Ahead of Its Centennial, the Chinese Communist Party Frets Over Unsanctioned Takes on Its History

By Hans van de Ven on May 14, 2021

On July 1, the Chinese Communist Party will commemorate its founding in Shanghai one hundred years ago. Unsurprisingly, Beijing is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that nothing untoward takes place in the run-up to the great day. On April 9, the Reporting Center for Illegal and Unhealthy Information, a division of the Cyberspace Administration, which oversees and regulates China’s Internet, announced that it had launched a new facility on its portal to fight “historical nihilism.” Chinese citizens concerned about online posts that “distort the history of the Party [or] of New China,” “attack the Party’s leadership or ideology,” or “slander heroic martyrs”—as China’s current leaders deploy the term—would now enjoy a convenient way to “enthusiastically report harmful information [and] work together to maintain a healthy network ecology.” The Center would also provide a phone hotline and a web address for the reporting of such historical nihilism.

Police Issue Administrative Warning to Australian NGO, Global Times Reports

on May 13, 2021

According to the Global Times, local public security officials in Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province issued an administrative warning to Australia-based non-profit Nying-Jey Projects in April for operating in the area without permission. It is not clear from the wording of the Global Times article whether police censured the NGO for failing to register a representative office or for failing to file for a temporary activity.

Leo Carter

on May 12, 2021

Leo Carter is a Director at Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel. He works with policy specialists and Fortune 500 companies on issues of overseas investment, U.S.-China trade, and global technology policy.

Prior to joining RHGM full-time in 2018, Carter worked in the international NGO sector on international illicit trade and transnational environmental issues. He also worked for several years as an educator and administrator and helped found an international education consulting firm in Changsha, China.

Carter received his Master’s degree in Global Policy Studies from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin, where he focused on international environmental law, Chinese foreign policy, and U.S.-China relations. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Rice University in Houston, TX.

Emily Weinstein

on May 12, 2021

Emily Weinstein is a Research Analyst at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), focused on Chinese innovation and domestic S&T policies and development. Before joining CSET, Weinstein was an Analyst at Pointe Bello, a strategic intelligence firm, where she conducted research on Chinese domestic and foreign policy. Her writing has appeared in Foreign Policy, Lawfare, the University of Nottingham’s Asia Dialogue, Global Taiwan Brief, Jamestown Foundation’s China Brief, and the Project 2049 Institute’s Asia Eye Blog. She holds an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Asian Studies from the University of Michigan.

What Should China Do about Its Aging Population?

A ChinaFile Conversation

By Wang Feng, Karen Thornber & more on May 6, 2021

Though it has yet to be released, China’s latest ten-year census is certain to confirm what demographers have warned of for years: A labor crisis looms as the fertility rate remains low and the country ages at a dangerous speed. Five years after the country reversed its one-child policy to allow—and encourage—couples to to have two children, there is little to suggest it has had the intended effect. While the fertility rate increased slightly the year after the new policy went into effect, it has declined ever since and remains below replacement rate. Economic constraints, insufficient workplace and government support for parents (particularly mothers), and, likely, decades of messaging extolling the benefits of raising a single child have kept birth rates stubbornly low. At the same time, health advances have China’s elderly living longer than ever. In 2000, those 65 and older made up 7 percent of the population; by 2019, that figure had reached 12.57 percent. This demographic imbalance will have major implications for the country’s labor force, along with its ability to grow its economy.

Ye Liu

on May 5, 2021

Ye Liu is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of International Development, King’s College London. Her research focuses on the long-term impacts of China’s one-child policy on women’s life chances, family formation, and intergenerational relationships. She is currently writing a book manuscript about siblingless urban women from the one-child generation, and on how patriarchy still holds those women back during their adult life including transitions to the labor market, marriage, and motherhood. She is also the author of Higher Education, Meritocracy and Inequality in China (Springer 2016).

Wang Feng

on May 5, 2021

Wang Feng is a Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine, and an Adjunct Professor of Sociology and Demography at Fudan University in Shanghai. He has done extensive research on global social and demographic changes, comparative population and social history, and social inequality, with a focus on China. He is the author of multiple books, and his research articles have been published in venues including Population and Development Review, Demography, Science, The Journal of the Economics of Aging, The Journal of Asian Studies, The China Journal, and International Migration Review. He has served on expert panels for the United Nations and the World Economic Forum, and as a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy. His work and views have appeared in media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Financial Times, The Guardian, The Economist, NPR, CNN, BBC, and others.

New Data Show Hong Kong’s National Security Arrests Follow a Pattern

By Lydia Wong & Thomas Kellogg on May 3, 2021

In the nine months since the Hong Kong National Security Law was passed, more than 90 people have been arrested under the new legislation. Though they have been charged with various breaches of national security ranging from inciting secession to terrorism, their primary crime appears to be peaceful criticism of the government. A closer look at the arrests under the NSL or conducted by the newly-created National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police paints a clearer picture of how authorities in Hong Kong have implemented the new law, and what they might hope to achieve.