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This study analyzes how the notion of the people emerged in two (neo)liberal societies during the crisis in 2019: Hong Kong and Chile.

From a qualitative and comparative perspective, 131 middle-class individuals were interviewed during heightened contentious activity in Hong Kong and Chile. The interviews were analyzed based on Ruiz's model for sociological discourse analysis.

The study shows that in contexts strongly influenced by liberalism, the notion of “people” is not advertised antagonistically against the individual but as complementary, and to this end, it emphasizes the heterogeneity of repertoires or demands. The comparison of these two movements highlighted the importance of democratic institutions in shaping the outcomes and effectiveness of protests.

Enacting the National Security Law in Hong Kong and the mandatory blockade imposed by both governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic required an adaptation in the design and execution of the interviews, adopting a hybrid format. The volatility that characterizes periods of political crisis requires longitudinal follow-up. This article does not capture but can be explored in associated research publications.

The research offers two significant contributions: it addresses the immediate context by conducting on-site research during the most significant contemporary crises in Hong Kong and Chile. Secondly, it problematizes the understanding of the people in liberal societies and proposes it as a complementary (and not antagonistic) concept to that of the individual.

This study aims to investigate the Chile–China diplomatic and economic relations in the light of the extension of the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) and the Chile's accession to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2019.

This study takes Chile as a case of study to identify the main upcoming challenges and opportunities for relations between China and Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) countries. The study examines news and official data on trade, investment and foreign policy.

The findings are twofold. First, the increasing and diversification of exports from Chile to China. Second, the participation of Chinese companies in public tendering procedures, which is increasing Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. The growing volume of trade does not make Chile's economy more dependent on copper exports, and Chinese investment may help solve the structural deficit in infrastructures of the Andean country.

This study presents an overview of Chile as a partner for China and evaluates the relationship's impact on the development of the former. Recently collected data on bilateral trade and investments are analyzed to contribute to the emerging literature on Chinese and Chile relations.

The objective of this study is to address the diplomatic and economic implications of the participation of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The study examines official documents related to the BRI and LAC's signing of the Memorandum of Understanding within the framework of the BRI (MoUs) in order to look into what it means to join the BRI. Additionally, it also introduces the findings of articles in Asian Education and Development Studies' current issue published in 2020.

In LAC, the BRI does not represent a new policy, but rather the updating and rebranding of a pre-existing one. The BRI primarily consists of an official discursive framework which aims to build a coherent narrative for a wide range of different projects and policies geared toward the improvement of connectivity with China through the development of trade and investments. However, most of these projects were implemented prior to the BRI. Pragmatism lies at the core of this framework which neither has a regulated accession process nor any binding effects. As a result, the signing the MoU represents, foremost, a diplomatic mise-en-scène. The study operates under the belief that BRI membership is not dichotomous; rather, it must be observed in terms of the countries' level of participation. In line with this, the implementation of a generalized BRI policy in LAC countries would not be advisable. Moreover, it must be noted that the BRI's reach to Latin America can be rather problematic due to the fact that the latter was not initially a participant.

The study aims to explore the significance of the BRI beyond the official discourse and discuss the involvement of LAC countries in it. Scholars studying the BRI in other regions have noted that there is not enough information on this policy in the context of LAC.