ChinaFile Recommends
08.17.15Obama Administration Warns Beijing About Covert Agents Operating in U.S.
New York Times
The warning reflects escalating anger in Washington about intimidation tactics used by the agents.
Media
08.17.15
4 Questions Chinese Want Answered After Deadly Tianjin Blast
Around 11:30 p.m., Beijing time, on Wednesday, at least two fearsome blasts in quick succession rocked the large northeastern Chinese port city of Tianjin. Originating at or near a hazardous materials warehouse near the city’s downtown, the...
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08.13.15Military Sends Chemical Specialists to Blast Site, Death Toll Rises to 50
Xinhua
So far more than 1,000 firefighters, 151 fire engines and a drone have been dispatched to the blast site.
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08.13.15P&G Tripped Up by Its Assumptions About Diapers in China
Wall Street Journal
Pampers diapers fall behind after aiming too low at the growing middle class.
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08.13.15Tianjin Blast Rescuers Removing Toxic Chemical Substance from Scene
People’s Daily Online
Sodium cyanide has now been detected in the sewage and leakage has been confirmed.
Media
08.13.15
Sorry China, the Internet You’re Looking for Does Not Exist
The long arm of China’s massive internal security apparatus just reached further into the heart of the country’s web. On August 4, China’s Ministry of Public Security announced that it would embed law enforcement officers at major Internet companies...
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08.13.15U.S.-China Aviation Talks Hit Stumbling Block on Airport Access
Reuters
In May talks China offered to permit more flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and lower caps for other domestic cities.
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08.13.15China Seeks to Calm Markets as It Devalues Currency for 3rd Consecutive Day
New York Times
Since Tuesday, the currency, the renminbi, has fallen 4.4 percent, the biggest drop in decades.
The NYRB China Archive
08.13.15
China: The Superpower of Mr. Xi
from New York Review of Books
In the almost one-hundred-year existence of the Chinese Communist Party (C.C.P.), its current general secretary, Xi Jinping, is only the second leader clearly chosen by his peers. The first was Mao Zedong. Both men beat out the competition, and thus...
Culture
08.11.15
Japan’s Soft Power Leader in China is a Fat Blue Cartoon Cat
On July 28, costumed in vibrant colors, throngs of fans flocked toward the early morning light of Victoria Harbor, queueing outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center for the last day of the 17th Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong. The...
Caixin Media
08.11.15
Auditors Probe Sinopec, Savvy Broker in Angola
Government auditors are taking a closer look at U.S.$10 billion worth of offshore oil investments by state-run China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) that owe their existence to a Hong Kong businessman with a flair for networking in the...
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08.11.15Bearish Bets Multiply as China Slows
Financial Times
A slowdown in China is harder for its trading partners and manufacturing competitors than it is for China itself.
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08.11.15China Devalues Its Currency as Worries Rise About Economic Slowdown
New York Times
The clearest sign yet of Beijing's concern about falling short of its goal of roughly 7 percent economic growth.
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08.10.15China TV Anchor Bi Fujian to be Punished for Mao Insult
BBC
He committed "a serious violation of political discipline" mocking the man who led the Cultural Revolution and sparked a crippling famine.
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08.10.15China Hits Back at U.S. Criticism over South China Sea ‘Restrictions’
Reuters
Free overflights and navigation doesn't equal foreign warships and jets to violate sovereignty and security, Beijing said.
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08.10.15China Shares Post Biggest One-Day Gain in a Month
Wall Street Journal
Weak economic data boosts stimulus hopes; investors signal confidence in Beijing’s support.
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08.10.15China Read Emails of Top U.S. Officials
NBC News
First codenamed "Dancing Panda" by U.S. officials was detected in April 2010, according to a top secret NSA briefing from 2014.
Two Way Street
08.10.15A Response to ‘China’s Foreign Policy Isn’t Transparent? You’ve Got to Be Kidding’
from Two Way Street
I’m pleased that my article on the lack of transparency in China’s political system has stimulated this intellectually interesting commentary from Chu Yin. Chu elaborates my argument that China’s leaders keep the policy process secret because they...
Excerpts
08.10.15
What Happened to the Settlers the Japanese Army Abandoned in China
Seventy years ago today, thousands of Japanese settlers—mostly women and children—found themselves trapped in an area then known as Manchuria, or Manchukuo, the name of the puppet state the Japanese military established in 1931. Abandoned by their...
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08.08.15ChinaFile Recommends
08.07.15Wealthy Brother of Top Chinese Corruption Suspect Lived Quiet Life in California
Los Angeles Times
Jason Wang was a golf enthusiast and was memorably friendly, neighbors said.
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08.07.15China’s Liberal Academics Fear Growing Censorship
Guardian
“It is getting worse,” said Qiao, 45, whose public advocacy of western-style democracy and civil rights made him a thorn in the government’s side. “Since [Xi] came to power the government has placed tighter controls on ideological research and...
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08.07.15The Singapore Lesson China Missed
Wall Street Journal
It’s impossible to understand Singapore’s success without recognizing the importance of state constraint. Since Mr. Xi acknowledges no such limits, he will have a hard time achieving Singapore’s results.
Conversation
08.05.15
Should the U.S. Extradite Chinese Wanted by Beijing?
This week, The New York Times reported that Chinese officials have asked the U.S. government to help in apprehending Ling Wancheng, a wealthy Chinese business man and the brother of one of the highest-level officials to have been targeted in Xi...
Environment
08.05.15
High-Ranking Retired Environmental Protection Official Mired in Corruption Probe
from chinadialogue
Retired Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) Vice Minister Zhang Lijun has run afoul of the ongoing corruption crackdown, becoming the highest-ranking environmental official yet to be investigated.On Thursday, China’s anti-corruption watchdog...
Media
08.05.15
Beijing’s Ban on Smoking Is Actually (Sort of) Working
They rarely trash hotel rooms or boast about drugs, but Chinese rock stars could at least be counted on to smoke. Now even that’s starting to change in the face of a smoking ban in China’s capital that shows little sign of burning out, almost two...
The China Africa Project
08.04.15
U.S. Not Concerned About Chinese Competition in Africa ... But It Probably Should Be
The difference between U.S. and Chinese foreign policies in Africa was on stark display in July when president Barack Obama made his landmark visits to Kenya and Ethiopia. The president brought along with him a vast agenda that transcended trade,...
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08.03.15For China’s Gay Men, Beijing Park Offers Haven
Los Angeles Times
Though illegal, Chinese media regularly report on gay home weddings and gay couples getting marriage certificates in the U.S.
ChinaFile Recommends
08.03.15The Melancholy Pop Idol Who Haunts China
New Yorker
Teresa Teng’s influence is particularly powerful in China, which her parents had fled after the revolution.
ChinaFile Recommends
08.03.15China Seeks Businessman Said to Have Fled to U.S., Further Straining Ties
New York Times
Ling Wancheng is the younger brother of Ling Jihua, who for years held a post akin to that of the White House chief of staff.
Two Way Street
08.01.15
China’s Foreign Policy Isn’t Transparent? You’ve Got to Be Kidding
from Two Way Street
In her recent article, “What China’s Lack of Transparency Means for U.S. Policy,” U.S.-China relations expert Susan Shirk caused a stir when she argued that China’s “lack of transparency” around public policy making, defense, national security, and...
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07.31.15Guo Boxiong Expelled From Chinese Communist Party in Bid to Reform Military
Sydney Morning Herald
The military has been a core focus of President Xi Jinping's campaign against official corruption.
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07.31.15China’s Naked Emperors
New York Times
By trying to control the market China's rulers show that despite 25 years of success they have no idea what they’re doing.
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07.31.15ChinaFile Recommends
07.31.15China Shares Suffer Worst Month in Nearly Six Years
Wall Street Journal
Shaken confidence in Beijing’s role in market led to wild swings in recent days.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.30.15In China, Michael Jordan Does Not Hold Rights to His Own Name
Quartz
Jordan first sued Qiaodan Sports in 2012 for using his Chinese name, his team number 23, and a jumping man logo to sell basketball shoes and jerseys.
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07.30.15China’s Film Industry Is Gaining on Hollywood
Businessweek
Chinese audiences are growing, more theaters are being built, and the movies are getting better.
Media
07.28.15
Clickbait Nationalism
On July 16, the lower house of the Japanese Parliament passed a set of new security legislation that would grant Japan limited power to engage in foreign conflicts for the first time since its defeat in World War II. Despite domestic public...
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07.27.15China’s Shares Tumble Again
New York Times
Artists, essayists, lawyers, bloggers and others deemed to be online troublemakers have been hauled into police stations and investigated or imprisoned for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a charge that was once confined to physical...
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07.27.15China’s Un-separation of Powers
Foreign Affairs
U.S. industry has figured out how to pull the levers of power in China but also points to a substantial change in how China is governed. In the past, there was at least some separation between party and government roles, but it seems that the line...
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07.27.15China Uses ‘Picking Quarrels’ Charge to Cast a Wider Net Online
New York Times
Artists, essayists, lawyers, bloggers and others deemed to be online troublemakers have been hauled into police stations and investigated or imprisoned for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a charge that was once confined to physical...
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07.23.15Palace Intrigue: Chinese Soldiers Storm Replica of Taiwan Presidential Office
Wall Street Journal
Is Beijing doubling down on its longstanding threat to reclaim Taiwan by force?
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15Suicide Bombings in China: Beyond Terrorism
Diplomat
A suicide bomber attacked a park in Heze in China’s Shandong province, killing two (including the bomber) and injuring 24, with three people receiving “relatively severe” injuries.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15What Did China Bring to the Iran Talks?
Diplomat
While China stood with the Western powers in insisting Iran give up its ambitions for nuclear weapons, Beijing took Iran’s side in calling for more rapid sanctions relief.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15Confucius Says, Xi Does
Economist
Since he came to power in 2012, Mr Xi has sought to elevate Confucius—whom Mao vilified—as the grand progenitor of Chinese culture.
Media
07.23.15
Why Taylor Swift’s 1989 Merchandise Is Not Going to Get Her Banned in China
On July 20, one of China’s largest e-commerce websites, JD.com, announced that it is partnering with popular American singer Taylor Swift to become the first authorized retailer of her merchandise in China. That news likely wouldn’t have turned...
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07.23.15In Quirky Hong Kong Voting System, Fishermen Play Key Role
Associated Press
Fishing and farming make up less than 1 percent of Hong Kong's $274 billion economy but command 60 votes in the leadership committee.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15China Cracks Down on Hong Kong Evangelists
BBC
A 2014 survey of more than 1,000 Protestant churches in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Church Renewal Movement gives some insight into their activities.
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07.23.15China May Adopt 'Two-child Policy, Demographic Timebomb Looms
Guardian
China could be on the verge of introducing a two-child policy, under which all Chinese couples would be allowed to have two children.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15China Targeting Rights Lawyers in a Crackdown
New York Times
Beijing is mounting a broad crackdown on human rights lawyers, contending that they have exploited contentious cases to enrich themselves and attack the party.
The China Africa Project
07.23.15
A Kenyan Columnist’s Provocative Views on the Chinese in Africa
In Mark Kapchanga’s view, the West, particularly the media, really does not understand what the Chinese are doing in Africa. Kapchanga, a provocative Nairobi-based journalist and columnist, isn’t shy in arguing his case that on balance China’s...
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07.22.15China Calls Japan Foreign Policy 'Two-faced'
Reuters
China's Defense Ministry says it reserves the right to a "necessary reaction" after Japan called on Beijing to stop building oil and gas exploration platforms close to disputed waters.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15China Feared CIA Worked with Sheldon Adelson's Casinos to Bust Officials
Guardian
China fears that casinos owned by Sheldon Adelson were used by the CIA to blackmail Chinese officials.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15Myanmar Gives 153 Chinese Life in Jail for Illegal Logging
Associated Press
A court in Myanmar sentenced 153 Chinese nationals to life in prison on after convicting them of illegal logging in a case that has already strained relations with Beijing.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15China Probes Senior Xinjiang Security Official For Graft
Reuters
A deputy regional security chief and former head of the prison system, Xie Hui, in Xinjiang has been put under investigation for suspected corruption.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15Chinese Police Seize Ashes of Tibetan Monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
New York Times
Chinese police forcibly seized the ashes of a prominent Tibetan monk whose death in prison set off public demonstrations.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15Wan Li Obituary
Guardian
Former leader Wan Li, who died at age 98, was a reform-minded communist. In the post-Mao Zedong era, Wan achieved one great success only to fail dismally in another crucial enterprise.
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07.22.15Xi Turns Back the Clock on Women’s Rights in China
Wall Street Journal
Although it is unthinkable today, two decades ago 30,000 women from around the world converged outside Beijing to promote a host of social and political causes.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15Chinese Art Curator Admits to Faking Masterpieces
Wall Street Journal
A prestigious art institute in Guangzhou has discovered that it had forged artwork in its collection — faked by none other than one of its curators.
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07.22.15Louisa Lim: “How Chinese People Became Complicit...”
Guardian
I didn’t want to write this book. Even the thought of it scared me, but it hammered away at my conscience. When I finally gave in, I took elaborate precautions.