Young Chinese are choosing healthy relationships over toxic filial piety
Por Phoebe Zhang — South China Morning Post – News feed
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Opinion Phoebe Zhang Young Chinese are choosing healthy relationships over toxic filial piety
The support for Olympic diver Zhang Jiaqi amid struggles with her mother shows young people today have a different view of the relationship with their parents
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Phoebe Zhang Phoebe Zhang is a senior reporter with the South China Morning Post. Published: 9:30am, 15 Oct 2026 As the Chinese saying goes, “Even an upright judge finds it hard to settle family matters.” Whenever Chinese TV channels air reality shows that centre on couples or parent-child relationships, controversy is guaranteed.
Heated debates ensue over who is right and who is wrong. Viewers examine every facial expression in microscopic detail and overanalyse every word before arriving at their verdict.
Yet, that wasn’t the case with Zhang Jiaqi after the Olympic diving medallist and her mother, Xiao Yingjie, recently appeared on the reality show My Little One, produced by Hunan TV. Zhang received overwhelming support from young viewers. Select Voice Select Speed 0.8x 0.9x 1.0x 1.1x 1.2x 1.5x 1.75x 00:00 00:00 1x AI-generated voice
