Conversation
05.28.24![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/55396_sm.jpg?itok=VapzWQlB)
The Future According to Xi and Putin
On May 16 and 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a state visit to China, where he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Xi has stood closely by Putin’s side since their announcement of the “no limits” partnership, and this does not look likely...
Features
03.01.24![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/55221_sm.jpg?itok=RuUVflNQ)
“There Is No CPEC in Gwadar, Except Security Check Posts”
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is one of the major spokes of Beijing’s multi-trillion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an ambitious attempt to remake global trade and transport infrastructure. CPEC’s terminus is Gwadar, a port...
Conversation
01.20.24![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/55151_sm.jpg?itok=6QFAhu7e)
Managing the Taiwan Election Aftermath
Lai Ching-te is now president-elect of Taiwan, after a hard-fought race in which Beijing made its preference for his opponents clear. Lai is an outspoken advocate for Taiwan’s sovereignty, though he has said he wants to keep the status quo with...
China in the World Podcast
07.20.23![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/54846_sm.jpg?itok=LYmNNKFB)
The War in Ukraine and China-Russia Relations
from Carnegie China
After more than one year of conflict, the Russia-Ukraine War continues to drag on. In May, China’s Special Representative for Eurasian Affairs, Li Hui, traveled throughout European capitals to discuss the potential for a “political settlement” of...
Conversation
06.16.23![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/54831_sm.jpg?itok=sx5oMgv4)
The Stakes of Antony Blinken’s Visit to Beijing
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China on June 18, after repeated delays of high-level meetings and amid ongoing tensions between the two countries. In November, U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping...
Notes from ChinaFile
06.07.23![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/54816_sm.jpg?itok=9TK7-nIs)
The U.S. May Be Overstating China’s Technological Prowess
China’s technological prowess is frequently invoked by U.S. policymakers hoping to get votes, attention, or enough bipartisan support to pass a bill. Competition with China was a central motivating factor in federal legislation like the CHIPS and...
Notes from ChinaFile
06.02.23![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/the_aps_john_pomfret_with_tiananmen_studentleaders_wang_dan_and_wuer_kaixi_.jpg?itok=tuz3u2Ik)
Covering Tiananmen
The Tiananmen Square crisis in 1989 was a turning point for China. Weeks of student-led demonstrations turned into the largest protest for political reform in the history of the People’s Republic. The bloody military crackdown that crushed the...
China in the World Podcast
04.13.23![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/54716_sm.jpg?itok=FiJCTGLb)
10 Years of The North Korea Challenge
from Carnegie China
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the China in the World Podcast, Carnegie China is launching a series of lookback episodes, using clips from previous interviews to put current international issues in context. This episode looks back on the...
Conversation
03.22.23![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/54696_sm.jpg?itok=8UMKCaBR)
Xi Jinping Goes to Moscow
On Wednesday, Xi Jinping returned to Beijing from Moscow following a three-day state visit at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. While the pair have met dozens of times in the past decade, this week’s talks have drawn unprecedented...
Notes from ChinaFile
02.04.23![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/chinese_spy_balloon_passing_southwest_of_charlotte_nc_on_the_morning_of_february_4_2023.jpeg?itok=wO5pT24G)
Straying off Course
On the evening of Friday February 3, about one day after news broke that a large balloon from China was surveilling the skies over Montana, ChinaFile’s Susan Jakes spoke with historian John Delury, whose recently published book, Agents of Subversion...
Conversation
12.16.22![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/54446_sm.jpg?itok=sy7pP4Il)
How Well Is China Advancing Its Interests in Southeast Asia?
Xi Jinping traveled to Southeast Asia last month to attend the G20 summit in Bali before moving on to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ meeting in Bangkok. The meetings came on the heels of Premier Li Keqiang’s...
China in the World Podcast
11.23.22![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/54386_sm.jpg?itok=reOqTHRg)
U.S.-China Dynamics in Southeast Asia
from Carnegie China
Paul Haenle speaks with Evan Laksmana about U.S.-China dynamics in Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian views of U.S. foreign policy in the region. Haenle and Laksmana touch on the role of ASEAN, the Quad, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, as...
Notes from ChinaFile
11.07.22![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/54341_syst_photo.blue_.jpg?itok=ye9OBTg4)
China’s Next Act
While discussions of U.S.-China relations tend to revolve around trade and national security, more focus ought to be given to issues of environmental sustainability, including health, and to emerging technology, argues the University of Pennsylvania...
China in the World Podcast
09.14.22![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/54226_sm.jpg?itok=4vjuot1f)
International Order and Disorder
from Carnegie China
The international order is shifting. Besides COVID-19 and supply chain disruptions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to major crises that threaten global stability. While the European Union, the United States, and their allies and partners...
Excerpts
09.06.22![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/ludwig_prandtl_theodore_von_karman_tsien_hsue-sen_sm.jpg?itok=d6pXfrYC)
The American-Trained Rocket Scientist Who Shaped China’s Surveillance System
The role Qian Xuesen would play in propelling China into a technological and ideological clash with the United States seems almost fated in retrospect. Born in Hangzhou in 1911, the year China’s last dynasty crumbled, Qian had traveled to the United...
China in the World Podcast
08.10.22![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/54086_sm.jpg?itok=xQBGn-TX)
The Strategic Importance of the Indo-Pacific
from Carnegie China
Spanning from East Africa to the West Coast of the United States, the Indo-Pacific is a complex region encompassing two oceans and countless islands and maritime powers. In this episode of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle speaks with...
Conversation
08.02.22![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/54151_sm.jpg?itok=FyaylUWl)
Pelosi in Taiwan
On the evening of August 2, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, landed in Taipei to begin an official visit. The trip, the first by a U.S. official of comparable rank in 25 years, came amid debate about how Beijing would...
Conversation
04.07.22![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/fp_russia-china_illustration.2.jpg?itok=yMG3H44S)
What Does Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine Mean for China-Russia Relations?
As Russia piles up casualties in Ukraine while its economy collapses at home, the democratic world appears—at least for now—more united than ever. Russian firms are scrambling to adjust to the country’s status as an international pariah, while big...
Conversation
03.02.22![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/53816_sm.jpg?itok=cno0kL3M)
China’s Calculus on the Invasion of Ukraine
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the response from much of the international community has been swift and coordinated, with sanctions, shipments of armaments, and loud condemnation. China, however, has stayed markedly apart. What does...
Excerpts
10.06.21![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/gettyimages-850092604.jpeg?itok=uogcrU5e)
The Man Behind Xi Jinping’s Foreign Policy
The daunting task of keeping up with Xi Jinping’s foreign policy ambitions fell to Wang Yi. Born in Beijing in 1953, the same year as Xi, Wang also spent a good chunk of his adolescence as a “sent down” youth during the Cultural Revolution, when he...
Conversation
09.28.21![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/gettyimages-1235261033.jpeg?itok=KB5Eldar)
How Could the U.S. Deter Military Conflict in the Taiwan Strait?
Last week, China flew 24 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. One of the largest incursions in recent years, the People’s Liberation Army flyover came a day after Taipei applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement...
Conversation
08.26.21![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/gettyimages-1234636690.jpeg?itok=nt7mWoaa)
What Does the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan Mean for China?
As China seeks to balance security concerns and financial considerations, a nation that has long espoused the principle of noninterference may find its foreign policy tested in coming months. What will be the challenges and opportunities for China...
Conversation
07.30.21![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/gettyimages-1302222215.jpeg?itok=jH-RC9oJ)
Will Beijing Invade Taiwan?
What, precisely, are Beijing’s plans for Taiwan? In recent years, there has been no small amount of saber rattling, with aggressive naval drills, aerial incursions, and warnings that force would be used for reunification if necessary. But given the...
Conversation
05.22.21![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/gettyimages-1172712699.jpg?itok=6yujTJz-)
How Should the U.S. Respond to China’s Military-Civil Fusion Strategy?
During Donald Trump’s presidency, the term “military-civil fusion” (MCF) came to feature prominently in U.S. officials’ characterizations of their concerns about China. While efforts to integrate China’s civilian and defense economies have been a...
Viewpoint
05.14.21![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/gettyimages-1208878826.jpeg?itok=jlEjYYMY)
Ahead of Its Centennial, the Chinese Communist Party Frets Over Unsanctioned Takes on Its History
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...
Viewpoint
04.01.21![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/gettyimages-1301591110.jpeg?itok=j5S7vOZL)
Will Protests against China Push Beijing to Intervene in Myanmar?
Angry with the results of the November election, which saw a landslide win for the ruling National League for Democracy party, Myanmar’s military claimed electoral fraud. On February 1, they seized power from the civilian government, rounding up...
China in the World Podcast
11.02.20![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/dmz_sm.jpg?itok=F2eiRTIm)
The Korean Peninsula after the U.S. Elections
from Carnegie China
The result of the upcoming U.S. presidential election will directly impact how the United States, China, and Russia approach issues on the Korean Peninsula. How would a second Trump or first Biden administration deal with North Korea? How do...
Conversation
06.03.20![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/52296_sm_0.jpg?itok=WCs5022Q)
Has COVID-19 Changed How China’s Leaders Approach National Security?
While the world is reeling from the cascading shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has continued a comparatively aggressive course in its foreign policy and security posture. Not only has it continued military and paramilitary activities in the...
China in the World Podcast
05.27.20![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/gettyimages-1222319371.jpg?itok=wD29KOdX)
Coronavirus and the Korean Peninsula
from Carnegie China
As nations confront the pandemic, rumors of Kim Jong-un’s death and a flurry of North Korean missile tests injected even more uncertainty in the international landscape. How do views in Washington, Seoul, and Beijing differ or align on North Korea?...
Viewpoint
05.21.20![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/52291_sm_3.jpg?itok=PmiAIpqt)
A New U.S. ‘Consensus’ on China May Not Be as Solid as It Appears
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought ties between Washington and Beijing to their lowest level since the countries normalized relations in 1979, with many observers warning that they have entered into either “a new Cold War” or at least “a new type of...
Conversation
05.19.20![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/52266_sm.jpg?itok=GyRo9QDY)
What Are the Right and the Wrong Ways for the U.S. to Support Taiwan?
What are the right and wrong ways for the U.S. to support Taiwan? Traditionally, America’s goals have been to deter the mainland from aggression and coercion, support Taiwan’s democratic system, strengthen economic ties, and help it maintain...
Conversation
01.08.20![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/view-guizhou-sys.jpg?itok=Hmt1tX4U)
China: The Year Ahead
As 2019 drew to a close, ChinaFile asked contributors to write about their expectations for China in 2020.
Depth of Field
12.31.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/youth_unemployment.jpg?itok=bax7Y-rg)
‘Nowhere to Dock’
from Yuanjin Photo
In 2019, Depth of Field showcased stories covering a range of topics: Shi Yangkun’s nostaglic exploration of China’s last collective villages, Zhu Lingyu’s careful and artisitic portrayal of survivors of sexual violence, and cities seen through the...
China in the World Podcast
12.11.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/xi-putin-sys_0.jpg?itok=xW0rX5jp)
Are China and Russia Getting Too Close for Comfort?
from Carnegie China
Discussion of U.S.-China-Russia relations often focuses on how American policy is driving Moscow and Beijing closer together. This analysis, however, ignores important factors limiting cooperation between China and Russia and preventing the two...
Conversation
12.09.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/china-solomon-sys.jpg?itok=pMKvqEBO)
What Does Beijing Want from the Pacific Islands?
In late September, Pacific Island countries the Solomon Islands and Kiribati switched their diplomatic allegiances from Taiwan to China. That month, a Beijing-based company signed a secretive deal granting it exclusive development rights for the...
Viewpoint
09.18.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/u.s.-china-talk-sys.jpg?itok=B3_hCq1u)
Beyond Hawks and Doves
Two recent documents—as well as the critiques they have elicited—furnish the basis for a more nuanced debate on U.S. policy towards China. First, on July 4, a group of roughly 100 figures from the policy, military, business, and academic communities...
Conversation
08.27.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/shenzhen_bulls_stock_exchange_sm.jpg?itok=kBoVWv87)
Can China’s Government Replace Hong Kong?
As the Hong Kong protests enter their fourth month with no end in sight, on August 18 Beijing announced that the nearby Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen would again become a new type of special economic zone. In a clear message to Hong Kong, the plan...
Conversation
08.20.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/51151_sm.jpg?itok=UjxFImUR)
What Would a Larger Chinese Presence Mean for the Middle East?
China’s steady expansion of its Middle East footprint and influence poses significant questions for U.S. policymakers. The Middle East has long been a battleground for strategic competition between both regional and global powers. Is it poised to...
Conversation
08.07.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/hk-protest-throw-sys.jpg?itok=FkLfPdof)
Will Hong Kong Unravel?
Beijing’s top official in Hong Kong, Wang Zhimin, called the protests a “life and death war” and compared them to the “color revolutions.” Coming a week after Hong Kong police charged 44 people with rioting and days after strikes paralyzed parts of...
Books
08.01.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/books/system/fravel-sys.jpg?itok=ybYaE3vG)
![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/assets/images/books/covers/fravel_active_defense_300dpi.jpg)
Active Defense
Princeton University Press: Since the 1949 Communist Revolution, China has devised nine different military strategies, which the People’s Liberation Army (P.L.A.) calls “strategic guidelines.” What accounts for these numerous changes? Active Defense offers the first systematic look at China’s military strategy from the mid-20th century to today. Exploring the range and intensity of threats that China has faced, M. Taylor Fravel illuminates the nation’s past and present military goals and how China sought to achieve them, and offers a rich set of cases for deepening the study of change in military organizations.Drawing from diverse Chinese-language sources, including memoirs of leading generals, military histories, and document collections that have become available only in the last two decades, Fravel shows why transformations in military strategy were pursued at certain times and not others. He focuses on the military strategies adopted in 1956, 1980, and 1993—when the P.L.A. was attempting to wage war in a new kind of way—to show that China has pursued major change in its strategic guidelines when there has been a significant shift in the conduct of warfare in the international system and when the Chinese Communist Party has been united.Delving into the security threats China has faced over the last seven decades, Active Defense offers a detailed investigation into how and why states alter their defense policies.{chop}
China in the World Podcast
07.18.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/modi-plane-sys.jpg?itok=ZC29H65m)
China-India Relations One Year After the Wuhan Summit
from Carnegie China
In May 2018, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in Wuhan for an informal summit that many say helped reset the relationship following the Doklam crisis. In this podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Rudra Chaudhuri, Director of...
Books
07.09.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/books/system/winston-lord-book-sys.jpg?itok=SjHCLXCW)
![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/assets/images/books/covers/kissinger_on_kissinger_full_size.jpg)
Kissinger on Kissinger
St. Martin’s Press: As National Security Advisor to Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger transformed America’s approach to diplomacy with China, the USSR, Vietnam, and the Middle East, laying the foundations for geopolitics as we know them today.Nearly 50 years later, escalating tensions between the U.S., China, and Russia are threatening a swift return to the same diplomatic game of tug-of-war that Kissinger played so masterfully. Kissinger on Kissinger is a series of faithfully transcribed interviews conducted by the elder statesman’s longtime associate, Winston Lord, which captures Kissinger’s thoughts on the specific challenges that he faced during his tenure as the National Security Agency, his general advice on leadership and international relations, and stunning portraits of the larger-than-life world leaders of the era. The result is a frank and well-informed overview of U.S. foreign policy in the first half of the 1970s.{chop}
The NYRB China Archive
06.27.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/tiananmen-ppl-back-sys.jpg?itok=J3boRlfl)
China’s ‘Black Week-end’
from New York Review of Books
When Chinese law professor Xu Zhangrun began publishing articles last year criticizing the government’s turn toward a harsher variety of authoritarianism, it seemed inevitable that he would be swiftly silenced. But then, remarkably, dozens of...
Media
06.11.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/tam-sys.jpg?itok=YI3c_i80)
ChinaFile Presents: Erasing History—Why Remember Tiananmen
On the evening of June 3, ChinaFile hosted a discussion on the Chinese government’s efforts to control, manipulate, and forestall remembrance of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and the bloody crackdown that ended them. Participating in the...
Books
05.10.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/books/system/book-oriana.jpg?itok=Cv7CGpGe)
![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/assets/images/books/covers/mastro-costs.jpg)
The Costs of Conversation
Cornell University Press: After a war breaks out, what factors influence the warring parties’ decisions about whether to talk to their enemy, and when may their position on wartime diplomacy change? How do we get from only fighting to also talking?In The Costs of Conversation, Oriana Skylar Mastro argues that states are primarily concerned with the strategic costs of conversation, and these costs need to be low before combatants are willing to engage in direct talks with their enemy. Specifically, Mastro writes, leaders look to two factors when determining the probable strategic costs of demonstrating a willingness to talk: the likelihood the enemy will interpret openness to diplomacy as a sign of weakness, and how the enemy may change its strategy in response to such an interpretation. Only if a state thinks it has demonstrated adequate strength and resiliency to avoid the inference of weakness, and believes that its enemy has limited capacity to escalate or intensify the war, will it be open to talking with the enemy.Through four primary case studies—North Vietnamese diplomatic decisions during the Vietnam War, those of China in the Korean War and Sino-Indian War, and Indian diplomatic decision making in the latter conflict—The Costs of Conversation demonstrates that the costly conversations thesis best explains the timing and nature of countries’ approach to wartime talks, and therefore when peace talks begin. As a result, Mastro’s findings have significant theoretical and practical implications for war duration and termination, as well as for military strategy, diplomacy, and mediation.{chop}
The China Africa Project
04.15.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/50326_sm.jpg?itok=e4rwpwI5)
A Conservative American View on U.S.-China-Africa Relations
Colonel Chris Wyatt, Director of African Studies at the U.S. Army War College, joins Eric and Cobus to discuss a conservative U.S. foreign policy outlook regarding Africa and his views on Chinese engagement on the continent.
China in the World Podcast
04.15.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/u.s.-china-meeting-sys.jpg?itok=Qe_2-VGs)
Susan Thornton on a Crisis in U.S.-China Relations
from Carnegie China
Over three years into Trump’s presidency, U.S.-China trade and economic issues remain unresolved while security concerns are creeping into the bilateral agenda. Thornton contends that Washington and Beijing should quickly agree on an initial trade...
Conversation
04.08.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/xi-europe-trip-sys.jpg?itok=gL_Eol01)
How Should Europe Handle Relations with China?
When Xi Jinping visited Europe in late March, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker portrayed the future of EU-China relations in mixed terms: “We are strategic partners, and yes, rivals,” he said, “but competition among us is a good...
Conversation
03.01.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/50126_sm.jpg?itok=b1mVuwvw)
The Future of China-U.S. Military Relations
The U.S.-China military relationship has been relatively stable over the past few years. Both sides’ leaders recognize that effective relations between the two militaries help prevent crises and stabilize the broader bilateral relationship. Events...
Viewpoint
02.22.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/50116_sm.jpg?itok=sLU6kjIv)
‘We’re Very Sexy People’: How the U.S. Miscalculated Its Allure to China
The Sino-Vietnamese War is rarely remembered or discussed today. But 40 years ago, the war appeared to herald a tectonic shift in regional and global politics and helped forge a close, more trusting relationship between the leader of the free world...
Conversation
02.08.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/helicopter-flag-sys.jpg?itok=Uyc6rkg7)
Where Is China’s Foreign Policy Headed?
In testimony last week before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats asserted that “China’s actions reflect a long-term strategy to achieve global superiority.” With China’s global influence and...
Conversation
01.24.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/taiwan-rally-sys.jpg?itok=zWDOYj97)
What Does Xi Want from Taiwan? (And What Can Taiwan Do About It?)
In a major speech in early January, China’s leader Xi Jinping called unification across the Taiwan Strait “the great trend of history,” and warned that attempts to facilitate Taiwan’s independence would be met by force. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-...
China in the World Podcast
01.18.19![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/u.s.china-compete-sys.jpg?itok=mNyPbCQC)
Graham Allison on Avoiding the Thucydides Trap
from Carnegie China
Allison says the Thucydides Trap is the best framework to understand why there is potential for conflict between the United States and China. As China grew stronger, the U.S. failed to recognize Beijing would increasingly assert its own vision for...
Viewpoint
12.21.18![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/beijing-sunset-sys.jpg?itok=cFdtOfiC)
A Look Back at China in 2018
In 2018, the outlook for China regarding its politics, economy, and relationship with the United States darkened considerably. The removal of presidential term limits and Xi Jinping’s interactions with the Trump administration prompted rare...
Conversation
12.11.18![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/jets-china-sys.jpg?itok=DztrZTX_)
Is this the Beginning of a New Cold War?
Beyond complicating trade negotiations between the United States and China, the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou has renewed concerns that the two countries are embarking on a new Cold War, based on economic preeminence and technological innovation...
China in the World Podcast
11.02.18![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/xi-putin-sys.jpg?itok=gg4BRDG9)
Is the U.S. Driving China and Russia Together?
from Carnegie China
As U.S. relations with China and Russia deteriorate under the Trump administration, bilateral relations between Moscow and Beijing grow stronger. A “Cold War” between the U.S. and China has not yet begun, Trenin and Gabuev agree, but the two sides...
Viewpoint
10.23.18![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/congo-peace-soldier-sys.jpg?itok=426-g9cJ)
With an Influx of Blue Helmets and Cash, China’s Role in African Security Grows More Pervasive
China’s growing engagement with African countries got a publicity boost on September 3 and 4 with the latest Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit. The triennial event brought leaders and officials from 53 African countries and the...
China in the World Podcast
10.09.18![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/trump-li-keqiang-sys.jpg?itok=1kwRwmIN)
The U.S. and China as Peer Competitors in the Indo-Pacific
from Carnegie China
The Trump administration has taken a more confrontational approach to bilateral relations with China, implementing tariffs on nearly half of all Chinese exports to the U.S. and treating Beijing as a strategic competitor across many aspects of the...
Excerpts
09.30.18![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/article/system/police-kid-sys.jpg?itok=Lfml5ecl)
For Generations of P.R.C. Leaders, a World ‘Alive with Danger’
There can be few jobs more difficult than that of paramount leader of China: the surrounding world invariably alive with danger, the extent of the state, its integrity and stability forever uncertain. For an outsider, it is easy to observe that the...
Books
09.30.18![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/styles/system/public/assets/images/books/system/haunted-by-chaos-sys.jpg?itok=4ehJHvFD)
![](https://www.chinafile.com/sites/default/files/assets/images/books/covers/9780674977099-lg.jpg)
Haunted by Chaos
Harvard University Press: Before the Chinese Communist Party came to power, China lay broken and fragmented. Today, it is a force on the global stage, and yet its leaders have continued to be haunted by the past. Drawing on an array of sources, Sulmaan Wasif Khan chronicles the grand strategies that have sought not only to protect China from aggression but also to ensure it would never again experience the powerlessness of the late Qing and Republican eras.{node, 49171}The dramatic variations in China’s modern history have obscured the commonality of purpose that binds the country’s leaders. Analyzing the calculus behind their decision making, Khan explores how they wove diplomatic, military, and economic power together to keep a fragile country safe in a world they saw as hostile. Dangerous and shrewd, Mao Zedong made China whole and succeeded in keeping it so, while the caustic, impatient Deng Xiaoping dragged China into the modern world. Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao served as cautious custodians of the Deng legacy, but the powerful and deeply insecure Xi Jinping has shown an assertiveness that has raised both fear and hope across the globe.For all their considerable costs, China’s grand strategies have been largely successful. But the country faces great challenges today. Its population is aging, its government is undermined by corruption, its neighbors are arming out of concern over its growing power, and environmental degradation threatens catastrophe. A question Haunted by Chaos raises is whether China’s time-tested approach can respond to the looming threats of the 21st century.{chop}