleep outside with her employer’s dog. Photo: Dickson Lee
Campaigners demand justice for domestic worker Adelina Lisao, who was forced to sleep outside with her employer’s dog. Photo: Dickson Lee

Our top story of the year was a look at the plight of domestic workers around the continent. This piece was run as a follow-up to the jailing of a Singaporean couple who had force-fed, threatened and abused a domestic worker from Myanmar – but there have been a spate of such abuse cases in recent years.

As the South China Morning Post has previously reported, migrant women face abuse and racial discrimination, some live in slave-like conditions and all grapple with a lack of legal protection or channels to voice their concerns in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

2. The Hong Kong protests

Hennessy Road near Causeway Bay is a complete sea of black as Hongkongers of every age, profession and background take to the streets on June 16. Photo: Joanne Ma
Hennessy Road near Causeway Bay is a complete sea of black as Hongkongers of every age, profession and background take to the streets on June 16. Photo: Joanne Ma

When it came to pulling in the readers, one issue stood head and shoulders above everything else: how the protests in Hong Kong were affecting the rest of Asia. The topic accounted for three of This Week in Asia’s 10 most-read stories of the year and many others in the top 40.
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