Rethinking the Human Rights Business Model

Edwin Rekosh
Center for Strategic and International Studies

Ford to Save $1 Billion Building Focus in China Instead of Mexico

Keith Naughton
Bloomberg
Ford Motor Co. is canceling controversial plans to build the Focus small car in Mexico, saving $1 billion by ending North American production entirely and importing the model mostly from China after next year.

China Imposes 100% Tax on Foreign Star Signings in Bid for World Cup Glory

Katie Stallard
Sky News
The country's President Xi Jinping is hoping the Asian superpower will host - and one day win - the global football tournament.

China Invites Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner to Visit Beijing

Peter Martin, Keith Zhai, and Jennifer...
Bloomberg
China has invited President Donald Trump’s daughter and son-in-law to visit later this year, according to people familiar with the matter, in the latest sign of the first family’s growing influence over foreign affairs. Details of the possible trip...

China: Otto Warmbier’s Death ‘Unfortunate’

China on Tuesday (June 20) expressed sorrow over the death of US student Otto Warmbier following his release from North Korea in a coma, and urged Washington and Pyongyang to resolve tensions through dialogue. “I think this is an unfortunate thing...

What Are the Odds of a U.S.-China War?

Andrew Browne
Wall Street Journal
Two fiery nationalists— Xi Jinping and Donald Trump—now occupy the seats of power in Beijing and Washington. In their mission to make their countries great again, one pursues the “China Dream,” one “America First.” Both see the other as the chief...

Are China’s New Naval Capabilities a Game Changer?

Paul Haenle & Robert Ross from Carnegie China
As the post-World War II order adjusts to a rising China, America’s predominance in the Asia-Pacific faces new challenges. Over the past five years, China has substantially built up its navy and demonstrated more assertive behavior toward its...

China May Soon Establish Naval Base in U.S. Ally Pakistan

Wajahat S. Khan
NBC News
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is a key ally of the United States — but the relationship is far from untroubled. And one of Washington's main geopolitical rivals appears ready to step in.

Greece Blocks E.U. Statement on China Human Rights at U.N.

Robin Emmott, Angeliki Koutantou
Reuters
Greece has blocked a European Union statement at the United Nations criticizing China's human rights record, a decision EU diplomats said undermined efforts to confront Beijing's crackdown on activists and dissidents.

‘Islamic State Killings: China’s Censored Social Media Is in Uproar, so What’s Beijing Thinking?

Coco Liu
South China Morning Post
The deaths of two Chinese prompt widespread calls for retribution. Beijing, seeking favour in the region with its Belt and Road Initiative, remains curiously silent.

Are China and the United States Headed for War?

New Yorker
Professors, pundits, and journalists weigh in on a heated topic.

Conversation

06.14.17

The World Is Deserting Taiwan. How Should the U.S. Respond?

Richard Bernstein, J. Michael Cole & more
On June 12, the small Central American nation of Panama announced it was severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan so that it could establish relations with the People’s Republic of China. Now, only 19 countries and the Vatican recognize Taiwan. Why did...

Conversation

06.14.17

Do Street Protests Work in China?

Mara Hvistendahl, Benjamin L. Read & more
A rare street protest broke out in China’s biggest city and commercial capital on Saturday night, June 10, when residents of Shanghai marched against new housing rules that some residents claimed have caused the value of their property to plummet...

Anbang Chairman’s Detention Underlines China Business Risks

Tom Mitchell, Henny Sender, Gabriel...
Financial Times
Wu Xiaohui was targeted by insurance regulator and anti-corruption investigators.

Have a Nice Day, Chinese Gangster Animation, Blocked in France

Stephen McDonelll
BBC
The makers of a cutting-edge Chinese film that was pulled from the world's premier animation festival following government pressure from Beijing say they still hope the movie will get a run in cinemas at home later this year.

Books

06.13.17

Fortune Makers

Michael Useem, Harbir Singh, Liang Neng, Peter Cappelli
Fortune Makers analyzes and brings to light the distinctive practices of business leaders who are the future of the Chinese economy. These leaders oversee not the old state-owned enterprises, but private companies that have had to invent their way forward out of the wreckage of an economy in tatters following the Cultural Revolution.Outside of brand names such as Alibaba and Lenovo, little is known, even by the Chinese themselves, about the people present at the creation of these innovative businesses. Fortune Makers provides sharp insights into their unique styles—a distinctive blend of the entrepreneur, the street fighter, and practices developed by the Communist Party—and their distinctive ways of leading and managing their organizations that are unlike anything the West is familiar with.When Peter Drucker published Concept of the Corporation in 1946, he revealed what made large American corporations tick. Similarly, when Japanese companies emerged as a global force in the 1980s, insightful analysts explained the practices that brought Japan’s economy out of the ashes—and what managers elsewhere could learn to compete with them. Now, based on unprecedented access, Fortune Makers allows business leaders in the United States and the rest of the West to understand the essential character and style of Chinese corporate life and its dominant players, whose businesses are the foundation of the domestic Chinese market and are now making their mark globally. —PublicAffairs{chop}

A Statistical Analysis of the Implementation of the ONGO Law

The Beijing Normal University China Philanthropy Research Institute

Why Foreign NGOs Are Struggling with New Chinese Law

Nectar Gan
South China Morning Post

Why China No Longer Fears the Fed

Tom Mitchell
Financial Times
In 2016, the People's Bank of China got a reprieve from the U.S. Federal Reserve. This year it needs no such help.

Trump’s Trade Restrictions Could Miss China And Slam Everybody Else

David Francis
Chicago Tribune
Any restriction on imports of the key metals would likely fall on friendly U.S. trading partners, rather than on China, the ostensible target of the administration's concern about steel and aluminum imports.

Panama Establishes Ties With China, Further Isolating Taiwan

Steven Lee Meyers
New York Times
Panama has severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of recognizing China, the latest in a series of developments adding to the island’s isolation on the world stage and raising questions about waning American influence under President Trump.

Trump Adds More Trademarks in China

Sui-Lee Wen
New York Times
President Trump is poised to add six new trademarks to his expanding portfolio in China, in sectors including veterinary services and construction, potentially renewing concerns about his possible conflicts of interest.

China Detains Chairman of Anbang, Which Sought Ties With Jared Kushner

Michael Forsythe, Alexandra Stevenson
New York Times
Wu Xiaohui, the chairman of Anbang Insurance Group, was taken away on Friday in Beijing, according to Caijing, a respected newsmagazine. In a statement early Wednesday morning in China, the company said that Mr. Wu was “for personal reasons no...

Nearly 14,000 Companies in China Violate Pollution Rules

Edward Wong
New York Times
Environmental inspectors in northern China have found that nearly 14,000 companies, or 70 percent of the businesses they examined, failed to meet environmental standards for controlling air pollution.

Sinica Podcast

06.12.17

How Does Investigative Reporting Happen in China?

Kaiser Kuo & Li Xin from Sinica Podcast
Li Xin is the Managing Director of Caixin Global, the English-language arm of China’s most authoritative financial news source, Caixin. For over 10 years, she has worked closely with the Editor-in-Chief of Caixin, Hu Shuli, whose famously fearless...

Pakistan Confirms Chinese Couple Killed after IS Claim

Asif Shahzad 
Associated Press
Pakistan confirmed Monday that a Chinese couple abducted at gunpoint has been killed, three days after Islamic State militants claimed the killing and sent a video to local journalists purporting to show their bodies.

China Accuses 2 More Provinces Of Faking Data

Financial Times
China’s anti-corruption watchdog has highlighted fake economic data in the Northern provinces of Inner Mongolia and Jilin, in the country’s grain heartland.

Rare Public Protest in China's Shanghai over Property Rule Change

Andrew Galbraith, Yawen Chen
Reuters
Hundreds of demonstrators have marched through a shopping district in the Chinese city of Shanghai protesting against changes to housing regulations, in a rare show of public dissent in the financial hub.

Online Gossip Clampdown in China Leads to Netizen Outcry

Yuan Yang, Yingzhi Yang
Financial Times
Chinese netizens have decried a government campaign to shut down many of the nation's top celebrity gossip outlets as Beijing escalates its control over online content.

Hundreds Protest in Shanghai over Ban on Selling Converted Flats

Daniel Ren, Sandy Li
South China Morning Post
Rare demonstration came after city authorities barred owners from selling apartments converted from office or commercial space.

Conversation

06.09.17

Australia Is Debating Chinese Influence. Should the U.S. Do the Same?

Bruce Jacobs, Kerry Brown & more
“The Chinese Communist Party is waging a covert campaign of influence in Australia,” went the claim in the newspaper The Age, in a series of articles exploring China’s hard and soft power “Down Under.” The articles set off a domestic debate about...

World Asia China Cranks Up Heat on Exiled Tycoon Guo Wengui

Wall Street Journal
Beijing airs allegations involving whistleblowing businessman living in New York as subordinates are tried for fraud in unusually open proceedings.

China Likely to Set up Military Base in Pakistan – Pentagon

Telegraph
The report from the Pentagon predicts China will expand its military prowess after the construction of its first overseas naval base in Djibouti, a strategic location at the southern entrance to the Red Sea on the route to the Suez Canal.

Trump Lies. China Thrives.

New York Times
We underestimate China — and attribute all of its surge in growth to unfair trade practices — at our peril. China has been fast and smart at adopting new technologies, particularly the mobile internet.

West Underestimates China’s New Silk Road, German Envoy Says

Channel NewsAsia
Western countries are underestimating China’s new Silk Road project, which is an important scheme, despite concerns it is too China-centric and so far lacking in opportunities for foreign firms, Germany’s ambassador to China said on Thursday.

U.S. Business Group Urges Trade Fixes Ahead of China’s Party Congress

Reuters
A U.S. business lobby in China said on Thursday that Washington should use leverage afforded by China’s desire to avoid trade frictions with the United States ahead of its Communist Party Congress this fall in order to fix market access...

China Hits Back at Claims of “Secretly Infiltrating” Australia

Channel News Asia/MN
Channel NewsAsia
China's foreign ministry said the claim by a joint investigation that China was “secretly infiltrating” Australia is baseless.

China Won’t Beg India to Join OBOR: Chinese Media

Ananth Krishnan
India's primary concern about the initiative is the “flagship” China Pakistan Economic Corridor leg that runs through Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Despite this concern, an OBOR white paper in May declared CPEC as a flagship project.

Beijing Lashes Out Over Pentagon Report on Chinese Military

Christopher Bodeen
Associated Press
Beijing says it is “firmly opposed” to a Pentagon report that highlighted China's construction of military facilities in the South China Sea and speculated that Beijing would likely build more bases overseas.

China Is in the Middle of Diplomatic Spat With One of Its Oldest Allies in Africa

Lily Kuo
Quartz
Zambian authorities have detained 31 Chinese citizens on suspicion of illegal copper mining, according to Chinese officials who have formally complained about the arrest.

China’s Reserves Rise For 4th Month

Joe MacDonald
Associated Press
China's foreign currency reserves rose again ahead of a possible U.S. interest rate hike that might put new pressure on Beijing's exchange rate controls.

Trump Lies. China Thrives.

Thomas L. Friedman
New York Times
While Trump is a serial liar, his broad complaint that China is not playing fair on trade and has grown in some areas at the expense of U.S. and European workers has merit and needs to be addressed — now.

China Is Now Looking to California–Not Trump–to Help Lead the Fight Against Climate Change

Jessica Meyers
Los Angeles Times
Governor Jerry Brown met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a rare diplomatic coup that catapults California into quasi-national status as a negotiator.

China Cautions India, Others Against Any Informal Alliance

PTI
Economic Observer
China cautioned India and other Asian countries against forming informal alliances to counter its increasing assertiveness as they cannot rely on the U.S. in Trump era.

China Doesn't Want To Be the Only World Leader, Says State Council Counselor

Akiko Fujita, Huileng Tan
CNBC
Rather than fully stepping into a global leadership vacuum that could be left by an increasingly isolationist U.S., China is looking to be but one of the world's leaders.

Former Top U.S. Spy James Clapper Warns of China’s Russian-Style Behavior in Australia

Ezra Fieser
ABC
China’s growing influence over Australian politics has similarities with Russia's recent meddling in American democracy.

U.S. Presses China to Free Activists Scrutinizing Ivanka Trump Shoe Factory

Keith Bradsher
New York Times
Experts warned that the detentions could make it more difficult for other Western companies to take a clear look at the practices of their Chinese suppliers.

As China Pulls Trade from North Korea, Russia Gets Cozy with Kim Jong Un

USA Today
Trade between Russia and North Korea increased by 73% during the first two months of 2017 compared to the same period the year before, boosted mostly by increased coal deliveries from Russia, according to Russian state-owned news site Sputnik.

Turning against Trump: How the Chinese Covered the Climate Pact Exit

New York Times
Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris agreement gave fresh material to one of the Chinese state media’s favorite propaganda themes: the idea that Western democracy is flawed, chaotic and prone to social strife.

China Tries to Play Nice at Key Security Forum

Nikkei Asian Review
Although China attempted to strike a more conciliatory tone in this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue, a major Asian security forum held here through Sunday, officials’ uncompromising comments on Taiwan and the South China Sea only highlighted its rifts...

On Tiananmen Square Anniversary, Detentions in China and Candlelight Vigil in Hong Kong

Washington Post
Police detained at least 11 Chinese activists after a pair of small events to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, according to human rights groups and activists.

Ivanka Trump’s Firm Seeks New Trademarks in China, Reviving Ethical Concerns

CNN
A trove of Chinese trademark applications filed by Ivanka Trump’s namesake business is focusing attention once again on the ethical complications presented by the Trump family’s business ties.

Russia and China Are Bulking Up in the U.S.’s Backyard

Ezra Fieser
Bloomberg
Putin and Xi are working to win over small, poor countries with promises of aid, military support, and investment, even as Trump scales back.

Conversation

06.01.17

Can China Supplant the U.S. in Europe?

Rogier Creemers, Zha Daojiong & more
From May 31 to June 2, Premier Li Keqiang will visit Germany and Belgium, to “further deepen and enrich China’s relations with the European Union (EU) at a time of increasing global uncertainty,” according to an article in China’s state newswire...

China and Europe Are Moving Forward without Trump

CNN
Beijing is in prime position to capitalize on major policy fissures that have emerged between Europe and the Trump administration on climate, trade and defense. The new dynamic will be on full display on Thursday in Brussels, when Chinese Premier Li...

China Is Touting Its Protection of Human Rights in a Muslim-Majority Region Riven by Violence

Quartz
China put out a policy paper today on human rights in the Muslim-heavy Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where the Chinese government has been cracking down extensively in recent years.

Canadian Winery Owners Arrested, Put on Trial in China for Customs Valuation Dispute

Huffington Post
The daughter of two Canadian winery owners being held by Chinese authorities over an alleged customs valuation dispute says the case should serve as a warning for other Canadians hoping to do business in China.

China Renews Call for Seoul to Halt THAAD amid ‘Shocking’ News of New Launchers

CNBC
China’s state-owned media on Thursday criticized reports new THAAD anti-missile launchers were secretly brought into South Korea without approval from the Seoul government.

North Korea: Is China Trying Hard Enough to Stop Pyongyang Threat?

Fox News
Recent actions by South Korea President Moon Jae-in and China’s President Xi Jinping have raised questions about the sincerity of both countries in helping the U.S. reign in North Korea’s nuclear program.