ChinaFile Recommends
02.12.13Nuclear Test Poses Big Challenge to China’s New Leader
New York Times
North Korea's nuclear test in defiance of China’s warnings leaves that country’s new leader, Xi Jinping, with a choice: Does he upset North Korea just a bit by agreeing to stepped up United Nations sanctions, or does he rattle the regime by...
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02.05.13Japan Protests to China After Radar Pointed At Vessel
Reuters
A Chinese vessel pointed a type of radar normally used to help guide missiles at a Japanese navy ship near disputed East China Sea islets, prompting the Japanese government to lodge a protest with China, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said.
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02.03.13China’s String of Fake Pearls (Blog)
Foreign Policy
For the past few years, a low level theme that occasionally pops into my news feed is the idea of greater Sino-Pakistani cooperation. Now this has a certain amount of realpolitik sense to it. The United States and Pakistan are...
ChinaFile Recommends
01.31.13China to Tibetans: Stay Put
Atlantic
The Chinese Communist Party's repression of its Tibetan minority now extends, apparently, to travel. Few Tibetans have been issued passports since last spring. Beijing has yet to comment officially about this issue, but its approach to Tibet...
Conversation
01.30.13
China, Japan and the Islands: What Do the Tensions Mean?
How did the Diaoyu, Spratly, and Paracel islands come to replace Taiwan as the main source of tension for maritime Asia? And how are we to explain the fact that China’s foreign policy toward its Asian neighbors has now morphed from such slogans as...
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01.30.13China Announces Naval Exercises Amid Japan Tensions
Associated Press
China said Wednesday that its navy would proceed with a deep-water training exercise amid a continuing spat with Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea that has sparked regular confrontations among patrol boats from each side.
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01.30.13China Leader Affirms Policy on Islands
New York Times
China won't bargain over what it deems to be “core” territorial and security interests, the country’s top leader, Xi Jinping, said in his first published speech setting out his foreign policy views since taking over as head of the Communist...
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01.28.13Xi Jinping’s Opposition to Political Reforms Laid out in Leaked Internal Speech
South China Morning Post
Beijing-based writer Gao Yu’s writing on a speech Xi Jinping made during his “southern tour” in December, suggests Xi, who blames those not “man enough” to do what had to be done to save the Soviet Communist Party from itself, has even...
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01.28.13Beijing Observation: Xi Jinping the Man
Seeing Red in China
Xi Jinping’s “new southern tour speech,” made in December, began circulating last week in the party. It reads like a confirmation of Harvard Professor Roderick MacFarquhar’s prediction that the likelihood of the Chinese Communist Party reforming...
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01.26.13New Komeito, LDP at Odds Over How to Improve Ties with China
Asahi Shimbun
New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi's meeting on Jan. 25 with Chinese leader Xi Jinping highlighted the differences emerging within the ruling coalition over how to improve ties with Beijing.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.25.13China Wouldn’t Mind a Unified Korea--Just Not Yet
Atlantic
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, China has had the dubious distinction of being North Korea’s only ally and friend on the world stage.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.23.13Pressures at Home, Tensions Offshore
Deal Book
It is tempting to conclude that the increasingly dangerous dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands is driven in part by Beijing’s need to distract its populace from problems at home
ChinaFile Recommends
01.22.13The Next War?
TomDispatch
China, Japan, and various other Asian countries insist a group of tiny islands are theirs alone. Toss in national pride and you have the potential for one of the dumber, more destructive face-offs in recent history.
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01.21.13China Says U.S. Culpable in Japan Island Dispute
Associated Press
China says the U.S. has "undeniable historical responsibility" in Beijing's dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea.
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01.21.13China Urges Cautious U.N. Resolution on North Korea
Reuters
China says the United Nations Security Council need pass a cautious resolution on North Korea's December rocket launch, saying that was the way to ensure regional tensions do not escalate further.
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01.21.13A New Opportunity for China-South Korea Relations Under Park Geun-hye and Xi Jinping?
Council on Foreign Relations
South Korea and China are natural economic partners, but North Korea continues to rear its head as a challenging sticking point between the two sides.
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01.20.13China’s Risky Path, from Revolution to War
Daily Beast
The scenario of abrupt bottom-up revolution occurring in China has recently generated much debate.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.20.13China Seeks Peaceful End to Dispute as Japan Pledges Calm
Bloomberg
China wants to settle territorial issues peacefully and criticized U.S. Secretary of State Clinton for comments made after she met Japan’s Foreign Minister.
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01.19.13Infographic Map: Territorial Disputes Involving Japan
New York Times
Territorial disputes linked to Japan’s 20th-century military expansion across Asia, which ended in World War II, persist today.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.19.13Abe Adviser: Japan, China Need “Rules of the Game”
Reuters
China scrambled two J-10 fighters last week after two Japanese F-15s followed a Chinese military aircraft on a "routine patrol".
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01.17.13The Drums of War: China and Japan Square Up
Economist
Watch Chinese TV these days and you might conclude that the outbreak of war with Japan over what it calls the Senkaku and China the Diaoyu islands is imminent.
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01.15.13Talking Trust with China's Army
New York Times
With suspicion apparently the order of the day in East and Southeast Asia, an American scholar's visit to a Chinese military forum turned up some fascinating things to say.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.07.13Why China and Japan Can't Get Along (Opinion)
New York Times
There are few societies on earth more complementary than China's and Japan's. But Japan is afraid of China’s rise, and China is troubled by Japan.
ChinaFile Recommends
12.28.12China's Central Bank, Aircraft Carrier Style
Wall Street Journal
The People’s Bank of China will issue gold and silver coins celebrating the nation's first aircraft carrier.
ChinaFile Recommends
12.27.12China's Giant New Warplane Will Look Awfully Familiar to the U.S. Air Force
Wired
China's military has released photos of a prototype heavy transport warplane resembling the U.S. Air Force’s workhorse C-17.
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12.26.12Pentagon Preps Stealth Strike Force to Counter China
Wired
The U.S. military will over the next five years see each of its three main stealth warplane types deployed to bases near China.
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12.24.12China Assails U.S. Over Alliance with Japan and Possible F-16 Sales to Taiwan
New York Times
State-run news media attacked the passage of a new U.S. military spending bill that is awaiting President Obama’s signature.
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12.13.12Beijing’s Test of Tokyo
Council on Foreign Relations
China and Japan have been drawing lines in the waters around the Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Islands for the Chinese) almost daily since the Japanese government under Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda purchased these islands from a private owner on...
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12.12.12In the People’s Liberation Army
New York Review of Books
Mo Yan, recent recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, describes an experience in the People's Liberation Army in the 1970s. This text is excerpted from his part fiction, part memoir Change.
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12.06.12Mongolia Finds China Can Be Too Close for Comfort
Associated Press
In a global rush to get rich off China, Mongolia works to ensure that Chinese investment doesn't become Chinese dominance.
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12.02.12Alarm as China Issues Rules for Disputed Area
New York Times
New rules announced by a Chinese province last week to allow interceptions of ships in the South China Sea are raising concerns in the region, and in Washington, that simmering disputes with Southeast Asian countries over the waters will escalate.
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11.29.12Opinion: Triumverate Puts China in Crosshairs, but Future Joint Accord Unlikely
Global Times
A Cold War mentality pitting the U.S., India and Japan against China will lead nowhere because of reluctance to overly provoke Beijing, a Chinese Japan scholar says.
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11.27.12China's Passport Propaganda Baffles Experts
Christian Science Monitor
Vietnam and India are angry at new P.R.C. passports picturing disputed land and sea as China's.
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11.20.12Op-Ed: Japan-China Relations at a Crossroads
New York Times
Japan's foreign minister argues that there is no doubt that the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, are a part of Japan.
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11.17.12The Saturday Profile: Peng Liyuan, First Lady of China
New York Times
The top pop-folk icon is beloved for a glass-cracking soprano and her range of roles, from Tibetan yak herder to stiff-lipped general.
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11.17.12China Says Does Not Want South China Sea Overshadowing Summit
Reuters
China's claim to a stretch of water off its south coast also claimed by neighbors makes it Asia's biggest potential military hot spot.
Viewpoint
11.13.12
China’s Next Leaders: A Guide to What’s at Stake
Just a little more than a week after the American presidential election, China will choose its own leaders in its own highly secretive way entirely inside the Communist Party. What’s at stake for China—and for the rest of the world—is not just who...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.13.12The U.S.-China Reset
New York Times
The leaders of the U.S. and China may not want to say it out loud, but they would privately admit that U.S.-China relations are in trouble.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.11.12Exclusive: Hu Jintao Set to Step Down as Military Chief
South China Morning Post
Outgoing President Hu Jintao will formally relinquish his position as military chief at the end of the 18th party congress this week, according to sources.His decision to opt for complete retirement surprised many analysts, who had expected him to...
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11.10.12China to Launch New Manned Spaceship in 2013-Xinhua
Reuters
The launch marks a step forward in Beijing's ambitions for a bigger space presence, including construction of a space station by 2020.
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10.23.12China Reshuffles Top Military
Reuters
Outgoing air force commander General Xu Qiliang, 62, promoted to vice-chairman of the military's top decision-making body.
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10.20.12"The Revolutionary": An Unrequited Love for China
NPR
In a new documentary on his life, Sidney Rittenberg, who once translated for Mao, refers to his jailer as both a hero and criminal.
Reports
10.18.12
Cyber Detente Between the United States and China
EastWest Institute
In May 2012, the United States and China agreed publicly for the first time to begin talks on military aspects of cybersecurity. The agenda and expectations for this process at the official level remain to be set. Through Track 2 processes some very...
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10.14.12Against Backdrop of Dispute with China, Japan Shows Off Navy
Associated Press
Japan’s navy marked 60th year with major exercise, showing off maritime strength amid territorial dispute with China.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.12.12Japan and China Agree to Talks on Rift after Noda Call
Bloomberg
Talks aim to reduce tensions over territorial dispute, avoid suffering in Asia’s biggest economies.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.10.12Noda Calls for China Talks as Island Spat Threatens Growth
Bloomberg
PM calls for talks to contain economic damage from dispute with Japan's No. 1 trade partner.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.10.12Five Points on the Deeply Flawed U.S. Congress Huawei Report
Transpacifica
Chinese telecomms firms painted as shady, but evidence to back up allegations is hidden in report's classified sections.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.09.12The Pivot (Video)
University of Southern California, U.S.-China Institute
The Obama administration has made Asia a top priority for U.S. foreign policy. The move has been dubbed "The Pivot," and it has the potential to be one of the most enduring legacies of the Obama presidency.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.25.12China Shows Off an Aircraft Carrier but Experts Are Skeptical
New York Times
In a ceremony attended by the country’s top leaders, China put its first aircraft carrier into service on Tuesday, a move intended to signal its growing military might as tensions escalate between Beijing and its neighbors over islands in nearby...
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09.24.12Flag Raising Ceremony Held on China’s First Aircraft Carrier
Danwei
Various front pages in China today feature glowing reports of China’s first aircraft carrier on whose platform a flag raising ceremony was held yesterday. Yet the fact that it happened is just about everything we know for sure about the ship. The...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.22.12In Shark-Infested Waters, Resolve of Two Giants Is Tested
New York Times
The voyage to these remote islands at the center of one of Asia’s most heated territorial disputes is a bone-jarring seven-hour boat ride from one of Japan’s southernmost ports, a long enough journey that the fishermen who brave...
Sinica Podcast
09.21.12
The Island Imbroglio
from Sinica Podcast
As Xi Jinping has stepped back into the public eye this week, the reappearance of China’s heir apparent has been upstaged by large demonstrations across the country as tensions mount over territorial claims to the Diaoyu (or Senkaku) Islands. As...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.19.12In China, Panetta Says U.S. Focus on Asia Is No Threat
New York Times
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta declared on Wednesday that the United States was not trying to contain a risingChina, and he stressed that with patience and effort current tensions between the giant rivals on opposite sides of...
Caixin Media
09.14.12
Why War is Not a Possibility
There won’t be a war in East Asia.The United States has five military alliances in the western Pacific. Its allies are South Korea, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore. And American battleships are busy patrolling the seas.Without a go-...
Media
09.06.12Tangled in the Party Line
Netizens on China’s popular microblogging service Sina Weibo are in a fit of pique over remarks made by a PLA major general about the importance of Chinese TV commentators holding “unconditionally” to the Party line. Zhang Zhaozhong, a major general...
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09.06.12News Flash: Washington Source of All Beijing’s Problems
Council on Foreign Relations
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s swing through Asia has been marked by a revelation in Beijing: the source of all China’s problems with its neighbors is the United States. A Xinhua editorial paints the United States as a “sneaky trouble...
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08.31.12China's Long History of Defying the Doomsayers
Atlantic
Thirty-six years after "Great Helmsman" Mao Zedong died of a heart attack, leaving his country briefly rudderless during a time of crisis and uncertainty, the Chinese ship of state is still sailing. But is it still seaworthy? Observers are...
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08.22.12Thucydides’s Trap Has Been Sprung in the Pacific
Financial Times
China’s increasingly aggressive posture towards the South China Sea and the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea is less important in itself than as a sign of things to come. For six decades after the second world war, an American “Pax Pacifica”...
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08.21.12China, Olympic Victim?
Economist
The race is not to the swift, says the Bible, nor the battle to the strong. But, in words attributed to Damon Runyon, an American writer, that is how the smart money bets. Unless, of course, it belongs to a Chinese nationalist, who will wager his...
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08.21.12Simmering Chinese Anger at Japan Is Now on the Boil
New York Times
In angry mass protests and subdued smaller gatherings, Chinese citizens have taken to the streets to protest the landing by Japanese activists on some barren islands that are claimed by both countries. Protesters in about a dozen cities on...