ChinaFile Recommends
03.20.18Xi Jinping Warns against Dividing China after U.S. Passes Taiwan Law
Wall Street Journal
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that any “tricks” to divide China will be thwarted, a warning that followed U.S. legislation opening the door to high-level visits with Taiwan.
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03.15.18China, Russia Welcome Korean Peace Efforts with Diplomacy in Overdrive
Reuters
China’s President Xi Jinping offered encouragement for South Korea’s initiative to nurture peaceful engagement with North Korea, and Russia also expressed support, the South Korean official leading diplomatic efforts said on Thursday.
Sinica Podcast
03.14.18When American Pilots Fell out of the Chinese Sky
from Sinica Podcast
The distinctive shark-toothed fighter planes of the Flying Tigers streaked across the skies of China from 1941 to 1942, as American airmen racked up an impressive string of successes in defending China from Japanese forces. They are so recognizable...
Conversation
03.13.18When Trump and Kim Meet, What Will Xi Do?
On March 8, South Korea’s National Security Advisor announced that Donald Trump had agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by May. Although now-ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson previously downplayed the announcement, a summit...
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03.12.18South Korea Moves to Ease Chinese Jitters over U.S.-North Korea Talks
CNN
South Korean officials met with Xi about Trump-Kim Meeting.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.12.18China’s Arms Sales Rise as It Vies with U.S. for Influence on the World Stage
South China Morning Post
Research group highlights Beijing’s growing share of global arms trade as it tries to strengthen ties with key allies.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.07.18China Unhappy with US Aircraft Carrier’s Visit to Vietnam, State Media Says
South China Morning Post
Beijing is unhappy with the visit of a US aircraft carrier to a Vietnamese port, the first by such a vessel since the Vietnam war, and is monitoring developments, according to a state newspaper report on Wednesday.
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03.07.18Talks with North Korea? China Approves (No Matter the Outcome)
New York Times
When China hosted the last serious talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, in the mid-2000s, the setting was a huge, hexagonal table covered in green felt, in a government guesthouse in Beijing.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.06.18China Boosts Defense Budget in Quest for ‘World Class’ Military but Tells Neighbors Not to Worry
Washington Post
China’s government said Monday that it will boost its defense spending by 8.1 percent this year, the biggest increase in three years, even as it insists that it poses no threat to other countries.
Conversation
03.06.18China’s Military Spending
On March 5, during the opening of the National People’s Congress, China’s annual parliament, Beijing announced it plans to spend U.S.$175 billion on its military in 2018, an 8.1 percent rise from 2017. China’s military budget is the world’s second...
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03.01.18As Xi Tightens His Grip on China, U.S. Sees Conflict Ahead
New York Times
A few weeks after Stephen K. Bannon left the White House in August, he was invited to a dinner at the Council on Foreign Relations to discuss American policy toward China.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.22.18As China Puts Pressure on Taiwan, Signs of a U.S. Pushback
New York Times
As China ratchets up pressure on Taiwan, the self-governing island it claims as its territory, the United States is cautiously starting to push back.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.20.18“Ignore the Missiles”: Duterte Says China’s South China Sea Militarization Is No Problem
Quartz
Generally speaking, a sovereign nation dislikes it when a foreign power establishes new military bases within striking range of its capital. But when it comes to China doing just that to the Philippines in the South China Sea, Rodrigo Duterte, it...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.20.18Chinese Warships Enter East Indian Ocean Amid Maldives Tensions
Reuters
Eleven Chinese warships sailed into the East Indian Ocean this month, a Chinese news portal said, amid a constitutional crisis in the tiny tropical island chain of the Maldives now under a state of emergency.
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02.15.18Maldives Crisis Could Stir Trouble between China and India
New York Times
As the Maldives’ autocratic president, Abdulla Yameen, cracks down on opposition to consolidate power ahead of another election, analysts and diplomats warn that the small nation’s troubles could provoke a larger crisis that draws in China and India...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.15.18Harry Harris, Trump’s Pick for Australia Envoy, Slams Beijing’s Asia Ambitions
CNN
China is seeking to “undermine” the international order in the Asia Pacific, Adm. Harry Harris, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Australia, said in Washington on Wednesday.
Conversation
02.15.18Is American Policy toward China Due for a ‘Reckoning’?
Former diplomats Kurt M. Campbell and Ely Ratner argue that United States policy toward China, in administrations of both parties, has relied in the past on a mistaken confidence in America’s ability to “mold China to the United States’ liking.”...
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02.14.18China and Russia Are Catching up with Military Power of US and West, Say Leading Defence Experts
Independent
China and Russia are challenging the military supremacy of America and its allies and the West can no longer rely on the strategic advantage it has enjoyed until now, a leading think tank states in its annual report.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.14.18“Shameless” and “Two-Faced”: China’s Astonishing Rebuke of Its Former Internet Czar
Quartz
China’s former internet czar was expelled from the Communist Party and will be prosecuted for corruption, the party’s top graft-busting agency said yesterday (Feb. 13).
ChinaFile Recommends
02.13.18The ‘Globalisation’ of China's Military Power
BBC
China’s modernization of its armed forces is proceeding faster than many analysts expected.
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02.13.18Britain to Test China by Sailing Ship in Disputed Sea
Financial Times
Anti-submarine frigate to sail through contested waters of South China Sea.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.08.18An Indian-Russian Supersonic Missile Could Be a Problem for China
CNBC
BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India and Russia, has developed what it calls the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile. The namesake rocket may now be exported globally — a potentially concerning development for the world’s second-...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.07.18China Is Placing Underwater Sensors in the Pacific near Guam
NPR
China’s official People’s Daily newspaper reported in December that Chinese scientists had lowered acoustic sensors into the Mariana Trench, at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
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02.06.18Philippines’ Duterte Reneges on China Deal, Bans Foreign Research Ships
Reuters
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has banned all foreign scientific research off the country’s Pacific coast and told the navy to chase away unauthorised vessels, despite earlier allowing Chinese oceanographers to operate there.
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02.06.18Photos Show Beijing’s Militarisation of South China Sea in New Detail
Guardian
Beijing has been accused of building “island fortresses” in the South China Sea after a newspaper in the Philippines obtained aerial photographs offering what experts called the most detailed glimpse yet of China’s militarisation of the waterway.
Conversation
02.05.18Is the Belt and Road Anti-Democratic?
During her visit to Beijing, Shanghai, and Wuhan January 31-February 2, Prime Minister Theresa May attempted to improve her country’s trade relations with China—an increasingly important partner for the post-Brexit United Kingdom. And yet, May was...
Conversation
02.01.18Should Pacific Island Nations Be Wary of Chinese Influence?
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s three-day visit to China, from January 31 to February 2, has amplified ongoing debates in Europe about the costs and benefits of engagement with China and of Chinese investment. Attention to China’s role in...
ChinaFile Recommends
01.31.18Trump Alarms China with ‘Cold War’ Rhetoric in State of Union Address
Washington Post
China raised alarms Wednesday over what it called President Trump’s “outdated Cold War mentality” after an address that described Beijing as a global rival and set an increasing tough line against China’s economic and military reach.
Features
01.26.18A Most Immoral Woman: George E. Morrison's Life in Turn-of-the-Century China
My historical novel “A Most Immoral Woman” tells the story of Morrison’s passionate and unconventional affair with Mae Perkins, an independent and wealthy young American libertine, in 1904. It’s a tale that roams the landscape of a dynasty in...
ChinaFile Recommends
01.25.18China Denies Plan to Build Military Base in Afghanistan
Reuters
China’s Defence Ministry on Thursday denied that it was planning to build a military base in Afghanistan, branding such reports “groundless”.
Conversation
01.24.18Is China Really a ‘Threat’ to the U.S.?
In a move presaging tougher policies towards China, the Department of Defense’s National Defense Strategy announced that the “revisionist powers” China and Russia are the “central challenge to U.S. prosperity and security.” And on January 22, Donald...
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01.24.18Top U.S. Sanctions Envoy Presses China to Expel North Korean Agents
Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration’s top sanctions envoy pressed China in high-level meetings this week to deliver on commitments to expel North Korean agents helping finance Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.
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01.23.18Taiwan President Says Does Not Exclude Possibility of China Attack
Reuters
“No one can exclude this possibility. We will need to see whether their policymakers are reasonable policymakers or not,” Tsai said in an interview on Taiwan television broadcast late on Monday, when asked whether China could attack Taiwan.
The China Africa Project
01.23.18China’s Evolving Military Strategy in Africa
Chris Alden, a professor of international relations and China-Africa scholar at the London School of Economics, joins Eric and Cobus to discuss his new book, China and Africa: Building Peace and Security Cooperation on the Continent.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.22.18Asia & Pacific China to U.S.: It’s Your Fault We Are in the South China Sea
Washington Post
Beijing has a message for the Trump administration: The more ships you send to the contested waters of the South China Sea, the more we will bolster our presence there.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.19.18U.S. Military Advantage over Russia and China 'Eroding,' Pentagon Says
NPR
The Pentagon unveiled its National Defense Strategy, a document that focuses on the "eroding" U.S. military advantage with regard to Russia and China, and will likely influence future spending on weapons systems and other military hardware.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.18.18How China’s Military Is Girding for Battle, and What It Means for Neighbours
South China Morning Post
Wei Shiji “died instantly” while trying to defuse a landmine in a dense forest in China’s Fujian province this month, while two comrades, Li Shoushun and Liu Shangdong, “survived the war”.
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01.18.18India Tests Ballistic Missile, Posing New Threat to China
New York Times
India tested a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons on Thursday, paving the way for membership to a small list of countries with access to intercontinental missiles and putting most of China in its reach.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.17.18China accuses U.S. of “Cold War thinking” with North Korea summit
CBS News
China on Wednesday said “Cold War thinking” was behind a meeting of U.S. allies on how to deal with North Korea's nuclear threat, adding that the gathering risks splitting international opinion over the issue.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.09.18Philippines to Protest to China over Apparent Airbase on Manmade Island
Reuters
The United States has criticized China’s build-up of military facilities on the artificial islands and is concerned they could be used to restrict free movement along the key trade route.
ChinaFile Recommends
12.22.17India, China Hold Talks on Long-Running Border Dispute
ABC
India and China on Friday discussed ways to prevent a repeat of a recent face-off between their armed forces at a Himalayan plateau where their borders meet.
ChinaFile Recommends
12.21.17Donald Trump 'Ignores Facts': Chinese Military Hits Back at Claim It Is Trying to Challenge US Interests
South China Morning Post
The Chinese military has rejected US President Donald Trump’s accusation that it is a challenge to American’s national security, according to a statement released late on Wednesday night.
Conversation
12.19.17Trump’s National Security Strategy and China
On December 18, U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced the United States’ new national security strategy. He called China a “strategic competitor,” and, along with Russia, called it a “revisionist power.” Those two nations, Trump said, are...
ChinaFile Recommends
12.18.17Trump National Security Strategy Sees U.S. Confronting China and Russia
New York Times
President Trump’s first national security strategy envisions a world in which the United States confronts two “revisionist” powers — China and Russia — that are seeking to change the global status quo, often to the detriment of America’s interests.
ChinaFile Recommends
12.18.17China’s Warplanes Hold Drill near Japan, South Korea, Taiwan
ABC
Chinese air force spokesman Shen Jinke said the air force dispatched bombers, fighters and reconnaissance planes through the Tsushima Strait to the Sea of Japan to “test its ocean combat ability.”
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12.14.17China Accuses US of Meddling over Potential US Navy Visits to Taiwan
Voice of America
China submitted an official protest with the United States Thursday after U.S
ChinaFile Recommends
12.13.17Tillerson offers North Korea talks ‘without preconditions’
Financial Times
US secretary of state Rex Tillerson offered to open direct talks with North Korea “without preconditions” in a new overture to Pyongyang that jars with the more confrontational stance of the White House.
ChinaFile Recommends
12.06.17China Province near North Korea Warns about the Dangers of Nuclear War
Washington Post
A provincial state newspaper on China’s border with North Korea spooked a few people Wednesday by dedicating an entire page to advice for local residents on how they might survive a nuclear war.
ChinaFile Recommends
12.05.17Behind China's Attempt to Ease the Rohingya Crisis
New York Times
Beijing strenuously avoids playing a high-profile part in ameliorating international humanitarian crises. Its most identifiable role in Myanmar had been to shield the local military from international criticism for carrying out what the United...
China in the World Podcast
12.01.17Breaking Down Trump’s Visit to Asia
from Carnegie China
What is the future of geopolitics and U.S. engagement in the Asia-Pacific following President Donald Trump’s first official state visit to the region? In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Daniel Russel, former Special Assistant to President...
Conversation
11.27.17What Does Mugabe’s Resignation Mean for China?
On November 15, soldiers placed the 93-year-old Robert Mugabe under house arrest. Mugabe had ruled Zimbabwe since the country gained independence in 1980. On November 21, he resigned after 37 years in power. China, Zimbabwe’s largest foreign...
China in the World Podcast
11.21.17The North Korean Nuclear Threat: The View From Beijing
from Carnegie China
North Korea was atop the list of priorities for President Donald Trump during his first visit to China, but it remains to be seen how much substantive progress was made on bringing parties closer to a dialogue aimed at denuclearizing the Korean...
Viewpoint
11.17.17China and the United States Are Equals. Now What?
Donald Trump’s Asia trip was historic in one respect: it belatedly focused American attention on the competition between the United States and China for global primacy. China has risen, the era of uncontested American leadership has ended, and any...
Excerpts
11.16.17Mementos of 1949
Bodies jostled, elbow to elbow, angling all morning for a spot in the square. Soldiers clomped in the cold—tanned, singing as they marched, steel helmets and bayonets under the October sun. Tanks moved in columns two by two; then howitzers, teams of...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.15.17‘Bloodless’ Takeover ‘Won’t Dampen’ Chinese Investment in Zimbabwe
South China Morning Post
China will continue to invest in its “all-weather friend” Zimbabwe despite a military takeover of the African country’s government, observers said.
Viewpoint
11.10.17Bathed in the Xi Jinping Bromance
Sitting in a grand salon of the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square and awaiting the official arrival ceremony of President Trump was to be taken back to that period of Sino-Soviet amity when Stalin was Mao’s “big brother” and the Chinese...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.10.17US Finds Unlikely Ally in Vietnam as a Former Partner Tilts to China
CNN
US President Donald Trump may have left China for the final leg of his Asia tour, but the specter of Beijing will loom large over his discussions with Southeast Asian nations on the issues dominating the region.
Viewpoint
11.08.17Will Trump’s ‘Flattery Machine’ Work on Xi Jinping?
Before winging off to Beijing, Trump managed to convince his staff and Korean President Moon to take him to the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Many of his aides were said to have been wary about the idea, fearing he might make some kind of provocative...
Viewpoint
11.07.17Sticking to the Script, Trump Seems to Internalize It
Slowly we are stitching our way across Asia on Donald J. Trump’s great five-nation oriental hegira. After a punishing 2:00 a.m. departure from Yokota Air Force Base outside Tokyo, we arrived this morning at Osan Air Base outside of Seoul, a reminder...
Viewpoint
11.06.17On the Road with Trump in Asia: Day One, Tokyo
Many are fearful that Xi Jinping’s ability to awe his visitors with over-the-top manifestations of pomp and ceremony will turn Donald Trump to Jell-o. But having watched Trump arrive in Japan yesterday on the first leg of his five-country trip, it’s...