Viewpoint
08.02.18
Remaking China’s Civil Society in the Xi Jinping Era
Given his past animosity towards civil society, Xi’s actions have been seen by some as moving China towards a new form of totalitarianism and a closing of the space for civil society. I would argue instead that we should see Xi’s ascendancy,...
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01.26.18Exclusive: China to Name Harvard-Trained Liu He as Vice Premier Overseeing Economy - Sources
Reuters
China is set to name Liu He, a Harvard-trained economist who advises President Xi Jinping, as a vice premier overseeing the economy and financial sector, five sources familiar with the development said.
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01.19.18China to Enshrine Xi's Thought into State Constitution Amid National 'Fervor'
Reuters
China’s ruling Communist Party will enshrine President Xi Jinping’s political thought into the country’s constitution, state media said on Friday, further solidifying his power following its addition last year to the party constitution.
The NYRB China Archive
01.18.18
The Red Emperor
from New York Review of Books
This fall, the Nineteenth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (C.C.P.) gave proof that during his five years as general secretary Xi Jinping has become the most powerful leader of China since Mao Zedong died in 1976. Most observers, Chinese and...
The NYRB China Archive
01.06.18
‘The Biggest Taboo’
from New York Review of Books
One of China’s most influential artists is forty-eight-year-old Qiu Zhijie. A native of southern China’s Fujian province, Qiu studied art in the eastern city of Hangzhou before moving to Beijing in 1994 to pursue a career as a contemporary artist...
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12.20.17China to USA: 'Stop Deliberately Distorting' Our Global Strategy
CNBC
China hit back at the U.S. after it branded the East Asian giant a competitor, accusing it of distorting the country's intentions and adopting a "Cold War" mentality.
11.30.17
Social Organizations and the 19th Party Congress
Neither the 19th Party Congress political report (issued in October 2017) nor the 18th Party Congress political report (issued in November 2012) actually use the term “non-governmental organization” (非政府组织), nor do they specifically address...
Viewpoint
11.17.17
China and the United States Are Equals. Now What?
Donald Trump’s Asia trip was historic in one respect: it belatedly focused American attention on the competition between the United States and China for global primacy. China has risen, the era of uncontested American leadership has ended, and any...
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...
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10.27.17China’s Global Ambitions Could Split the World Economy
Bloomberg
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, and...
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10.26.17Taiwan President Calls for Thaw in Ties with Mainland China
South China Morning Post
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.
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10.26.17Inside China’s Secret ‘Magic Weapon’ for Worldwide Influence
Financial Times
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...
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10.25.17Xi Jinping Unveils China’s New Leaders but No Clear Successor
New York Times
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.
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10.24.17China Enshrines ‘Xi Jinping Thought.’ What Does That Mean?
New York Times
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.
Viewpoint
10.21.17
The Ayes Have It
On April 1, 1969, delegates to the Ninth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party convened in the Great Hall of the People on the western flank of Tiananmen Square. The hall had been constructed as one of the Ten Grand Edifices 十大建築 hastily...
Viewpoint
10.20.17
Mao Wished He Could Upend the World Order. Does Xi?
In his October 18 speech opening the 19th Party Congress, Chinese Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping cautiously embraced the future. Eyeing thousands of Party delegates, Xi spoke for three-and-a-half hours about turning China into a “great modern...
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10.20.17Xi Jinping's Leninist Quest for a Dynasty Inspires Congressional Love-In
Guardian
While the explosion of sycophancy over China’s president may seem almost comical, his reign will have ramifications far beyond the country’s borders
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10.20.17China’s Party Congress Brings Crackdown on Critics, Nightclubs and Airbnb
New York Times
President Xi Jinping is sending a stern message to China and the world: I am in charge, and nothing can stand in my way.
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10.19.17China’s Reform Hopefuls Watch for Names. Only One May Matter.
New York Times
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.
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10.19.17Xi Jinping: China's President ‘to Get Own Political Theory’
BBC
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 the Chinese...
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10.18.17How Xi’s Redefinition of Deng Xiaoping’s Guiding Principle Could Change China’s Policy Course for Decades to Come
South China Morning Post
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 expansion...
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10.18.17China Vows to Scrap Secret Interrogations of Communist Party Members
Reuters
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.
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10.18.17Xi Jinping Opens China's Party Congress, His Hold Tighter Than Ever
New York Times
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.
Viewpoint
10.17.17
Stein Ringen: ‘The Truth About China’
Democracies have found it difficult to deal with the great dictatorships. So now with China. The first difficulty is to recognize just what we are up against, and to avoid wishful thinking.In his first five years, Xi Jinping has reshaped the Chinese...
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10.17.17A Dazzling Spectacle of China's Totalitarianism
Washington Post
When the Congress of the Chinese Communist Party convenes in Beijing on Wednesday, the world will be served up a dazzling spectacle of power and procedure.
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10.17.17Delegates to Party Congress Highly Representative: Report
Xinhua
The presidium of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held its first meeting on Tuesday afternoon, approving a report on the examination of delegates’ qualifications by the delegate credentials committee.
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10.17.17Exile Guo Wengui Casts Shadow over China's Party Congress
Financial Times
If anyone thought that what happens in the Chinese Communist party stays in the Chinese Communist party, a determined gadfly ensconced in New York has proven them wrong.
Viewpoint
10.16.17
Why Do We Keep Writing About Chinese Politics As if We Know More Than We Do?
In the coming weeks, every major Western newspaper and many top China analysts will be making strong claims about Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s political position in the wake of the 19th Party Congress. These reports will build off years of tea-leaf...
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10.16.17Guo Wengui, the Maverick Chinese Billionaire Who Threatens to Crash Xi’s Party
Guardian
He paints himself as the Che Guevara of Chinese crony capitalism, a billionaire insurgent vowing to bring down the system from the comfort of his $68m New York home.
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10.16.17China Stands at ‘a New Historic Starting Point,’ Communist Party Says
CNBC
China is boasting of its growing economic and political development as the country comes to a standstill for the once-every-five-years Communist Party Congress.
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10.16.17China's Pollution Crackdown Is Gaining Momentum
Bloomberg
That political will overlaps with an economic need to rein in surplus production of steel, aluminum and other basic materials after years of over-investment. How and when that capacity gets replaced will be a key factor in the economy’s performance...
Conversation
10.16.17
What to Watch at China’s Party Congress
The Chinese Communist Party’s 19th Party Congress, a hugely important political meeting usually held once every five years, will begin on October 18 in Beijing. Like many events involving China’s ruling party, the most important decisions and...
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10.11.17The Communist Party Ghostwriters Who Wrote the Book on Xi Jinping
South China Morning Post
The call came in 2015. He Yiting, a vice-chairman of the training ground for top Communist Party cadres, was given a mission that would take the next two years of his life.
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10.11.17China's Xi Looks Set to Keep Right-Hand Man on Despite Age
Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to retain his right-hand man, the graft-buster Wang Qishan, in a senior position at a key Communist Party Congress this month even though he has reached retirement age, according to a majority of people with...
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10.11.17China Names New Leaders of Anti-Corruption Agencies at Financial Regulators
South China Morning Post
China’s Communist Party has named new top officials to lead anti-corruption agencies at the country’s banking and insurance regulators as it makes final preparations for a twice-a-decade party congress later this month.
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10.09.17China Congress: Military Facelift a Sign of Bigger Changes
BBC
Of the many noteworthy developments that have characterised Chinese President Xi Jinping's first five-year term, none stands out as much as military reform, and this reveals a great deal about the coming political trajectory in China, writes...
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10.06.17Does Chinese Leader Xi Jinping Plan to Hang on to Power for More Than 10 Years?
South China Morning Post
The leader of China’s Communist Party, Xi Jinping, will begin a second five-year term this month. Many observers say it’s unlikely to be his last.
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10.05.17Why the Rest of Asia Is Worried about China's Big Communist Confab
Forbes
Not sure whether China will be nice to self-ruled Taiwan? Wait until after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party. What’s in store for the hotly disputed, resource-rich South China Sea, where Beijing has taken a military and technological...
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10.05.17Communist Party Expels Former High-Flyer Sun Zhengcai in Countdown to Key Congress
South China Morning Post
Former political star Sun Zhengcai has been expelled from China’s Communist Party and will face prosecution, state media reported on Friday – two months after his shock downfall and just weeks before a key five-yearly leadership reshuffle.
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10.04.17What We Know about China’s 19th Party Congress and the Possible Economic Fallout
Forbes
On October 18, China will hold its 19th National Party Congress, which will provide broad indications for economic policy in the coming years. While it has been projected that there will be significant changes among the top party members, President...
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10.03.17The Curious Career Paths of China’s Public-Sector Bosses
Financial Times
The official heroes of China’s state-sector reform program range from dedicated anti-graft investigators, who have purged dozens of allegedly corrupt executives over recent years, to strategically minded administrators determined to create a stable...
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09.28.17Leaving Nothing to Chance, China Increases Security, Social Control before Congress
Reuters
China is tightening security for next month’s twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress, cancelling police leave in Beijing, limiting tourism to Tibet, and clamping down on the spread of political rumors.
Conversation
09.27.17
How are NGOs in China Faring under the New Law?
In September 2016, Beijing implemented a new law governing charities, which changed the ways domestic charitable organizations can register and fundraise. Then in January 2017, Beijing began implementation of a new law on the management of foreign...
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09.25.17Wang Qishan's Bannon Ties Fuel Talk of Second Term
Financial Times
The recent secret meeting between the godfather of the US “alt right” movement and the Chinese Communist party’s ruthless anti-graft tsar was consistent with Beijing’s rapidly growing interest in US economic nationalism.
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09.18.17China to Amend Party Constitution at October Congress
Reuters
China’s ruling Communist Party is expected to amend its constitution at a key party congress next month, state media said on Monday, in a sign that President Xi Jinping aims to enshrine his guiding ideological doctrine in the charter.
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09.08.17Sweeping Change in China's Military Points to More Firepower for Xi
Reuters
China’s military is preparing a sweeping leadership reshuffle, dropping top generals, including two that sources say are under investigation for corruption. The changes would make room for President Xi Jinping to install trusted allies in key...
Conversation
09.06.17
China’s Communist Party Is About to Meet. Here’s What You Should Know.
The Chinese Communist Party will hold its 19th Party Congress on October 18, marking the end of the first term of General Secretary Xi Jinping. In a leadership reshuffle, Xi is expected to promote allies to the Party’s key decision-making body, the...
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08.31.17CPC Expected to Convene 19th National Congress on Oct. 18
Xinhua
One of China's most important political events, the key five-yearly congress will decide the new leadership line-up.