Massive Security Operation Underway in Hong Kong as China's No. 3 Pays a Visit
on May 17, 2016
Zhang Dejiang began his visit by promising to listen to all sectors of society's views.
Mari Bastashevski
on May 17, 2016
Mari Bastashevski is a photographer, writer, and researcher. Her installations combine texts, images, and documents to explore how corporate power and secrecy within systems of state contribute to the perpetuation of armed conflicts and conflicts of power between citizens and authorities.
Since 2010, Bastashevski has been working on “State Business,” an interdisciplinary investigative work that maps the expansion of the commercial cyber-surveillance industry, the rise of private military contractors in the Horn of Africa, and simultaneous transfers of weapons to opposing sides in regional armed conflicts. Her other ongoing series, “It’s Nothing Personal,” is a collection of PR material produced by global surveillance firms juxtaposed against the testimonies of those directly affected by their technologies. Her 2014 project, “Empty With a Whiff of Blood and Fumes,” addresses the nexus of money, power, and organized crime in Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2010, Bastashevski worked in the Russian North Caucasus on “File-126,” a work about the mass abduction of civilians under the guise of a counterterrorism campaign.
Her works have been exhibited at Musée de l’Elysée, HKW Berlin, Art Souterrain, Noorderlicht, the Open Society Foundations, Polaris Gallery, and East Wing, and have been published by Prix Pictet, Time Magazine, The New York Times, Courrier International, Le Monde, IBTimes, and VICE, amongst others. She was a finalist for the first edition of the Prix Elysée, held a 2011 residency at the Cité des Arts, and was awarded a Magnum Emergency Grant in 2012. In 2016, she was named a Yale World Fellow, and concluded her latest project, as an artist-in-residence aboard a commercial container ship. Bastashevski is represented by Galerie Polaris in Paris, France and by the Stead Bureau in the Hague, Netherlands.
Escalation in the South China Sea
A ChinaFile Conversation
on May 16, 2016
International tensions are rising over the shipping lanes and land formations in the South China Sea. Last week, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force scrambled fighter jets in response to a U.S. Navy ship sailing near the disputed Fiery Cross Reef. Sometime very soon, possibly this month, the United Nations is expected to resolve South China Sea claims by the Philippines, where the President elect, Rodrigo Duterte, is making offers to broker peace in the region. How much has the status quo changed and what will it mean for the counties involved?
China Challenged to Keep Yuan Stable as Dollar Rises
on May 16, 2016
PBOC must support growth while keeping currency valuable enough to stem flood of wealth abroad.
Hong Kong Man Arrested in China for Drone Disruption Plot: Xinhua
on May 16, 2016
The unnamed man, arrested in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, was a "sponsor" of Hong Kong's opposition camp.
Three Myths about China in Kenya
on May 16, 2016
Despite many problems, China’s involvement in Kenya is a net positive, as most trade relations in the world tend to be.
Little Blue Men: The Maritime Militias Pushing China's Claims
on May 16, 2016
Ostensibly civilian fishermen are ‘buzzing’ US navy ships and those of neighboring countries with rival territorial claims.
Tim Cook Visits China in Hopes Beijing Will Take Another Bite of the Apple
on May 16, 2016
The visit comes as the company’s prospects in its second largest market appear to be souring.
Malcolm Cook
on May 16, 2016
Malcolm Cook is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. At the Institute, Cook focuses on the Philippines and on major power security interests in Southeast Asia. Prior to moving to Singapore in 2014, he was the inaugural East Asia Program Director at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia from 2003-2010, and then the first Dean of the School of International Studies at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. Cook has lived and worked in Canada, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and Singapore.
China's Cultural Revolution: 50th Anniversary Unmarked by State Media
on May 16, 2016
How to handle the era's contentious legacy has remained a challenge to China's Communist rulers to this day.