The Mystery Shrouding China’s Communist Party Suicides

Russell Leigh Moses
Wall Street Journal
At least 54 Chinese officials died of “unnatural causes” in 2013, and that more than 40 percent of those deaths were suicides.

Chinese Signaling in the East China Sea?

M. Taylor Fravel and Alastair Iain...
Washington Post
What to make in the decline of Chinese patrols of the territorial waters around the Diaoyu / Senkaku Islands since September 2013. 

Conversation

04.12.14

China, Japan, and the U.S.—Will Cooler Heads Prevail?

Ely Ratner, Hugh White & more
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's whirlwind tour of China this week saw a tense exchange with his Chinese counterpart, Chang Wanquan, over the intention behind America's "pivot" to Asia, followed by a more measured back-and...

Books

04.09.14

Poseidon

Steven R. Schwankert
Royal Navy submarine HMS Poseidon sank in collision with a Chinese freighter during routine exercises in 1931 off Weihaiwei. Thirty of its fifty-six-man crew scrambled out of the hatches as it went down. Of the twenty-six who remained inside, eight attempted to surface using "Davis gear," an early form of diving equipment: six of them made it safely to the surface in the first escape of this kind in submarine history and became heroes. The incident was then forgotten, eclipsed by the greater drama that followed in World War II, until news emerged that, for obscure reasons, the Chinese government had salvaged the wrecked submarine in 1972. This lively account of the Poseidon incident tells the story of the accident and its aftermath, and of the author’s own quest to find out about the 1972 salvage. —Hong Kong University Press {chop}{node, 4183, 3}

In a Test of Wills With China, U.S. Sticks Up for Japan

Helene Cooper
New York Times
For the first time, China will host the Western Pacific Naval Symposium, a meeting every two years of countries that border the Pacific Ocean.

As China Turns Toward Middle East, China and Israel Seek Closer Ties

Shannon Tiezzi
Diplomat
Israeli President Shimon Peres is visiting China, the latest sign of growing Chinese-Israeli ties.

Caixin Media

04.08.14

Crimea Rattles the Chinese Dream

At the Sochi Winter Olympics, President Xi Jinping professed his affection for Russian letters. Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, and other literary giants made up the reading list of his youth, and his generation was raised on a diet of Russian culture...

Conflicting Reports of Potential Flight 370 Pings shows China’s confused status in investigation

Adam Taylor
Washington Post
Despite China's interest in finding Flight 370 and its efforts in the search, the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation does not offer it an official role.

U.S. and China Clash Over Contested Islands

Helene Cooper
New York Times
The United States and China clashed over Japan as the Chinese defense minister asserted that Beijing had “indisputable sovereignty” over a group of islands.

Conversation

04.06.14

Spy Vs. Spy: When is Cyberhacking Crossing the Line?

Vincent Ni, Chen Weihua & more
Vincent Ni: For a long time, Huawei has been accused by some American politicians of “spying on Americans for the Chinese government,” but their evidence has always been sketchy. They played on fear and possibility. I don’t agree or disagree with...

U.S. Tries Candor to Assure China on Cyberattacks

David Sanger
New York Times
The Pentagon’s emerging doctrine includes defending against cyberattacks on the United States and also using its cybertechnology against adversaries, including the Chinese.

Maybe Heads of State Shouldn’t Give Maps as Presents

Emily Rauhala
Time
An antique map of China gifted by the German Chancellor to China's President is at odds with how China views its historical boundaries.

While Warning Of Chinese Cyberthreat, U.S. Launches Its Own Attack

David Davies
NPR
New documents show that the U.S. National Security Agency penetrated the large Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei, gathering information about its operations.

Books

04.01.14

The Contest of the Century

Geoff Dyer
From the former Financial Times Beijing bureau chief, a balanced and far-seeing analysis of the emerging competition between China and the United States that will dominate twenty-first-century world affairs—an inside account of Beijing’s quest for influence and an explanation of how America can come out on top. The structure of global politics is shifting rapidly. After decades of rising, China has entered a new and critical phase where it seeks to turn its economic heft into global power. In this deeply informed book, Geoff Dyer makes a lucid and convincing argument that China and the United States are now embarking on a great power–style competition that will dominate the century. This contest will take place in every arena: from control of the seas, where China’s new navy is trying to ease the United States out of Asia and reassert its traditional leadership, to rewriting the rules of the global economy, with attempts to turn the renminbi into the predominant international currency, toppling the dominance of the U.S. dollar. And by investing billions to send its media groups overseas, Beijing hopes to shift the global debate about democracy and individual rights. Eyeing the high ground of international politics, China is taking the first steps in an ambitious global agenda. Yet Dyer explains how China will struggle to unseat the United States. China’s new ambitions are provoking intense anxiety, especially in Asia, while America’s global influence has deep roots. If Washington can adjust to a world in which it is no longer dominant but still immensely powerful, it can withstand China’s challenge. With keen insight based on a deep local knowledge—offering the reader visions of coastal Chinese beauty pageants and secret submarine bases, lockstep Beijing military parades and the neon media screens of Xinhua exported to New York City’s Times Square—The Contest of the Century is essential reading at a time of great uncertainty about America’s future, a road map for retaining a central role in the world.  —Knopf {chop}

Sinica Podcast

03.31.14

The World War One Chinese Labor Corps

Kaiser Kuo & David Moser from Sinica Podcast
This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are delighted to host Mark O’Neill, author of The Chinese Labour Corps, for a discussion of the Chinese contribution to World War One. As a comprehensive look into China’s role in The Great War, O’...

Conversation

03.10.14

Should China Support Russia in Ukraine?

Alexander V. Pantsov, Alexander Lukin & more
Alexander V. Pantsov: The Chinese Communist Party leadership has always maintained: “China believes in non-interference in internal affairs.” In the current Ukrainian situation it is the most we can expect from the P.R.C. because it is not able to...

Viewpoint

03.06.14

Can America Win in a New Era of Competition with China?

Geoff Dyer
Beijing was in a state of heightened anxiety and had been for weeks. Each day in the run-up to the National Day parade, the security measures seemed to get a little bit tighter. Our apartment building had a distant view of Jianguomen, which is the...

China’s Academic Battle for the South China Sea

Shannon Tiezzi
Diplomat
Academic institutions in China are now forming think thanks for South China Sea policymaking crossing barriers between academic departments, the military, and other government agencies.

Books

03.05.14

Sporting Gender

Yunxiang Gao
When China hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics—and amazed international observers with both its pageantry and gold-medal count—it made a very public statement about the country’s surge to global power. Yet, China has a much longer history of using sport to communicate a political message. Sporting Gender is the first book to explore the rise to fame of female athletes in China during its national crisis of 1931-45 brought on by the Japanese invasion. By re-mapping lives and careers of individual female athletes, administrators, and film actors within a wartime context, Gao shows how these women coped with the conflicting demands of nationalist causes, unwanted male attention, and modern fame. While addressing the themes of state control, media influence, fashion, and changes in gender roles, she argues that the athletic female form helped to create a new ideal of modern womanhood in China at time when women’s emancipation and national needs went hand in hand. This book brings vividly to life the histories of these athletes and demonstrates how intertwined they were with the aims of the state and the needs of society. —University of British Columbia Press{chop}  

China Set to Press North Korea Further on Nuclear Aims, Kerry Says

Michael R. Gordon
New York Times
Mr. Kerry urged President Xi Jinping and senior Chinese officials to “use every tool at their disposal” to persuade North Korea to rethink its decision to be a nuclear power. 

An Offer They Can’t Refuse

Isaac Stone Fish
Foreign Policy
Will China win its 65-year war with Taiwan—without firing a shot?

No, China Did Not Win the Global Battle for Supremacy

Daniel Rosen
Foreign Policy
Eric X. Li enumerates the defects of a U.S.-centric international system that he perceives to be crumbling, praises the deftness and strength he sees in China's statecraft, and predicts a coming period of international volatility as...

Tangling with China

Editorial Board
New York Times
The international community should insist China abide the rule of law and heed the United Nations arbitration ruling where tensions around China’s claims in the South and East China Seas are concerned.

Growing Concern With China's Behavior at Sea: Senior U.S. Diplomat

Lesley Wroughton
Reuters
The United States has growing concerns that China's maritime claims in the disputed South China Sea are an effort to control oceans in the Asia-Pacific region, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Philippine Leader Sounds Alarm on China

Keith Bradsher
New York Times
President Benigno S. Aquino III called for nations around the world to support the Philippines in resisting China’s claims to the seas near his country, drawing a comparison to the West’s failure to support Czechoslovakia against Hitler’s demands...

Books

02.05.14

By All Means Necessary

Elizabeth C. Economy and Michael Levi
In the past thirty years, China has transformed from an impoverished country where peasants comprised the largest portion of the populace to an economic power with an expanding middle class and more megacities than anywhere else on earth. This remarkable transformation has required, and will continue to demand, massive quantities of resources. Like every other major power in modern history, China is looking outward to find them.In By All Means Necessary, Elizabeth C. Economy and Michael Levi explore the unrivaled expansion of the Chinese economy and the global effects of its meteoric growth. China is now engaged in a far-flung quest, hunting around the world for fuel, ores, water, and land for farming, and deploying whatever it needs in the economic, political, and military spheres to secure the resources it requires. Chinese traders and investors buy commodities, with consequences for economies, people, and the environment around the world. Meanwhile the Chinese military aspires to secure sea lanes, and Chinese diplomats struggle to protect the country’s interests abroad. And just as surely as China’s pursuit of natural resources is changing the world—restructuring markets, pushing up commodity prices, transforming resource-rich economies through investment and trade—it is also changing China itself. As Chinese corporations increasingly venture abroad, they must navigate various political regimes, participate in international markets, and adopt foreign standards and practices, which can lead to wide-reaching social and political ramifications at home.Clear, authoritative, and provocative, By All Means Necessary is a sweeping account of where China’s pursuit of raw materials may take the country in the coming years and what the consequences will be—not just for China, but for the whole world. —Oxford University Press{chop}

China to Ramp Up Military Spending

Michael Forsythe
New York Times
China will spend $148 billion on its military this year, up from $139.2 billion in 2013, according to IHS Jane’s, a defense industry consulting and analysis company.

Taiwan: The Winner in the China-Japan Row?

Jens Kastner
Al Jazeera
Dispute between two powers results in unexpected benefits for tiny Taiwan's fishing industry.

China is Playing Chicken with the U.S. Military in the South China Sea

Benjamin Carlson
Global Post
Vessels from the U.S. military and other countries increasingly find themselves in high-stakes confrontations in the region.

China Challenging U.S. Military Technological Edge: Pentagon Official

David Alexander
Reuters
Chinese and Russian military developments are threatening to the U.S.’ technological edge. 

China's New Foreign Policy: Not Conflict But Convergence Of Interests

Yan Xuetong
Guancha.cn
China will begin to underwrite domestic benefits in exchange for political support in Central and Southeast Asia.  

Anxiety Rising Over Relations Between Japan and China

Andrew Ross Sorkin
New York Times
A "stealth war" between the second and third largest economies sparks fear amongst international businesses and leaders.

Abe Comparing China to Pre-World War One Germany Fuels Tensions

By Isabel Reynolds and Takashi Hirokawa
Businessweek
China said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was evading Japan’s “history of aggression” by comparing Sino-Japanese relations to those of the U.K. and Germany prior to World War I.

Sinica Podcast

01.24.14

Talking About Taiwan

Kaiser Kuo & David Moser from Sinica Podcast
This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo is joined by David Moser and Paul Mozur for an in-depth discussion about everyone’s favorite renegade province. This is a lively conversation that stretches from questions of Taiwanese personal identity to its media...

Senior Diplomat William Burns in China Amid Tension Over Beijing’s Military Development, Island Disputes

CBS News
The meeting was seen as helpful in clearing up misunderstanding, but nothing in the way of significant progress. 

Conversation

01.21.14

Time to Escalate? Should the U.S. Make China Uncomfortable?

Edward Friedman, Geoff Dyer & more
How should the United States respond to China’s new level of assertiveness in the Asia Pacific? In the past few months as Beijing has stepped up territorial claims around China's maritime borders—and in the skies above them—the Obama...

Caixin Media

01.21.14

How a PLA General Built a Web of Corruption to Amass a Fortune

More than twenty policemen lined up at the gate of a massive mansion in a village in the central province of Henan at midnight on January 12, 2013, loading heavy crates onto two military trucks.Hours later—loaded with twenty crates of expensive...

China, Japan Slug It Out in World’s Press

Matthew Pennington
Associated Press
Escalating disputes between Japan and China are spilling onto newspaper opinion pages around the globe as the rivals try to sway attitudes abroad and placate nationalist fervor at home.

Books

01.16.14

Debating China

Nina Hachigian (Editor)
America and China are the two most powerful players in global affairs, and no relationship is more consequential. How they choose to cooperate and compete affects billions of lives. But U.S.-China relations are complex and often delicate, featuring a multitude of critical issues that America and China must navigate together. Missteps could spell catastrophe.In Debating China, Nina Hachigian pairs American and Chinese experts in collegial “letter exchanges” that illuminate this multi-dimensional and complex relationship. These fascinating conversations—written by highly respected scholars and former government officials from the U.S. and China—provide an invaluable dual perspective on such crucial issues as trade and investment, human rights, climate change, military dynamics, regional security in Asia, and the media, including the Internet. The engaging dialogue between American and Chinese experts gives readers an inside view of how both sides see the key challenges. Readers bear witness to the writers’ hopes and frustrations as they explore the politics, values, history, and strategic frameworks that inform their positions. This unique volume is perfect for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of U.S.-China relations today.—Oxford University Press{chop}{node, 4406, 4}

Far Eastern Antipathies

Paul Scheffer
Foreign Affairs
Japan must reckon with England as an eventual addition to the enormous political strength of China and Russia.

Bremmer: China, Japan 2014’s Most Dangerous Spat

Rebecca Blumenstein
Wall Street Journal
Political-risk expert Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group calls the bilateral conflict between China and Japan the "greatest geopolitical danger in the world in 2014" and discusses what reform means for China under new leader Xi Jinping.

With Downed Balloon, China and Japan Cooperate

Gerry Mullany
New York Times
A Chinese balloonist took off from the coastal province of Fujian, trying to land on an island claimed by both China and Japan. Unfortunately, the balloonist, a cook by profession, didn’t make his target.

Beijing Turns Cold Shoulder to Japan

Xinhua
Beijing has declared Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe “not welcome” by the Chinese people and said Chinese leaders won’t meet him.  

Remarks by Yang Jiechi on Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine

Xinhua
Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine was in total disregard of international opposition, and blatantly paid homage to Class-A war criminals of World War II.

Other

12.26.13

2013 Year in Review

As the year draws to a close, we want to take a moment to look back at some of the stories ChinaFile published in 2013. We hope you’ll find something that interests you to read—or watch—over the holidays.It’s hard to remember a recent year that didn...

China Planning 110,000-ton ‘Super Aircraft Carrier’ to Rival US Naval Power

Reuters
Following Washington’s move to increase its military footprint in Asia, China has declared it is building a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of a size to compete with the mightiest in the U.S. naval fleet.

In the Satellite Technology Race, China Hitched a Ride from Europe

David Lague
Reuters
The Beidou navigation system—developed with E.U. help—is a striking example of Beijing’s global dragnet for military know-how.

China Lashes Out at Japan Defence Plans

Al Jazeera
Japan will increase military spending by 2.6 percent over five years, leading China to accuse Tokyo of raising tensions.

Media

12.19.13

Chinese Admiral to U.S. Navy: ‘We Will Block You’

On December 5, the U.S. missile-carrying cruiser Cowpens almost collided with a Chinese ship in international waters. The Cowpens was observing the maiden voyage of China’s new aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, when a vessel accompanying it cut across...

Kerry Criticizes China, Announces New Maritime Security Aid to SEAsia

Matthew Lee
Associated Press
Taking clear aim at China’s growing aggressiveness in territorial disputes with its smaller neighbors, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Monday that the United States will boost maritime security assistance to the countries of Southeast...

Is North Korea Unwinding Economic Ties With China?

Christina Larson
Businessweek
These are grim days not only for the friends and family of recently executed North Korean official Jang Song Thaek, but also for people and programs he had supported—including economic relations with China, which Jang had overseen.

Riot in China’s Xinjiang Kills 16, ‘Terror Gang’ Blamed

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
Chinese police shot and killed 14 people during a riot near the old Silk Road city of Kashgar in which two policemen were also killed, the latest unrest in a region that has a substantial Muslim population. 

Asian Nations Urge Peace in Sea Disputes, Unlikely to Blame China

Elaine Lies
Reuters
Japan and the Philippines have reaffirmed their commitment to freedom of flight over the East China Sea as concerns grow over China's new air defense identification zone. 

Japan, S.Korea Hold Joint Sea Drill in China Air Zone

Agence France-Presse
The navies of Japan and South Korea, two Asian democracies, carried out a joint maritime rescue drill in international waters covered by China's new air defence identification zone (ADIZ).  

Sinica Podcast

12.10.13

Joe Biden and the ADIZ Fracas

Kaiser Kuo & Peter Ford
On the weekend of November 23, Beijing announced the establishment of a new Air Defense Identification Zone. Covering a large swath of the East China Sea, the move was intended to assert China’s control over disputed islands in the region, and...

Joe Biden’s Unfinished Business With China

Bloomberg
Joe Biden’s trip to northeast Asia has left some in Japan feeling abandoned. By not demanding that China roll back its new “air-defense identification zone,” the U.S. vice president tacitly accepted the controversial zone as a fait accompli.

Abe Calls for China Talks Citing 2006 Trip as Tensions Rise

Isabel Reynolds
Bloomberg
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping after an escalation in bilateral tensions since China’s declaration last month of an air-defense zone that overlaps with Japan’s over the East China Sea.

Media

12.06.13

China’s Viral, Nationalist Screed Against Western Encroachment

“You are nothing without your motherland.” It’s a trite phrase, one that seems unlikely to stir the blood of even the most dyed-in-the-wool nationalist—but it has found recent currency in China. An essay with that title has been making the rounds on...

China’s ADIZ and the Implications for North East Asia

Dan Pinkston
International Crisis Group
China’s recent declaration of an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea has stimulated much debate and concern and interpretations have varied widely. The Chinese government has asserted that the ADIZ is in accordance with...

Biden Urges Restraint by China in Airspace Dispute

Mark Landler
New York Times
Chinese leaders pushed back at visiting Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday over what they assert is their right to control a wide swath of airspace in the bitterly contested East China Sea. But the Chinese also indicated that they had...