U.S.-China Trade Talks End with Strong Demands, but Few Signs of a Deal
on May 4, 2018
The Beijing talks were unlikely to result in a comprehensive deal, but experts said they could still be a first step toward reaching some sort of accord.
No Regrets: Xi Says Marxism Still 'Totally Correct' for China
on May 4, 2018
The decision of China's ruling Communist Party to stick with the political theories of Karl Marx remains "totally correct", President Xi Jinping said ahead of the 200th anniversary of the German philosopher's birth
Chinese Lasers Injure Us Military Pilots in Africa, Pentagon Says
on May 4, 2018
Chinese personnel at the country's first overseas military base in Djibouti have been using lasers to interfere with US military aircraft at a nearby American base, activity that has resulted in injuries to US pilots
China’s Huge Celebrations of Karl Marx Are Not Really about Marxism
on May 4, 2018
What if Karl Marx lived long enough to see that one of his biggest fans in the world turned out to be the autocratic leader of a capitalist country where inequality and corruption prevail?
Behind Erik Prince’s China Venture
on May 4, 2018
The Blackwater founder has cut a lucrative security-training deal with Chinese insiders. But is it against U.S. interests?
Heungkyu Kim
on May 4, 2018
Heungkyu Kim is a visiting researcher at Georgetown University until August, 2018. He previously served as Director of the China Policy Institute and a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Ajou University in South Korea. He received his B.A. and M.A. in International Relations at Seoul National University and Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Michigan. His current assignments include a board membership on the National Security Council in the Blue House, and seats on the Presidential Commission on Policy Planing and the Presidential Unification Advisory Council. Kim has written more than 300 articles, books, and policy papers regarding Chinese politics and foreign policy, and security issues in Northeast Asia. In 2014, he won the NEAR Foundation Academic prize of the year in the area of Foreign Policy and Security.
High-Speed Empire
on May 3, 2018
Columbia Global Reports: The story of the world’s most audacious infrastructure project.
Less than a decade ago, China did not have a single high-speed train in service. Today, it owns a network of 14,000 miles of high-speed rail, far more than the rest of the world combined. Now, China is pushing its tracks into Southeast Asia, reviving a century-old colonial fantasy of an imperial railroad stretching to Singapore, and kicking off a key piece of the One Belt One Road initiative, which has a price tag of U.S.$1 trillion and reaches inside the borders of more than 60 countries.
The Pan-Asia Railway portion of One Belt One Road could transform Southeast Asia, bringing shiny Chinese cities, entire economies, and waves of migrants where none existed before. But if it doesn’t succeed, that would be a cautionary tale about whether a new superpower, with levels of global authority unimaginable just a decade ago, can pull entire regions into its orbit simply with tracks, sweat, and lots of money. Journalist Will Doig traveled to Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore to chronicle the dramatic transformations taking place—and to find out whether ordinary people have a voice in this moment of economic, political, and cultural collision.
Book Review:
John Delury, Global Asia (March 26, 2018)
Kirkus Reviews (March 3, 2018)
Related Reading:
“India Can Relax. There’s a Bigger Belt and Road Bet Than Pakistan,” Shuli Ren, Bloomberg, May 1, 2018
“IMF Lagarde Says Belt and Road Progressing but Warns of Debt Risks,” Reuters, April 11, 2018
“China’s High-Speed Train Plans in Southeast Asia Stumble,” Yukako Ono, Nikkei Asian Review, December 28, 2017
“The Belt and Road Initiative and China’s Southeast Asia Diplomacy,” Xue Li and Li Yongke, The Diplomat, November 28, 2017
“Is China’s Pan-Asia Rail Network a Drug Smuggler’s Dream?,” Zi Yang, Asia Times, June 23, 2017
“China Could Beat Japan on Bullet Train Projects in Southeast Asia,” Chu Daye, Global Times, February 8, 2017
Author’s Recommendations:
Hun Sen’s Cambodia, Sebastian Strangio (Yale University Press, 2014)
Wealth and Power: China’s Long March to the Twenty-first Century, Orville Schell and John Delury (Penguin Random House, 2013)
China in Ten Words, Yu Hua (Penguin Random House, 2012)
What Is Considered a “Temporary Activity”?
on May 3, 2018
There is no formal written Ministry of Public Security (MPS) definition of a temporary activity. This category appears largely to be a mechanism by which the MPS can remain apprised of foreign NGO activity in China, even if a Foreign NGO does not have a permanent presence in the mainland. However, Articles 3 and 5 of the Foreign NGO Law still apply to temporary activities.
Foreign NGO Registration and Filing Data Now Available through April 2018
Two New PSUs Sponsored Foreign NGOs in April, and We Added Human Rights to Our Categorization Scheme
on May 3, 2018
Statistics showing the number of foreign NGOs that have filed for temporary activities or established representative offices from January 2017 through April 2018 are now available as part of our suite of data visualizations.