Depth of Field

07.01.16

Tornados and Drag Queens

Ye Ming, Yan Cong & more from Yuanjin Photo
Being a photojournalist involves reacting to breaking news, a dedication to long-term projects, and everything in between. This month’s showcase of work by Chinese photographers published in Chinese media underscores this range of angles: from the...

Infographics

06.30.16

Visualizing China’s Aid to Africa

Eva Constantaras
In June of last year, 50 countries signed on to the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, including the U.K., Germany, Australia, and South Korea, acknowledgement of China’s success in driving development through mega-projects to build...

Hong Kong’s Brexit Ambitions

James Griffiths
CNN
Could the city ever be independent from China?

Beijing Slams South China Sea Case as Court Ruling Nears

Ben Blanchard and Anthony Deutsch
Reuters
"China does not accept any dispute resolution from a third party."

Party Propaganda Rap Aims to ‘Tell Foreigners Truth’ About China

BBC
It says China has “terrible problems” but is peace-loving and affluent.

Books

06.28.16

John Birch

Terry Lautz
John Birch was better known in death than life. Shot and killed by Communists in China in 1945, he posthumously became the namesake for a right-wing organization whose influence is still visible in today’s Tea Party. This is the remarkable story of who he actually was: an American missionary-turned-soldier who wanted to save China, but instead became a victim. Terry Lautz, a longtime scholar of U.S.-China relations, has investigated archives, spoken with three of Birch’s brothers, found letters written to the women he loved, and visited sites in China where he lived and died. The result, John Birch: A Life, is the first authoritative biography of this fascinating figure whose name was appropriated for a political cause.Raised as a Baptist fundamentalist, Birch became a missionary to China prior to America’s entry into the Second World War. After Pearl Harbor, he volunteered for the U.S. Army in China, served with Claire Chennault, Commander of the famed Flying Tigers, and operated behind enemy lines as an intelligence officer. He planned to resume his missionary work after the war, but was killed in a dispute with Communist troops just days after Japan’s surrender. During the heyday of the Cold War in the 1950s, Robert Welch, a retired businessman from Boston, chose Birch as the figurehead for the John Birch Society, believing that his death was evidence of conspiracy at the highest levels of government. The Birch Society became one of the most polarizing organizations of its time, and the name of John Birch became synonymous with right-wing extremism.Cutting through the layers of mythology surrounding Birch, Lautz deftly presents his life and his afterlife, placing him not only in the context of anti-communism but in the longstanding American quest to shape China’s destiny. —Oxford University Press{chop}

Sinica Podcast

06.27.16

Patrolling China’s Cyberspace

Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn & more from Sinica Podcast
Adam Segal is the Maurice R. Greenberg Senior Fellow for China Studies and Director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations. His latest book, The Hacked World Order, provides an in-depth exploration of the...

China’s Li Sees Increasing Uncertainties After Brexit Vote

Bloomberg
Sill, Premier Li Keqiang argues his nation has ample tools to meet challenges facing the economy.

Brexit Is Providing Great Fodder for China's Communist Propaganda Machine

Josh Horwitz
Quartz
Brexit is concrete evidence that democratic decision-making can lead to catastrophic results.

Top Chinese Envoy Visits Vietnam as South China Sea Tension Rises

Mai Nguyen and Martin Petty
Reuters
Yang Jiechi and Pham Binh Minh expressed a need for agreements that prevent rows from getting out of hand.

China and South Korea Sound Notes of Caution

Jane Perlez and Chris Buckley
New York Times
The People’s Daily said the British vote could indirectly unsettle China’s economy in the short term but was unlikely to leave deep, lasting damage.

China Has Foiled India's Bid to Join the Nuclear Suppliers Group

Manu Balachandran
Quartz
China insisted any concession extended to India must apply to its nuclear-armed neighbor Pakistan.

Predictions For Post-Brexit China-UK Business

Klaus E. Meyer
Forbes
We have to look at the motives of Chinese investors in Europe.

The British Brexit Vote Is Awful News for China

Josh Horwitz and Heather Timmons
Quartz
Behind Xi’s opposition to the UK leaving is China’s difficult trade situation with the European Union.

Taiwanese Scam Suspects in Cambodia to be Expelled to China

Asahi Shimbun
Rights activists and Taiwan say the plan reflects the great influence Beijing exercises over Cambodia through aid and investment.

Why the Stakes Are So High for China in South Sudan

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
Nowhere else in Africa do China’s financial, diplomatic, and geopolitical interests confront as much risk as they do in South Sudan. Beijing has invested billions of dollars in the country’s oil sector, deployed over a thousand troops to serve as U...

China Brushes Off Doubts Over Support on South China Sea, Says It's Growing

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
China has stepped up its rhetoric ahead of a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.

China Ambassador Wu Jianmin's Death Sparks Foreign Policy Debate

Vincent Ni
BBC
Mr. Wu’s past comments resonate with many at a time of high tension the East and South China seas.

Media

06.22.16

‘Wukan,’ Once a Byword For Chinese Democracy, Now Censored

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
A fishing village in southern Guangdong province, once a standard-bearer for small-time democracy in China, has now become a political disaster—and the most-censored term on Chinese social media.In September 2011, amid protests over land sales in...

Sinica Podcast

06.20.16

Arthur Kroeber vs. the Conventional Wisdom

Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn & more
In this episode of Sinica, we present an in-depth interview with Arthur Kroeber, the founding partner and head of research for Gavekal Dragonomics, an independent global economic research firm, and the editor-in-chief of its journal, China Economic...

North Korea Diplomat Expected to Attend Forum with U.S. Envoy in China

Ju-min Park
Reuters
The forum would be a rare gathering of experts weeks after Xi Jinping said he would like to see the six-party talks resume.

Hong Kong Leader Vows Action After Bookseller Recounts Ordeal in China

Laurence Witherington and Joanne Chiu
Wall Street Journal
The incidents have raised concerns that Chinese authorities violated the “one country, two systems” formula.

China and Indonesia in Maritime Clash

Ben Bland
Financial Times
Southeast Asian nations deeply divided over how to respond to Beijing’s assertive approach.

China Imposes Blackout on Hong Kong Bookseller’s Revelations

Hannah Beech
Time
With one fleeting exception, media consumers in mainland China were left in the dark.

China Orders 255 Shanghai Industrial Facilities to Shut for G20

Meng Meng and Chen Aizhu
Reuters
The document, issued by the Shanghai Environment Protection Bureau, has ordered a wide range of companies to shut down for 14 days ahead of the G20 meet in Hangzhou.

Protests Erupt After Hong Kong Bookseller Breaks Silence on China Detention

Deutsche Welle
Lam Wing-Kee has described how mainland authorities held him isolated for months. He said Hong Kong would become helpless if he “remained silent.”

Nephew of China’s Former Domestic Security Tsar Jailed for Graft

Megha Rajagopalan
Channel NewsAsia
Zhou’s family has been ensnared in President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption, a broad campaign that has felled officials at all levels of government including many of Xi’s top political opponents.

China Business Climate Draws Fire From U.S. Treasury Secretary

William Mauldin
Wall Street Journal
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says “high-standard bilateral investment treaty” would strengthen climate for U.S. businesses in China.

China Axes Taiwanese Children's Choir Trip

Channel NewsAsia
China has axed a visit by a popular Taiwanese children's choir after they sang the national anthem at the inauguration of the island's new president.

Conversation

06.13.16

A War of Words Over the South China Sea

Edward Friedman, Feng Zhang & more
Beginning earlier this year, four-star Admiral Harry Harris, the U.S. Navy’s top commander in the Pacific, has spoken out in speeches, interviews, private meetings, and testimony to Congress urging that the U.S. take more aggressive action against...

Despite Narendra Modi's Stellar Efforts, China Can Still Destroy India's NSG Dreams

Manu Balachandran
Quartz
The 48-member NSG, set up after India conducted nuclear tests in 1974, regulates the trade of nuclear technology.

Filipino Nationalists Say Flag-Planting on Disputed Shoal Halted by China

Megha Rajagopalan
Reuters
The Filipinos' move comes as the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague prepares to deliver a ruling.

The Disappeared: Faces of Human Rights Activists China Wants to Silence

Tom Phillips
Guardian
Within a year, over 20 lawyers and activists are in custody facing political subversion charges.

A First: Chinese Naval Vessel Enters Senkaku Contiguous Zone in East China Sea

Ankit Panda
Diplomat
Previously, China had only sent its coast guard into Japan’s territorial sea and contiguous zone.

U.S.: Chinese Jet Makes ‘Unsafe’ Intercept of Air Force Plane

Barbara Starr
CNN
China demands the U.S. to stop close-in survailance flights to avoid their “unsafe interceptions”....

Xinjiang Residents Must Submit DNA Samples For Passports, Local Officials Say

ABC
Members of predominantly Muslim Uighur community are denied passport renewals and face discrimination, just in time for Ramadan....

China Rebuffs Taiwan President's Offer on Democracy

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
President Tsai Ing-wen made the offer via Facebook on Saturday in a post about the June 4 anniversary of China's crackdown on Tiananmen Square Protest.

U.S. Chides China on Steel Glut, Treatment of Foreign Companies at Annual Talks

Simon Denyer
Washington Post
The U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing is overshadowed by growing trade friction and the dispute over the South China Sea.

Squaring Off

Economist
A museum of China’s democracy movement in 1989 is in trouble.

'Truth Ain't Lie Dude': Official Chinese Account Goes on Twitter Spree

James Griffiths
CNN
They quickly attracted considerable mockery such as "go home State Council Information Office, you're drunk."

After Failed Missile Test, China Calls for Korean Calm

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
Kim expressed a desire to work hard with China to maintain peace and stability on the peninsula and across northeast Asia.

View from Moscow: China’s Westward March

Paul Haenle & Dmitri Trenin from Carnegie China
China and Russia are solidifying their bilateral relationship as the former looks westward and the latter turns to its east borders. In this podcast with Paul Haenle, Dmitri Trenin discusses the conditions that are leading to stronger China-Russian...

Books

05.30.16

The China Triangle: Latin America's China Boom and the Fate of the Washington Consensus

Kevin P. Gallagher
In The China Triangle, Kevin P. Gallagher traces the development of the China-Latin America trade over time and covers how it has affected the centuries-old (and highly unequal) U.S.-Latin American relationship. He argues that despite these opportunities Latin American nations have little to show for riding the coattails of the ‘China Boom’ and now face significant challenges in the next decades as China’s economy slows down and shifts more toward consumption and services. While the Latin American region saw significant economic growth due to China's rise over the past decades, Latin Americans saved very little of the windfall profits it earned even as the region saw a significant hollowing of its industrial base. What is more, commodity-led growth during the China boom reignited social and environmental conflicts across the region. Scholars and reporters have covered the Chinese expansion into East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australasia, Africa, the U.S., and Europe. Yet China’s penetration Latin America is as little understood as it is significant-especially for America given its longstanding ties to the region. Gallagher provides a clear overview of China’s growing economic ties with Latin America and points to ways that Latin American nations, China, and even the United States can act in order to make the next decades of China-Latin America economic activity more prosperous for all involved. —Amazon{chop}

Viewpoint

05.26.16

China and the End of Reform

Thomas Kellogg
Is the Chinese Communist Party putting an end to the decades-long process of China’s opening to the outside world? Is the era of liberal reform over? Consider the latest piece of evidence: on April 28, the Standing Committee of the National People’s...

Environment

05.26.16

Beijing Calls South China Sea Island Reclamation a ‘Green Project’

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
Sand, cement, and Chinese military facilities now sit on top of some of the South China Sea’s once-thriving reefs; China has built over half a dozen new artificial islands in a bid to bolster its territorial claims in the hotly disputed region. Such...

China to Promote Anti-Corruption Efforts at G20: Minister

Michael Martina
Reuters
As one of China's top 10 priorities for September's summit in Hangzhou, Wang Yi said China would promote a three-pronged approach to anti-corruption cooperation.

China's 'Feud' over Economic Reform Reveals Depth of Xi Jinping's Secret State

Tom Phillips
Guardian
Speculation is rife that Xi wants to curb debt-fuelled growth before it destroys the economy and oust premier Li Keqiang.

G-7 Leaders Target China Over South China Sea Aggression; Vietnam Looks To Arms Procurement

Lydia Tomkiw
International Business Times
China argued that the situation in the South China Sea had “nothing to do” with the G-7.

The Heritage of a Great Man

Freeman Dyson from New York Review of Books
Why did communism grow deep roots and survive in China, while it withered and died in Russia? This is one of the central questions of modern history. A plausible answer to the question is that communism in China resonated with the two-thousand-year-...

Viewpoint

05.25.16

Hong Kong’s International Law Problem

Alvin Y.H. Cheung
In the years leading up to Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, Beijing was keen to reassure the world that nothing significant would change in the territory. Business elites and local politicians alike busied themselves with...

Why Obama's Asia Trip Is Not Playing Well in China

CBS News
President Obama arrived Wednesday morning in Japan for the next leg of his Asia tour.

China’s Leader Wears Many Hats, but Only One Jacket

Chris Buckley
New York Times
Of the many mysteries about China’s president, the most evident may be the navy blue, zippered windbreaker that he wears like a second skin.

Daughter of Missing Bookseller Calls for Action on 'Illegal Operations' by China

Neil Connor
Telegraph
Angela Gui told the congressional hearing on Tuesday that she believed her father's statement of a hit-and-run accident was coerced.

Criticism of Taiwan's 'Single' President Tsai Ing-wen Sparks Anger in China

Shen Lu and Steven Jiang
CNN
According to an op-ed in Xinhua, an official state-published newspaper, being an unmarried and childless woman makes Tsai unfit for her job.

Viewpoint

05.24.16

“It’s Time for Us To Set a New Political Agenda for Hong Kong”

Jonathan Landreth, Susan Jakes & more
Last month, midway through a whirlwind tour of United States universities, Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong took a break for a crab cake and mac-and-cheese lunch at a Manhattan brasserie. Wong, 19, came to international prominence during the...

China Says Better US-Vietnam Ties Must Not Threaten Beijing

Matthew Lee
Associated Press
China has underlying concerns that closer relations between the two would undermine its claims in South China Sea. 

Taiwan President Takes Cautious Line on China at Inauguration

Austin Ramzy
New York Times
Tsai Ing-wen called on China to look beyond the divisions of history for the benefit of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Media

05.20.16

The Chinese Trolls Who Pump Out 488 Million Fake Social Media Posts

David Wertime
They are the most hated group in Chinese cyberspace. They are, to hear their ideological opponents tell it, “fiercely ignorant,” keen to “insert themselves in everything,” and preen as if they were “spokesmen for the country.” Westerners bemoan...

Is China Really the Most Welcoming Country for Refugees?

Gwynn Guilford and Hanna Kozlowska
Quartz
When asked about letting a refugee stay in their home, the most welcoming nation was… China.