Conversation

01.27.14

China’s Offshore Leaks: So What?

Paul Gillis & Robert Kapp
Two recent stories by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists detailed China’s elite funneling money out of China to tax havens in the Caribbean. We asked contributors to weigh the impact of the revelations.

China Exclusive: Chinese, U.S. Presidents Possibly to Meet on Three Occasions in 2014

Xiong Zhengyan, Bai Jie
Xinhua
Possible meetings on the sidelines of three international conferences will enable more bilateral cooperation. 

Is China really running out of cash?

Leslie Shaffer
CNBC
Citibank fund transfer delays sparks concern over a possible nation-wide liquidity shortage. 

Caixin Media

01.27.14

Time for Overhaul of China’s Land Market

The expected launch of land reform is dividing opinions. At a work meeting this month, the Minister of Land and Resources, Jiang Daming, said the central government would limit land supply in cities with more than five million residents. His words...

Chinese Trust Fund Avoids High-profile Default

Simon Rabinovitch, Josh Noble
Financial Times
One of China's biggest “shadow banks” raises Rmb3bn from investors, which was backed by a coal mine which later collapsed. 

Chinese Court Places Heavy Sentence on Prominent Activist

Josh Chin
Wall Street Journal
The most closely watched trial of a Chinese dissident in years calls attention to CCP clamp down on dissent. 

China: Reverse Judgment in Show Trial of Xu Zhiyong

Human Rights Watch
The harsh conviction and four-year sentence of Xu Zhiyong is a pretext to chill popular protests against corruption. 

China's Deluxed Hotels: Modern Sumptuary Laws

Economist
The new humility of both officials and hotels is a response to Xi's campaign against lavish spending. 

China Accuses Uighur Intellectual of Separatism for His Advocacy Work

Andrew Jacobs
New York Times
The news comes at a time of intensifying bloodshed in Xinjiang despite a growing security presence by Chinese personnel. 

China Reveals Members of New Leading Group on Reform

Zachary Keck
Diplomat
The highly publicized nature of the meeting implies that the Party intends for the group to play a prominent role in future reforms. 

A Dream Deferred

Phelim Kine
Foreign Policy
The challenge the ICIJ expose poses to Xi's reputation as an anti-corruption crusader, is a vindication of Xu's advocacy. 

Features

01.26.14

For Freedom, Justice, and Love

Xu Zhiyong from China Change
Following is legal activist Xu Zhiyong’s closing statement at the end of his trial in Beijing on January 22, 2014. According to his lawyer, Xu was only able to read “about ten minutes of it before the presiding judge stopped him, saying it was...

Li Na Beats Cibulkova to Win Australian Open Title in Her 3rd Appearance in the Final

John Pye
Associated Press
Li Na made beat Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (3), 6-0 the Australian Open final on January 25 to become the oldest woman to clinch the title in the Open era.

China Loses its Allure

Economist
Life is getting tougher for foreign companies. Those that want to stay will have to adjust.

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.

China Media: Xi's Chinese New Year Greetings

BBC
President Xi Jinping said the Communist Party of China “firmly relying on the people, including non-communist members, defeated various challenges and difficulties in the last year and achieved outstanding results.”

Why China Needs to Rethink the Way It Treats the Foreign Press

Evan Osnos
New Yorker
A new report on elite wealth by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists suggests Beijing may need to change its whack-a-mole strategy of removing offending reporters one by one.

Malaria Eradication—Cure All?

Economist
A novel approach, using drugs from a South China company, instead of insecticides, may make it easier to eliminate malaria. But it is not without controversy.

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...

Survey: Fewer Americans Support the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty

Asahi Shimbun
Some observors say the decline may be due to a reluctance to involve the U.S. in Sino-Japanese disputes. 

Investigative Stories Delve Into the Use of Offshore Companies by Chinese

Edward Wong
New York Times
This year's first big China investigative story has come from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

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. 

Amid China’s Anti-Extravagance Sweep

James T. Areddy, Fanfan Wang
Wall Street Journal
Chinese hotels are downgrading to attract business from officials who are limited by “morality” campaigns.

“Chinaleaks” Stories Censored in Mainland China

Michael Hudson, Marina Walker Guevara,...
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
Chinese authorities blocked online access to news reports exposing the secrecy-cloaked offshore holdings of China's political and financial elites.

Report Says China’s Elite Use Offshore Companies

Andrew Jacobs, David Barboza
New York Times
The report names many of China's wealthiest citizens, as well as relatives of Xi Jinping, Wen Jiabao, and descendants of the CCP's founders.

China Cannot Relax War on Corruption

Financial Times
(Editorial) “We should not dismiss the way Mr. Xi is trying to deal with the problem.”

China’s Scandal-Torn Oil Industry Embraces Tax Havens

Alexa Olesen, Michael Hudson
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
“If there’s a problem you can just close the company, walk away and deny you ever had anything to do with it.”

Report Links Chinese Elite to Offshore Tax Havens

Joe McDonald
Associated Press
Attention is on President Xi Jinping's family and its wealth at a time when Xi has emphasized fighting corruption.

How the Chinese Internet Ended Up at a House in Cheyenne, Wyoming

Brian Fung
Washington Post
In trying to block Chinese traffic going to Sophidea, the Great Firewall's operators accidentally diverted more traffic there.

China Mobilizes Cyber-cops After Leak on Elite Overseas Wealth

Benjamin Carlson
Global Post
(Op-ed) “surprising behavior from a government that says it really wants transparency to flush out corruption.”

Epiphanies from Kevin Rudd

Isaac Stone Fish
Foreign Policy
Former prime minister who spent time with Xi Jinping notes the importance of language proficiency. 

More Than Half of China’s Most Powerful Officials Have Links to Tax Havens. Now What?

Heather Timmons
Quartz
Relatively loose cencorship of the recent offshore tax reports has some thinking that the CCP is ready to talk. 

ICIJ Offshore Records Reveal Tax Haven Clients in China, Hong Kong

Marina Walker Guevara, Gerard Ryle,...
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
More than 50 reporting partners in Europe, North America, Asia and other regions investigated 2.5 million leaked files.

How We Did Offshore Leaks China

Marina Walker Guevara
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
Chinese, European and Western journalists worked together to successfully leak a highly sensitive and secretive story.

China's Princelings Storing Riches in Caribbean Offshore Haven

James Ball, Guardian US Interactive Team
Guardian
The documents also disclose the central role of major Western banks and accountancy firms who acted as middlemen. 

Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze

Marina Walker Guevara, Gerard Ryle,...
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
The data illustrates the outsized dependency of China's economy on tiny islands thousands of miles away. 

China’s Temporary-Worker Ploy

Murong Xuecun
New York Times
Scandals are often blamed on lin shi gong, or “temporary workers," but why have they been hired in the first place?

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...

The Trial of the Chinese Dream

Evan Osnos
New Yorker
Xu Zhiyong tried to change China from the inside, but now he will be tried by the inside. 

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’s Detention of Uighur Professor Ilham Tohti Worries U.S.

Julie Makinen
Los Angeles Times
The U.S. government and human rights activists are voicing concern about the detention of a professor who has been an outspoken advocate for China’s Uighur minority group.  

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.

Left-Behind Children of China’s Migrant Workers Bear Grown-Up Burdens

Andrew Browne
Wall Street Journal
About 61 Million Chinese Kids Haven’t Seen One or Both Parents for at Least Three Months

Media

01.17.14

You’ve Got Mail: Chinese Communist Party Received Almost Two Million Complaints in 2013

In 2013, China’s Communist Party disciplinary organs received an eye-popping 1.95 million citizen complaints about officials. This is a 49.2 percent jump from 2012, according to a January 13 report from state-run website China News Online—but...

Chinese Activists Test New Leader and Are Crushed

Andrew Jacobs, Chris Buckley
New York Times
Prominent activist, Xi Zhiyong, is indicted in a harsh warning to the New Citizens Movement. 

Spring Festival Gala Performance by Chinese Rock Icon in Doubt

Luo Tian
New York Times
The popularity and pizzazz of China's “Godfather of Rock” is not worth the political risk for CCTV. 

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}

In Rare Video, Wife of Jailed Nobel Laureate Reads Poems While Under House Arrest

The New York Times
New York Times
The video was filmed by the Independent Chinese PEN Center, a free-speech advocacy group established by Ms. Liu. 

China Playing a Long Game in Polar Governance

Anne-Marie Brady
World Politics Review
The recent Antarctic rescue of a Russian vessel highlights China's comprehensive polar strategy. 

Found in Translation: King’s ‘Dream’ Plays in Beijing

Howard W. French
New York Times
The CCP emphasizes American history of inequality while leaving out points of domestic overlap. 

Viewpoint

01.14.14

Xi, Mao, and China’s Search for a Usable Past

Paul Gewirtz
Since its founding, the United States has had understandable pride in its great achievements, but also has had to reckon with its complex moral history—beginning but hardly ending with the fact that our original Constitution accepted the evil of...

Though I am Gone

Hu Jie
Fast Company
(Vid) Wang Jingyao chronicles the murder of his wife, the first victim of the Cultural Revolution. 

‘Cultural Threats’ Among Five Focuses of New National Security Panel, Colonel Says

Teddy Ng
South China Morning Post
Government committee is established to manage western threats to cyber and national security.

Bowed and Remorseful, Former Red Guard Recalls Teacher’s Death

Chris Buckley
New York Times
“How a country faces the future depends in large part on how it faces its past,” said former Red Gaurd in public apology for past violence. 

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.

Why Does China Coddle North Korea?

Jonathan D. Pollack
New York Times
A larger crisis on the Korean peninsula would require Chinese involvement.

The New York Times Hires Michael Forsythe

Kristen Hare
New York Times
Forsythe left Bloomberg after writing an article that threatened the Publication's presence in China. 

Caixin Media

01.13.14

Leading the Battle for Reform

The turn of the year brought news that President Xi Jinping will take the helm of the new leading group for overall reform.This group is a key part of China’s reform drive. As soon as its formation was announced at the Third Plenum of the Communist...

New Detail Emerges About Bo Xilai’s Downfall

Edward Wong
New York Times
Sanlian Life said Australian reporter, John Garnaut, was involved in the Bo Xilai case. 

White House Responds to Jimmy Kimmel’s China Controversy

Ted Johnson
Variety
A joke concerning the killing of Chinese people to avoid paying down U.S. debt was said live on ABC.