A Mainstay of Presidential Campaigning: China-bashing
Presidential candidates Trump, Walker, Rubio, Clinton and others are making politcal hay out of pitting the U.S. against China.
Donald Trump: No State Dinner—Only Big Mac—for China’s President
If elected, Trump vowed to eschew the lavish dinner Xi Jinping will get in Washington from President Obama.
Scott Walker Calls on Obama to Cancel Chinese State Visit
Amid rising tension, a Republican calls to end a diplomatic courtesy.
Japan Refuses to Take Part in China’s ‘Victory Day’ Event to Mark End of War
Shinzo Abe has decided against visiting Beijing for the event, partly to protest against China’s regional military build-up.
Features
08.20.15
Is China About to Plunge the World Into Recession?
On Aug. 18, China’s stock market plummeted by a vertigo-inducing 6.2 percent in one day of trading,...
The Politburo’s Predicament
Freedom House
Drawing on an analysis of hundreds of official documents, censorship directives, and human rights reports, as well as some 30 expert interviews, the study finds that the overall degree of repression has increased under the new leadership....
Conversation
08.18.15
How Should the U.S. Conduct the Xi Jinping State Visit?
As tensions increase between China and the United States over the value of the yuan, human rights violations, alleged cyber attacks, and disputed maritime territories, among other issues, how should the Obama administration conduct the upcoming...
The NYRB China Archive
08.13.15
China: The Superpower of Mr. Xi
from New York Review of BooksIn the almost one-hundred-year existence of the Chinese Communist Party (C.C.P.), its current general secretary, Xi Jinping, is only the second leader clearly chosen by his peers. The first was Mao Zedong. Both men beat out the...
Two Way Street
08.10.15
A Response to ‘China’s Foreign Policy Isn’t Transparent? You’ve Got to Be Kidding’
from Two Way StreetI’m pleased that my article on the lack of transparency in China’s political system has stimulated this intellectually interesting commentary from Chu Yin. Chu elaborates my argument that China’s leaders keep the policy process secret because...
China’s Liberal Academics Fear Growing Censorship
“It is getting worse,” said Qiao, 45, whose public advocacy of western-style democracy and civil rights made him a thorn in the government’s side. “Since [Xi] came to power the government has placed tighter controls on ideological research...
The Singapore Lesson China Missed
It’s impossible to understand Singapore’s success without recognizing the importance of state constraint. Since Mr. Xi acknowledges no such limits, he will have a hard time achieving Singapore’s results.
Conversation
08.05.15
Should the U.S. Extradite Chinese Wanted by Beijing?
This week, The New York Times reported that Chinese officials have asked the U.S....
Guo Boxiong Expelled From Chinese Communist Party in Bid to Reform Military
The military has been a core focus of President Xi Jinping's campaign against official corruption.
China’s Un-separation of Powers
U.S. industry has figured out how to pull the levers of power in China but also points to a substantial change in how China is governed. In the past, there was at least some separation between party and government roles, but it seems that the...
Confucius Says, Xi Does
Since he came to power in 2012, Mr Xi has sought to elevate Confucius—whom Mao vilified—as the grand progenitor of Chinese culture.
Xi Turns Back the Clock on Women’s Rights in China
Although it is unthinkable today, two decades ago 30,000 women from around the world converged outside Beijing to promote a host of social and political causes.
Conversation
07.21.15
Is China’s Reform Era Over and, If So, What’s Next?
Fordham Law School professor and regular ChinaFile contributor Carl Minzner says we've arrived at “...
Understanding Xi Jinping’s ‘Key Minority’
Xi’s renewed attention to the performance of county leaders shows that he is relying on local officials to play a pivotal role in implementing his program.
Xi Warns China Military Amid Anti-Corruption Purge
Xi delivered the stern message to the home unit of Xu Caihou, formerly one of China’s highest ranking generals, arrested last year for bribery scandal.
The Real Risk Behind China’s Stock-Market Drama
More recently, the Party has offered annual targets for economic growth that almost always bear out, no matter what sort of creative policy, or accounting, steps are required
China Military Says Two More top Officers Probed for Graft
Serving and retired Chinese military officers have said military graft is so pervasive it could undermine China's ability to wage war.
Breaking Beijing?
The government's harsh crackdown could crack the regime.
Conversation
06.06.15
Should the U.S. Change its China Policy and How?
The past several months have seen a growing chorus of calls for the U.S. to take stock of its policy toward China. Some prominent voices have called for greater efforts by the U.S. and China to forge “a...
Q&A—Willy Wo-Lap Lam on ‘Chinese Politics in the Era of Xi Jinping’
Xi’s reversal of guiding principles guiding Chinese politics post-Mao signals “the closing of the Chinese mind.”
Two Way Street
05.28.15
What China’s Lack of Transparency Means for U.S. Policy
from Two Way StreetI am a political scientist and former diplomat who has studied China for more than forty years, and yet I still can’t answer some of my students’ most basic questions about China’s policy-making process. Where—in which...
Media
05.26.15
Weighing Mao’s Legacy in China Today
At the May 21 Asia Society event ChinaFile Presents: Does Xi Jinping Represent a Return to the Politics of the...
Why the U.S. Needs to Listen to China
And why China needs to listen to the U.S. The importance of the mutual economic criticisms between two major world powers.
Despite Tension, Xi says U.S.-China Relations are Stable
John Kerry's trip has been dominated by security concerns about Beijing’s maritime ambitions in the So China Sea.
Toward a Free and Democratic China
Overhauling U.S. strategy in Asia.
Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping Aim to Shelve Rifts Amid Economic Courtship
Indian and Chinese officials are promoting Modi’s three-day visit as a business trip filled out with displays of good will.
Caixin Media
05.12.15
The Urgency of Continuing with Reform
Concern about the middle-income trap has grabbed public attention again. The minister of finance, Lou Jiwei, recently said at Tsinghua University that China had a “50-50 chance” of sliding into it in the next five to 10 years. However, many...
The Sleeper Issue of 2016 Is China
Why are we so worried about the Islamic State when Beijing is the real challenge?
China, Russia Prepare $2 Billion Agricultural Investment Fund
The fund will develop agricultural projects in the two countries and set up a free-trade zone between their key farming belts.
As Russia Remembers War in Europe, Guest of Honor Is From China
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, is an imperfect symbol of the wartime past and an uncertain one for Russia’s future.
The Urgency of Continuing with Reform
The best way to side step the much-discussed middle-income trap is to forge ahead with changes to the growth model.
The Battle for Taiwan’s Soul: The 2016 Presidential Election
Xi Jinping and Kuomintang leader Eric Chu’s summit Monday is the first between respective party leaders since 2009.
Q. and A.: Francis Fukuyama on China's Political Development
Stanford historian argues an effective political system has to balance state capacity against rule of law and democracy.
Forced Disappearances, Brutality, and Communist China’s Politics of Fear
Low-ranking officials are in a state of continual fear as their colleagues vanish around them.
Wang Jianlin, a Billionaire at the Intersection of Business and Power in China -
Wang tends to present himself as the pragmatic face of big business in China.
The China Africa Project
04.25.15
China, Africa, and the PRC’s Massive New Development Bank
Fifty-seven countries, including two from Africa, are among the founding members of China’s new development bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). While the new bank’s primary objective will be to develop infrastructure projects...
China Buzzing Over President's First ‘Selfie’
The photo was posted by Fadli Zon of the Great Indonesia Movement Party from the Asian-African Summit in Jakarta.
China’s Big Plunge in Pakistan
If China can advance a stable Pakistan through development programs, the whole region would benefit.
Xi Jinping of China and Shinzo Abe of Japan Meet Amid Slight Thaw in Ties
The meeting signaled a continued slight warming in otherwise frosty relations between Asia’s two top economies.
Shinzo Abe and Japan’s History
But Japan cannot credibly help the U.S. to counter China in Asia if it seeks to repudiate criticism of its past.
China Defines Overall National Security Outlook in Draft Law
Economic security is the basis of national security, and military, cultural, as well as social security are safeguarding measures.
Media
04.14.15
Henry Paulson: ‘Dealing with China’
from Asia BlogSpeaking at Asia Society New York on April 13 with New Yorker correspondent Evan Osnos, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson explained that it’s...
Born Red
How Xi Jinping, an unremarkable provincial administrator, became China’s most authoritarian leader since Mao.
New App Collects Xi’s Wisdom
The free app makes available Xi’s books including “The Governance of China.”
The China Africa Project
04.02.15
The Politics of Banning Ivory in China
In February 2015, China announced a one-year ban on ivory imports. While many conservation groups such as the Environmental Investigation Agency denounced Beijing’s policy as “ineffective,” the San Francisco-based group WildAid said the ban is an...
Xi Jinping Forever
Is China’s increasingly powerful president angling to break tradition and extend his rule indefinitely?
U.S.-China 21: The Future of U.S.-China Relations Under Xi Jinping
Harvard University
We are, therefore, seeing the emergence of an asymmetric world in which the fulcrums of economic and military power are no longer co-located, but, in fact, are beginning to diverge significantly. Political power, through the agency of foreign...
How China Plans to Shape New Asian Order
At the center of these efforts is the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and plans for pan-Asian infrastructure .
Full Text of Chinese President’s Speech at Boao Forum for Asia
Xi's speech, entitled, "Towards a Community of Common Destiny and A New Future for Asia"
The Devil, or Mr Wang
China’s second most powerful leader is admired and feared.