While We Obsess over Trump, China Is Making History
While news and analysis in the United States continue to be obsessed with President Trump’s daily antics and insults, halfway around the world, something truly historic just happened
These Are the 37 Major Deals US Firms Signed with Chinese Entities during Trump's Visit
The Commerce Department has revealed the 37 major deals signed between U.S. and Chinese companies during President Donald Trump's trip through Asia, totaling more than $250 billion....
US Finds Unlikely Ally in Vietnam as a Former Partner Tilts to China
US President Donald Trump may have left China for the final leg of his Asia tour, but the specter of Beijing will loom large over his discussions with Southeast Asian nations on the issues dominating the region.
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping's Grand Gestures Can't Paper over Diplomatic Divide
China and the United States announced a record-breaking “gift pack” of a quarter of a trillion US dollars worth of business deals as the presidents of the two nations wrapped up their talks on Thursday.
Trump Touts 'Great Chemistry' with China's Xi as Leaders Agree to Closer Ties
President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping say they have agreed to work together on the denuclearization of North Korea and closer cooperation on trade.
Trump Is Ceding Global Leadership to China
Amid the pomp that President Xi Jinping of China is bestowing upon his visiting American counterpart, President Trump, it’s hard not to see two leaders — and two countries — heading in very different directions.
China’s Xi Fetes Trump on First Day of Beijing Trip
With lavish pageantry and an uncharacteristic personal flourish, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday rolled out a red carpet welcome for U.S President Donald Trump at the Forbidden City, the ancient home of China’s emperors.
Trump, in China, Seeks Help Over a Nuclear North Korea
President Trump arrived in China on Wednesday, primed to ask his host, President Xi Jinping, to step up Chinese pressure on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. But Mr. Trump’s latest foray into personal diplomacy may end...
In Saudi Crown Prince’s Crackdown, Echoes of Xi’s China
If Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s bid to speed economic reforms by rounding up rivals in graft raids sounds familiar, that’s because China has been doing it for years.
Philippines, Seeking to Appease Beijing, Halts Construction in South China Sea
President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has ordered military officials to stop construction work on a sandbar in a disputed area of the South China Sea after Beijing complained, the country’s defense chief said on Wednesday.
Trump’s Granddaughter Plays Diplomat Once More as She Sings for ‘Grandpa’ Xi Jinping
She might be only five years old, but Arabella Kushner played her diplomatic role perfectly again on Wednesday as she helped ease the interaction between two of the world’s most powerful men – Chinese President Xi Jinping and her grandfather,...
Viewpoint
11.08.17
Will Trump’s ‘Flattery Machine’ Work on Xi Jinping?
Before winging off to Beijing, Trump managed to convince his staff and Korean President Moon to take him to the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Many of his aides were said to have been wary about the idea, fearing he might make some...
Ex-Spy on What His CIA Experience Taught Him about China
Randy Phillips spent 28 years with the CIA, most recently serving as the chief CIA representative in China. He talks about what leverage the U.S. has when it comes to managing China's ambitions.
Big Stakes in Beijing: A Triumphant Xi vs. A Chastised Trump
When China rolls out the red carpet for Donald Trump, the grandeur of its welcome for the larger-than-life American president will mask a sobering reality.
Africa Will Take China’s Place as the next Factory of the World
I’m only thirty, but I personally witnessed a time when China’s now car-clogged streets were full of bicycles instead. Such has been the rapidity of China’s transformation, sparked by the rise of Factory China. In the quarter century since I...
Exclusive: China Curbs Tourism to North Korea Ahead of Trump Visit
Chinese tour operators based in the border city of Dandong have been told to halt trips to the North Korean capital Pyongyang, five sources told Reuters on Tuesday, the day before U.S. President Donald Trump’s first official visit to China.
Viewpoint
11.07.17
Sticking to the Script, Trump Seems to Internalize It
Slowly we are stitching our way across Asia on Donald J. Trump’s great five-nation oriental hegira. After a punishing 2:00 a.m. departure from Yokota Air Force Base outside Tokyo, we arrived this morning at Osan Air Base outside...
Wooing Trump, Xi Jinping Seeks Great Power Status for China
Chinese leaders have long sought to present themselves as equals to American presidents. Xi Jinping has wanted something more: a special relationship that sets China apart, as the other great power in an emerging bipolar world.
Viewpoint
11.06.17
On the Road with Trump in Asia: Day One, Tokyo
Many are fearful that Xi Jinping’s ability to awe his visitors with over-the-top manifestations of pomp and ceremony will turn Donald Trump to Jell-o. But having watched Trump arrive in Japan yesterday on the first leg of his five-country trip,...
China and Vietnam, Best ‘Frenemies’ Forever
You know those boyfriend-girlfriend relationships that break up, get back together, and break up again? Maybe the two viscerally don’t get along but need each other for some indispensable reason. That pattern describes ties between China and...
Beijing Says It Peacefully Resolved a South China Sea Dispute with Vietnam
China and Vietnam have reached an agreement on managing their dispute in the South China Sea through friendly talks, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Friday, following an ugly spat over the summer between the two communist neighbors.
China Bank Barred from US Financial System over North Korea Ties
The U.S. Treasury department has severed a small Chinese bank’s ties with the U.S. financial system over its alleged support for North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Viewpoint
11.03.17
The Future of Particle Physics Will Live and Die in China
from Foreign Policy“Don’t you dare kill my project.”
My phone interview with a senior official at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) had started with bland, yet polite, responses. But it took a sharp turn toward audible agitation and...
Conversation
10.27.17
What’s the Takeaway from the 19th Party Congress?
The day after the Party Congress ended on October 24, Xi Jinping strode across the stage of the massive Great Hall of the People with the six newly announced members of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee, the body that rules China. What might...
Chinese Scientists Warn North Korea about Disaster Threat at Nuclear Test Site
Chinese geologists have warned their North Korean counterparts of a potential catastrophic collapse of a North Korean underground nuclear test site on China’s doorstep.
Ahead of Trump Trip, China Urges U.S. Not to Allow Taiwan President In
China urged the United States on Friday not to allow Taiwan’s president to travel through U.S. territory en route to the island’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a sensitive visit shortly ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing...
Why Trump's Fawning over China's Xi Jinping Probably Won't Work
A couple of weeks ago, The Economist put a drawing of Xi Jinping, the President of China, on its cover under a headline that said “The world’s most powerful man.” In an editorial in the same issue, the editors acknowledged that China is still no...
The Rise of China's Xi Jinping Told in Six Front Pages
The People’s Daily is the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, its front pages offering as clear a window as we can get into the message the party leadership want to transmit to its members.
China’s Global Ambitions Could Split the World Economy
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, many economists and policymakers assumed the world would become one happy, prosperous economy. Aided by the spread of capitalism and technology, countries would be increasingly knit together by trade, finance,...
North Korea’s Kim Congratulates China’s Xi after Congress
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a rare congratulatory message to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday at the end of China’s Communist Party Congress, wishing him “great success” as head of the nation, the North’s state media said.
Life Is about to Get Even Harder for Foreign Media in China
It is widely known that foreign journalists encounter various strict restrictions when reporting on China — particularly since Chinese President Xi Jinping came into office five years ago. But China just sent another strong message to the “...
Kushner Will Take a Diminished Role on Trump’s China Trip
Back in December 2016, the Chinese foreign minister traveled to Manhattan to meet privately with Jared Kushner for emergency discussions after President-elect Donald Trump’s unorthodox phone call with the president of Taiwan.
Taiwan President Calls for Thaw in Ties with Mainland China
Taiwan and mainland China need to drop historical baggage to seek a breakthrough in cross-straits relations, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said in her first public comments since the Communist Party unveiled a new leadership line-up.
China’s Communist Party Has Come of Age – the West Should Wake Up
The Chinese Communist party congress displayed all the qualities beloved by Leninist institutions over the ages, of deep secrecy mixed with stern pageantry, leveraged in the service of reinforcing their leaders’ inviolate right to rule.
Inside China’s Secret ‘Magic Weapon’ for Worldwide Influence
On the Google map of Beijing there is an empty quarter, an urban block next to the Communist party’s leadership compound in which few of the buildings are named. At street level, the aura of anonymity is confirmed. Uniformed guards stand by grand...
The NYRB China Archive
10.26.17
Sexual Life in Modern China
from New York Review of BooksThroughout the late 1970s and 1980s, Chinese writers grappled with the traumas of the Mao period, seeking to make sense of their suffering. As in the imperial era, most had been servants of the state, loyalists who might criticize...
Xi Jinping Unveils China’s New Leaders but No Clear Successor
President Xi Jinping thrust China into a new era of strongman politics on Wednesday, unveiling a leadership team without a likely successor among the six officials who will help him rule for the next half decade.
Singapore’s Delicate Balancing Act between the US and China
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong may have been in Washington on Monday to consolidate his country's economic and political partnerships with the US, but he appeared to dedicate much of his time concentrating on another nation whose...
China Enshrines ‘Xi Jinping Thought.’ What Does That Mean?
Restoring China to greatness is a central message of “Xi Jinping Thought,” and a goal that has already guided policies to build up the military.
China’s Pursuit of Fugitive Businessman Guo Wengui Kicks Off Manhattan Caper Worthy of Spy Thriller
For months, Guo, from his self-imposed exile, had been using Twitter to make allegations of corruption against senior Chinese officials and tycoons.
Xi Jinping's Leninist Quest for a Dynasty Inspires Congressional Love-In
While the explosion of sycophancy over China’s president may seem almost comical, his reign will have ramifications far beyond the country’s borders
Which Industries Will China Set up in Xiongan, the President's Dream City?
Appointment of banking regulator to key role would boost confidence that the shrinking reform camp will still be able to influence policy
Why China’s Xi Jinping is Unlikely to Anoint a Successor
Hu Chunhua and Chen Miner unlikely to win promotion to Communist Party’s top decision-making body
Dark Horses, Sure Bets: Who Could Rule China in the Next five Years (and Beyond)
In the world's most populous nation, seven men sit atop 1.4 billion people.
China’s Party Congress Brings Crackdown on Critics, Nightclubs and Airbnb
President Xi Jinping is sending a stern message to China and the world: I am in charge, and nothing can stand in my way.
China Warns US to Drop Its Bias after Tillerson’s ‘Blunt’ Message
Beijing warned the United States to drop its bias against China after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington wanted to “dramatically deepen” ties with New Delhi to counter China’s influence in Asia.
China’s Reform Hopefuls Watch for Names. Only One May Matter.
A decade ago, this city in southeastern China had a reputation as one of the country’s grimmest, with smoggy skies, chronic traffic jams and streams so foul that they had to be paved over to contain the stench.
China’s "Rogue Aid" to Africa Isn't as Much or as Controversial as We Thought
A decade ago, a New York Times columnist coined the term “rogue aid” to describe China’s financial assistance in the developing world: nontransparent, nondemocratic, and above all self-interested. Since then, the label has stuck.
Move over, America. China Now Presents Itself as the Model ‘Blazing a New Trail’ for the World.
American presidents are fond of describing their nation as a “city on a hill” — a shining example for other nations to follow. But China is now officially in the business of styling itself as another polestar for the world, with a very different...
Xi Jinping: China's President ‘to Get Own Political Theory’
It will be known as “Xi Jinping Thought” and has 14 principles, the agency says.
Viewpoint
10.19.17
Could Xi Jinping Stay in Power After He Retires? Here’s How Deng Xiaoping Did It
It was the worst kept secret in Chinese politics. From 1978 until his death in 1997, Deng Xiaoping was Beijing’s ultimate decider, even though he never held any of the top official titles in this period: not general secretary of...
How Xi’s Redefinition of Deng Xiaoping’s Guiding Principle Could Change China’s Policy Course for Decades to Come
President Xi Jinping on Wednesday redefined the “principal contradiction” faced by Chinese people, signalling a shift in the country’s development focus for the years, if not decades, ahead from unbridled economic growth to better quality...
China Is Quietly Reshaping the World
The Pakistani town of Gwadar was until recently filled with the dust-colored cinderblock houses of about 50,000 fishermen. Ringed by cliffs, desert, and the Arabian Sea, it was at the forgotten edge of the earth. Now it’s one centerpiece of China...
China Vows to Scrap Secret Interrogations of Communist Party Members
China’s ruling Communist Party will scrap the practice of secretive interrogations known as “shuanggui”, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday, part of broader reforms of its anti-corruption architecture.
China’s Challenges Abroad: How Do You Solve a Problem Like North Korea?
The importance of the Chinese Communist Party’s 19th party congress to the future of Xi Jinping’s leadership and the direction of China has paralyzed policy debates on many issues, including North Korea. The paralysis has persisted despite the...
Xi Jinping Opens China's Party Congress, His Hold Tighter Than Ever
When Xi Jinping strode out in the Great Hall of the People five years ago as China’s new leader, his tight smile barely hid the atmosphere of smoldering crisis.