Japan Slams China Over Close Encounter of Jets

Washington Post
Japan lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing on Wednesday after Chinese military jets flew near Japanese military aircraft over the East China Sea, an official said.

Vietnam Says China Moving Rig; China Denies Sending Warships

Ho Binh Minh and Ben Blanchard
Reuters
Vietnam said on Wednesday a Chinese oil rig at the centre of an increasingly bitter territorial dispute appeared to be on the move again, as China denied Vietnamese accusations that it had sent warships to the scene.

Commentary: China, India Strategic Partners, not Rivals

Chen Shilei
Xinhua
China and India have had more high level exchange this past year than in nearly 60 years because they know common development can only be achieved through a strategic cooperative partnership.

State Firms Barred from Vietnam Contract Bids

Keira Lu Huang
South China Morning Post
Vietnamese and Chinese ships have been clashing since China set up an oil rig near disputed island in the South China Sea last month. Tensions over the move caused anti-China riots in Vietnam.

China Under-Reports Defence Spending, Says US

BBC
China has under-reported its 2014 defense spending by about 20%, according to an annual report put out by the US defense department.

Media

06.05.14

A Time-Lapse Map of Protests Sweeping China in 1989

Twenty-five years ago in the southern Chinese province of Hunan, a group of small-town high school students listening to shortwave radio heard news of a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators nearly 1,000 miles away in the capital of...

Exiled Tiananmen Leader Slips into China

Andrew Jacobs
New York Times
Zhou Fengsuo, 47, a student leader in 1989, spent two days in the capital—visiting Tiananmen Square and a detention center where his friends are being held—before the authorities caught him on June 3.

The Ghosts of Tiananmen Square

Ian Johnson from New York Review of Books
Every spring, an old friend of mine named Xu Jue makes a trip to the Babaoshan cemetery in the western suburbs of Beijing to lay flowers on the tombs of her dead son and husband. She always plans her visit for April 5, which is the holiday of Pure...

Viewpoint

06.03.14

China’s Maritime Provocations

Susan Shirk
Last weekend I attended the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual gathering of Asian, European, and American defense and military officials and strategic experts in Singapore hosted by the London International Institute of Strategic Studies. China sent a...

Culture

06.03.14

A Visit to Hong Kong’s June 4th Museum

Amy Chung
Every Saturday in Hong Kong, volunteer curator and translator C.S. Liu helps guide visitors through the first permanent museum dedicated to the history of the Tiananmen Square massacre of June 4, 1989 in Beijing.At the entrance to the June 4th...

Features

06.03.14

Voices from Tiananmen

This Wednesday marks the 25th anniversary of the deadly suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen protests on June 4. It has been a quarter of a century of enormous change in China, but one key fact of life in that country has not changed: its leaders...

The Tanks and the People

Liao Yiwu from New York Review of Books
Twenty-five years ago, before the Tiananmen massacre, my father told me: “Son, be good and stay at home, never provoke the Communist Party.”My father knew what he was talking about. His courage had been broken, by countless political campaigns...

Tales of Army Discord Show Tiananmen Square in a New Light

Andrew Jacobs and Chris Buckley
New York Times
In a stunning rebuke to his superiors, Major General Xu Qinxian said the Tiananmen protests were a political problem and should be settled through negotiations, not force.

Malaysia Seeks Code of Conduct for South China Sea

Jason Ng
Wall Street Journal
Malaysia urged a rapid conclusion to creating a long-stalled code of conduct in the South China Sea, as tensions grow over conflicting territorial ambitions in Asian waters between Beijing and neighboring countries.

Conversation

06.02.14

25 Years On, Can China Move Past Tiananmen?

Xu Zhiyuan, Arthur Waldron & more
Xu Zhiyuan:Whenever the massacre at Tiananmen Square twenty-five years ago comes up in conversation, I think of Faulkner’s famous line: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”Some believe that China’s economic growth and rise to international...

‘You Won’t Get Near Tiananmen!’: Hu Jia on the Continuing Crackdown

Ian Johnson from New York Review of Books
Hu Jia is one of China’s best-known political activists. He participated in the 1989 Tiananmen protests as a fifteen-year-old, studied economics, and then worked for environmental and public health non-governmental organizations. A practicing...

Reports

06.01.14

Decoding China’s Emerging “Great Power” Strategy in Asia

Christopher K. Johnson, Ernest Z. Bower, Victor D. Cha, Michael J. Green, Matthew P. Goodman
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
The course charted by China’s reemergence as a great power over the next few decades represents the primary strategic challenge for the U.S.-Japan security alliance and for the East Asian security landscape writ large. If China’s economic, military...

Abe’s Attempt to Corner China Through Diplomacy

Clint Richards
Diplomat
Japan is reaching out to Southeast Asia and seeking to control the discourse around its new security policy.

China is Stealing a Strategic March on the US

David Pilling
Financial Times
Bit by bit Beijing is creating new facts, and with each incident, it throws down the gauntlet.

China’s Two Problems with the Uyghurs

Lisa Ross
Los Angeles Review of Books
Beijing has two problems with the Uyghurs, the Turkic-speaking, Central Asian people from China’s northwestern Xinjiang region. One problem is terrorism; the other problem is civil rights.

Excerpts

05.28.14

‘Staying’—An Excerpt from ‘People’s Republic of Amnesia’

Louisa Lim
Zhang Ming has become used to his appearance startling small children. Skeletally thin, with cheeks sunk deep into his face, he walked gingerly across the cream-colored hotel lobby as if his limbs were made of glass. On his forehead were two large,...

Wide Support on Chinese Social Media for Boat Attack

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
After a Chinese fishing boat rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat near a Chinese deep sea oil rig placed in waters contested by both countries, social media reaction appeared overwhelmingly supportive — even bellicose.

China Tensions Grow After Vietnamese Ship Sinks in Clash

Jane Perlez
New York Times
Hair-trigger tensions in the South China Sea escalated as China and Vietnam traded accusations over the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel in the vicinity of a Chinese oil rig parked in disputed waters off Vietnam’s coast.

Close Call as China Scrambles Fighter Jets on Japanese Aircraft in Disputed Territory

Tim Hume
CNN
The fly-bys occurred in airspace claimed by both countries as part of their "air defense identification zones," while China carried out joint maritime exercises with Russia at the weekend.

China warns Japan, Philippines Accuses China in Maritime Spat

Sui-Lee Wee and Manuel Mogato
Reuters
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, rejecting rival claims to parts of it from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

Residents Try to Move On After Terrorist Attack in China

Andrew Jacobs
New York Times
By the time the vehicles exploded at opposite ends of the block, 43 people were dead and more than 90 people were wounded, according to an updated casualty list.

The Smooth Path to Pearl Harbor

Rana Mitter from New York Review of Books
In mid-February, as part of the plans for his official visit to Germany, Chinese President Xi Jinping asked to visit one of Berlin’s best-known sites: Peter Eisenman’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The request was declined when it became...

Vietnam PM Says Considering Legal Action Against China Over Disputed Waters

Rosemarie Francisco and Manuel Mogato
Reuters
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said his government was considering various "defense options" against China, including legal action, following the deployment of a Chinese oil rig to South China Sea waters Hanoi also claims.

China and Russia: Best Frenemies

Economist
Does the new collaboration between Russia and China amount to a renewal of the alliance against America?

China Threatens Security Checks for Tech Firms After U.S. Indictments

Christopher Buckley
New York Times
China will establish new procedures to assess potential security problems with Internet technology and services used by sectors “related to national security and the public interest.”

31 Dead, 90 Injured in China Marketplace Bombing

Didi Tang
Associated Press
Assailants in two SUVs plowed through shoppers while setting off explosives at a busy street market in China's volatile northwestern region of Xinjiang, killing 31 people and injuring more than 90, local officials said.

China’s Xi Issues Veiled Warning to Asia Over Military Alliances

John Ruwitch
Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared to warn some Asian nations about strengthening military alliances to counter China, saying this would not benefit regional security.

China Accuses U.S. of Hypocrisy Amid Charges of Economic Espionage

Massoud Hayoun
Al Jazeera
Unresolved allegations that the U.S. National Security Agency spied on a Chinese telecoms giant Huawei have resurfaced amid growing anger from Chinese officials over accusations that the PLA hacked American databases.

China summons U.S. Ambassador Over Indictment Against Chinese Military Officers

Xinhua
China's Assistant Foreign Minister summoned U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus to lodge a complaint over a U.S. indictment against five Chinese military officers.

Tiananmen: How Wrong We Were

Jonathan Mirsky from New York Review of Books
Twenty-five years ago to the day I write this, I watched and listened as thousands of Chinese citizens in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square dared to condemn their leaders. Some shouted “Premier Li Peng resign.” Even braver ones cried “Down with Deng...

Conversation

05.19.14

Is This the Best Response to China’s Cyber-Attacks? 

Robert Daly, Chen Weihua & more
On Monday, the United States Attorney General Eric Holder accused China of hacking American industrial giants such as U.S. Steel and Westinghouse Electric, making unprecedented criminal charges of cyper-espionage against Chinese...

Anger Grows in Vietnam Over Dispute With China

Mike Ives and Thomas Fuller
New York Times
Thousands of workers rampaged through an industrial area in southern Vietnam in what reportedly began as protests against China’s stationing of an oil rig in disputed waters off of Vietnam’s coast.

Protestors Torch Factories in Southern Vietnam as China Protests Escalate

Euan McKirdy
CNN
Properties in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) I & II in Binh Duong were targeted by thousands of protesters demonstrating over China's deployment of an oil rig in disputed waters.

Philippines Challenges China Over Disputed Atoll

Keith Bradsher
New York Times
The Philippines has protested signs of land reclamation by China aimed at expanding a disputed coral atoll near the southern Philippines, the latest in a series of disputes pitting China against its neighbors.

China Tightens Security in Beijing

BBC
China has deployed armed police patrol vehicles in Beijing after three attacks at transport hubs around the country.

China Says Vietnam Efforts to Rope in Others on Spat Will Fail

Ben Blanchard and Manuel Mogato
Reuters
Tensions rose in the resource-rich South China Sea last week after China positioned a giant oil rig in an area also claimed by Vietnam. Each country accused the other of ramming its ships near the disputed Paracel Islands.

Conversation

05.09.14

The China-Vietnam Standoff: How Will It End?

Daniel Kliman, Ely Ratner & more
Daniel Kliman:Five thousand miles from Ukraine, off the coast of Vietnam, China is taking a page from Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s playbook. Beijing’s recent placement of a huge oil drilling rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea leverages...

The China Challenge

Ian Johnson from New York Review of Books
In 1890, an undistinguished U.S. Navy captain published a book that would influence generations of strategists. Alfred Thayer Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783 posited that great nations need potent, blue-water navies backed...

China Denies Preparing for North Korean Collapse

Tania Brannigan
Guardian
Experts say leaked contingency plans, which include the detention of leaders and establishment of refugee camps, may be valid but do not suggest that the alliance is weakening.

China Jails Man for Leaking Military Data

Marin Patience
BBC
News reports have not named the country which received the information leaked by a man surnamed Li in 23 classified documents, of which 13 were considered highly classified, state media said.

A New Kind of Spy

Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
New Yorker
Greg Chung worked on NASA’s space-shuttle program. Then, in 2010, he became the first American to be convicted of economic espionage. He was eager to help China: “He has a big heart,” his wife said.

China's 'Ordinary' Billionaire Behind Grand Nicaragua Canal Plan

Mathew Miller
Reuters
Wang Jing, the businessman behind Nicaragua's $50 billion Interoceanic Grand Canal, insistis he's not an agent of the Beijing government.

China Premier Arrives in Africa Eyeing Better Ties

Elias Meseret
Associated Press
China's Li Keqiang arrived Sunday in Ethiopia for a four-country tour of Africa, calling for deeper ties with his country and seeking to recast a relationship that has admittedly faced difficulties.

Obama in the Philippines: ‘Our Goal Is Not to Contain China’

Emily Rauhala
Time
The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement took eight months to negotiate but mere days to anger Beijing, which sees U.S. involvement in East Asia as interference despite President Obama's insistence the goal is not to "contain" China.

U.S., Philippines Sign Defense Pact Amid China Tensions

Joel Guinto, Margaret Talev and Phil...
Bloomberg
Philippine President Benigno Aquino is strengthening military ties with countries like the U.S. as it is embroiled in a territorial dispute with China over islands and shoals in the South China Sea.

China Releases Japanese Wartime Documents: State Media

Alexandra Harney
Reuters
The publication comes during a fraught period in Japan-China relations. Last week, Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines paid $29 million for the release of a ship seized by China over a dispute that dates back to the 1930s.

The Shadow over Obama’s Asia Trip: 3 Ways China Scares the U.S.

Ishaan Tharoor
Washington Post
The Balance of Power in the Pacific; China’s global footprint; and friendship with Russia

Obama: U.S. To Defend Japan In Territorial Disputes With China

Anthony Kuhn
NPR
President Obama is in Japan for the start of his four-nation Asia visit. The trip aims to assure U.S. allies that they're not forgotten, even as China gets more bullish with its neighbors.

China’s Police Will Carry Guns Unlike Any Others

James T. Areddy and FanFan Wang
Wall Street Journal
Arming regular beat patrols is a significant policy change for a nation with some of the world’s most restrictive gun laws.

China Court Frees Japanese Ship After Unprecedented Seizure

Chris Cooper and Kiyotaka Matsuda
Bloomberg
A Chinese court released a Japanese ship owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. after the cargo carrier paid compensation for the loss of two vessels leased from a Chinese company before the two countries went to war in 1937.

China Won’t Necessarily Observe New Conduct Code for Navies

Jeremy Page
Wall Street Journal
Code Approved This Week by 21 Naval Powers Isn't Legally Binding

America Should Step Back from the East China Sea Dispute

Wu Xinbo
New York Times
The Diaoyu Islands, which are of little real strategic or economic use, are hardly worth disrupting relations among the world’s three largest economies. It is time to put the issue back into a box.

A Role for Taiwan in Promoting Peace in the South China Sea

Bonnie Glaser
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Taiwan has a chance to set a positive example and chart a peaceful course in managing and eventually resolving East Asian maritime disputes.

Why Ukraine Crisis has China in a Bind

Christopher Chivvis and Bonny Lin
CNN
Concerns that Chinese hardliners could seek to use Crimea as a precedent for moves against disputed territories in the Asia-Pacific should not be overplayed.

China is Reportedly Screwing Up the Search For MH370

Jordan Sargent
Gawker
With a handful of countries still searching the Indian Ocean for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the one country annoying the others is China.