ChinaFile Recommends
10.10.17Asia's Longest-Serving Strongman Shows Power of China's Cash
Bloomberg
A few decades ago, the U.S. and its allies could use financial leverage over aid-dependent Cambodia to nurture a democracy forged after Pol Pot’s genocide wiped out about a fifth of the population. But these days the biggest spender is China, which...
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10.10.17China May Consider These Countries for Its Overseas Military Base
Forbes
China is most likely to put more military bases on the African east coast, as well as along the Indian Ocean or Arabian Sea.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.10.17In China, Scholars Are Being Punished amid Growing Squeeze on Public Expression
NPR
In late July, Beijing Normal University authorities fired Shi Jiepeng, an assistant professor, citing a number of offenses, including "expressing views outside the mainstream of society."
ChinaFile Recommends
10.09.17Chinese Village Where Xi Jinping Fled Is Now a Monument to His Power
New York Times
Almost 50 years after Xi Jinping first trudged into this village as a cold, bewildered teenager, hundreds of political pilgrims retrace his footsteps every day. They follow a well-trod course designed to show how the seven years that the young Mr...
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10.09.17China Congress: Military Facelift a Sign of Bigger Changes
BBC
Of the many noteworthy developments that have characterised Chinese President Xi Jinping's first five-year term, none stands out as much as military reform, and this reveals a great deal about the coming political trajectory in China, writes...
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10.09.17Philippines Apologizes to China over Wrong Taiwan Logo
Bloomberg
The Philippine defense department has apologized to China for the "grievous but purely unintentional mistake" of using Taiwan's defense ministry logo during a ceremony where the Chinese ambassador turned over thousands of assault...
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10.06.17Does Chinese Leader Xi Jinping Plan to Hang on to Power for More Than 10 Years?
South China Morning Post
The leader of China’s Communist Party, Xi Jinping, will begin a second five-year term this month. Many observers say it’s unlikely to be his last.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.06.17Exclusive: Russia’s Rosneft Aims for Big Boost in Oil Exports to China - Sources
Reuters
Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft (ROSN.MM) wants to boost its supplies of oil to China through Kazakhstan to as much as 18 million tonnes (36,000 bpd) per year from around 10 million tonnes in 2017, three industry sources said on Friday.
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10.06.17From Innovation to Provocation, China’s Artists on a Global Path
New York Times
Strange to say, although China has 1.4 billion people, it has only one artist, Ai Weiwei. Or so you’d think if you followed the Western news media. “Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World” at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum wants to correct...
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10.06.17Waiting Game for North Korean Workers in China as Shutdown Deadline Looms
South China Morning Post
On a quiet street in the embassy district of Beijing, a neon-lit national flag forms an impressive backdrop to an almost empty North Korean restaurant as young waitresses sent from Pyongyang stand around waiting for customers.
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10.06.17U.S. Confronts China over Suspected Cyberattack as Fugitive Guo Wengui Appears in Washington
Washington Post
A suspected Chinese cyberattack on the website of a prominent Washington think tank drew a complaint from U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week in a meeting with top Chinese government officials.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.05.17Bannon’s Back and Targeting China
Bloomberg
As President Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon operated mostly behind the scenes to press his hard-right brand of nationalist politics, with only intermittent success. Since leaving the White House on Aug. 18, he’s taken on a much more public...
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10.05.17White House Conducting Wide-Ranging Review of China Policy
Politico
The White House is quietly conducting a comprehensive review of its approach toward China, according to administration officials and outside advisers with knowledge of the plan.
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10.05.17High-Level US-China Talks Focus on Immigration, Fugitives
Voice of America
Shilan Zhao, former wife of fugitive Chinese official Jianjun Qiao, pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges by the U.S. government of conspiring to commit immigration fraud related to the EB5 “investor” visa program.
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10.05.17Why the Rest of Asia Is Worried about China's Big Communist Confab
Forbes
Not sure whether China will be nice to self-ruled Taiwan? Wait until after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party. What’s in store for the hotly disputed, resource-rich South China Sea, where Beijing has taken a military and technological...
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10.05.17Communist Party Expels Former High-Flyer Sun Zhengcai in Countdown to Key Congress
South China Morning Post
Former political star Sun Zhengcai has been expelled from China’s Communist Party and will face prosecution, state media reported on Friday – two months after his shock downfall and just weeks before a key five-yearly leadership reshuffle.
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10.04.17What We Know about China’s 19th Party Congress and the Possible Economic Fallout
Forbes
On October 18, China will hold its 19th National Party Congress, which will provide broad indications for economic policy in the coming years. While it has been projected that there will be significant changes among the top party members, President...
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10.04.17Ivanka Trump’s Business in China Shrouded in Secrecy as Public Trade Data Disappears
Independent
It is no secret that the bulk of Ivanka Trump's merchandise comes from China. But just which Chinese companies manufacture and export her handbags, shoes and clothes is more secret than ever, an Associated Press investigation has found.
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10.03.17White House Again Rejects Talks with North Korea on Nuclear Issue
Reuters
The White House on Monday ruled out talks with North Korea except to discuss the fate of Americans held there, again appearing to rebuke Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who said Washington was directly communicating with Pyongyang on its nuclear...
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10.03.17China's Real Reasons for Enforcing North Korea Sanctions: Trump, Party Congress
CNBC
Washington has praised the world's second-largest economy for making progress in enforcing sanctions imposed on North Korea. But China's current measures may just be a temporary move for its own gain.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.03.17The Curious Career Paths of China’s Public-Sector Bosses
Financial Times
The official heroes of China’s state-sector reform program range from dedicated anti-graft investigators, who have purged dozens of allegedly corrupt executives over recent years, to strategically minded administrators determined to create a stable...
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10.03.17To Intervene or Not? China's Foreign Policy Experiment in South Sudan Raises Questions
South China Morning Post
Yanmei Xie and Casie Copeland say China’s growing involvement in South Sudan’s civil war differs from its past approach to non-interference, though there is debate on the long-term implications as its role in African, and global, security affairs...
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10.02.17Why Kim Jong Un Is Alienating China
Washington Post
Totalitarian leaders usually don’t explain themselves, and Kim — six years in power and only 33 — is no exception. But insights into his Sino-belligerence can be gleaned from the back story of his family.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.02.17Facebook Blocks Chinese Billionaire Who Tells Tales of Corruption
New York Times
A Chinese billionaire living in virtual exile in New York, Guo Wengui has riled China’s leaders with his sometimes outlandish tales of deep corruption among family members of top Communist Party officials.
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10.02.17As Sanctions Bite, North Korean Workers Leave Chinese Border Hub
Reuters
Almost 100,000 overseas workers, based predominantly in China and Russia, funnel some $500 million in wages a year to help finance the North Korean regime, the U.S. government says.
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10.02.17Tillerson Masters the Art of Comity in Talks with China Leaders
Bloomberg
Rex Tillerson made a show of harmony with Chinese leaders during a whirlwind visit to Beijing, skipping over tensions around trade and North Korea to emphasize the personal bond between the countries’ presidents.
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10.02.17In Tillerson's China Stop, Questions on North Korea but Slim Chance of Clarity
New York Times
Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson is scheduled to arrive in Beijing early Saturday for a brief visit, amid confusing signals about President Trump’s position on two questions looming over the confrontation with North Korea: Is America’s long-term...
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10.02.17U.S. Directly Communicating with North Korea, Seeks Dialogue
Reuters
The disclosure by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during a trip to China represented the first time he has spoken to such an extent about U.S. outreach to North Korea over its pursuit of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile.
Media
09.29.17Trump on China
In the run-up to and during his race toward the presidency of the United States, Donald Trump made frequent statements about China, its people, and the government in Beijing, in remarks that ranged from effusive praise to outright attack, and which...
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09.28.17Leaving Nothing to Chance, China Increases Security, Social Control before Congress
Reuters
China is tightening security for next month’s twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress, cancelling police leave in Beijing, limiting tourism to Tibet, and clamping down on the spread of political rumors.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.28.17China to Shut down North Korean Companies
BBC
China has told North Korean companies operating in its territory to close down as it implements United Nations sanctions against the reclusive state.
Books
09.27.17Cracking the China Conundrum
China’s rise is altering global power relations, reshaping economic debates, and commanding tremendous public attention. Despite extensive media and academic scrutiny, the conventional wisdom about China’s economy is often wrong. Cracking the China Conundrum provides a holistic and contrarian view of China’s major economic, political, and foreign policy issues.Yukon Huang trenchantly addresses widely accepted yet misguided views in the analysis of China’s economy. He examines arguments about the causes and effects of China’s possible debt and property market bubbles, trade and investment relations with the West, the links between corruption and political liberalization in a growing economy, and Beijing’s more assertive foreign policies. Huang explains that such misconceptions arise in part because China’s economic system is unprecedented in many ways—namely because it’s driven by both the market and state—which complicates the task of designing accurate and adaptable analysis and research. Further, China’s size, regional diversity, and uniquely decentralized administrative system pose difficulties for making generalizations and comparisons from micro to macro levels when trying to interpret China’s economic state accurately.This book not only interprets the ideologies that experts continue building misguided theories upon, but also examines the contributing factors to this puzzle. Cracking the China Conundrum provides an enlightening and corrective viewpoint on several major economic and political foreign policy concerns currently shaping China’s economic environment. —Oxford University Press{chop}Related Reading:“What the West Gets Wrong About China’s Economy,” Yukon Huang, Foreign Affairs, September 14, 2017“Challenging Conventional Wisdom,” Chen Weihua, China Daily, April 28, 2017“Cracking China’s Debt Conundrum,” Yukon Huang, Financial Times, December 6, 2016“Despite Slower Growth, China’s Economy Is Undergoing Major Changes,” NPR Interview with Yukon Huang, January 19, 2016
ChinaFile Recommends
09.27.17China Says Taiwan Not a Country, Taiwan Says China Needs Reality Check
Reuters
China warned self-ruled Taiwan on Wednesday that it would “reap the consequences” of promoting formal independence, a red line for Beijing which claims the island as its own.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.27.17This Is What World War III with China Might Look Like
Nation
For the past 50 years, American leaders have been supremely confident that they could suffer military setbacks in places like Cuba or Vietnam without having their system of global hegemony, backed by the world’s wealthiest economy and finest...
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09.27.17There’s One North Korea Taboo China's Leaders Won’t Talk About
Bloomberg
In discussions between the U.S. and China about reining in North Korea, one topic remains taboo: What would happen if Kim Jong Un’s regime collapses?
Conversation
09.27.17How are NGOs in China Faring under the New Law?
In September 2016, Beijing implemented a new law governing charities, which changed the ways domestic charitable organizations can register and fundraise. Then in January 2017, Beijing began implementation of a new law on the management of foreign...
China in the World Podcast
09.25.17Cyber Norms in U.S.-China Relations
from Carnegie China
The United States and China agreed in 2015 that neither government would support or conduct cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property and committed to working with international partners to identify appropriate norms in cyberspace. Both countries...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.25.17Is Trump All Talk on North Korea? The Uncertainty Sends a Shiver
New York Times
Mr. Trump’s willingness to casually threaten to annihilate a nuclear-armed foe was yet another reminder of the steep risks inherent in his brute-force approach to diplomacy.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.25.17US Commerce Secretary Visits Beijing Ahead of Trump Trip
Washington Post
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Monday that Washington is hoping for concrete progress during President Donald Trump’s planned trip to China amid rising trade tensions.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.25.17Touching on History, a Chinese Film May Have Been Burned by It
New York Times
One of China’s most popular directors, Feng Xiaogang, was determined to triumph at the box office with the release of his new film “Youth” during the weeklong National Day holiday. But then Mr. Feng’s premiere was abruptly canceled.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.25.17Wang Qishan's Bannon Ties Fuel Talk of Second Term
Financial Times
The recent secret meeting between the godfather of the US “alt right” movement and the Chinese Communist party’s ruthless anti-graft tsar was consistent with Beijing’s rapidly growing interest in US economic nationalism.
Viewpoint
09.24.17China, Global Peacemaker?
In May, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave opening remarks to a two-day international forum designed to demystify and attract support for Beijing’s “Belt and Road Initiative.” This estimated $1 trillion investment campaign aims to create extensive...
Media
09.23.17The German Edition of the Falun Gong-Affiliated ‘Epoch Times’ Aligns with the Far Right
On the eve of the German election Sunday, it’s no surprise that Russian state-funded media outlets are attacking German Chancellor Angela Merkel, sensationalizing migrant violence, and providing conciliatory coverage of far-right groups. Russia,...
Sinica Podcast
09.22.17North Korea Behind the Scenes
from Sinica Podcast
North Korea is a mystery to nearly everyone—even those who have dedicated their lives to studying the country, including Korean experts based in Seoul, national security experts in Washington or Beijing, and a variety of foreigners who have spent...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.21.17China Lifts Travel Ban on Feminist Activist
Financial Times
A Chinese feminist activist who was banned from leaving mainland China for a decade has been given back her travel documents and allowed to travel. Wu Rongrong will fly to Hong Kong on Sunday, where she will begin a post-graduate degree in law.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.21.17China's Path out of Poverty Can Never Be Repeated at Scale by a Country Again
Quartz
Since China began its market reforms in the late 1970s, it has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty, slashing the rate from nearly 90% in 1981 to under 2%, as measured by the World Bank’s latest spending benchmark.
Conversation
09.21.17What Will China Do if the U.S. Attacks North Korea?
During a speech at the United Nations General Assembly on September 19, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that if North Korea threatened the United States or its allies, he would “totally destroy” the nation. As tensions continue to rise between...
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09.20.17China to Trump: That Speech on North Korea Was Really Unhelpful
Washington Post
China rebuked President Trump on Wednesday after he threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if necessary, a warning that may have undermined the chances of peace but also gave Beijing an easy opportunity to seize the moral high ground.
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09.20.17Trump's Threats Loom as China Weighs Opening to Wall Street, Tesla
Bloomberg
Coincidence or not, China appears set to ease restrictions on foreign automakers and banks amid sustained pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to open up its economy.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.20.17China's Pollution Crackdown Shakes up Iron Ore Traders
Financial Times
Over the summer, price differentials between high and low grade iron ore have intensified amid a government-led crackdown on pollution and outdated steelmaking capacity. That has caught many traders on the hop and left some nursing nasty losses from...
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09.20.17Where the Wild Things Are: China's Art Dreamers at the Guggenheim
New York Times
The signature work at “Art and China After 1989,” a highly anticipated show that takes over the Guggenheim on Oct. 6, is a simple table with a see-through dome shaped like the back of a tortoise. On the tabletop hundreds of insects and reptiles —...
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09.19.17Lankov: Russia, China Nearing N. Korea Limit
CNN
North Korea watcher Andrei Lankov tells CNN both Russia and China are coming close to their own red line concerning North Korea.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.19.17Why China Won’t Pressure North Korea as Much as Trump Wants
New Yorker
At the center of the North Korean nuclear crisis is a pivotal question: How much is China really willing to pressure and punish its longtime ally in Pyongyang? Recent conversations in Beijing and Washington suggest that Chinese leaders have decided...
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09.19.17China Is Retaliating against a US University for Inviting the Dalai Lama to Speak at Graduation
Quartz
Beijing has a lesson for overseas universities: Don’t invite speakers who oppose the Communist Party to big events.
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09.19.17Fugitive Tycoon Guo Wengui Assailed by Businessman Who Says He Was Framed for Crimes
South China Morning Post
China’s highest profile fugitive, exiled billionaire Guo Wengui, is under attack from a former business partner who claims Guo got him framed for crimes he says he did not commit.
The China Africa Project
09.18.17Africa Needs Infrastructure, China Wants to Build It. So What’s the Problem?
Every week seemingly brings a new announcement of a Chinese-financed mega project somewhere in Africa. Last week’s announcement of a $5.8 billion power station in Nigeria that will be financed and built by Chinese state-owned companies is typical of...
Media
09.18.17Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan, and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century
The following is an edited transcript of a live event hosted at Asia Society in New York on September 7, 2017, and named for a new book by Richard McGregor, the former Beijing Bureau Chief of the Financial Times, “ChinaFile Presents: ‘Asia’s...
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09.18.17China’s State Media Blasts US Handling of North Korea Crisis
South China Morning Post
China has shown its deepening frustration over the North Korean missile test crisis, with a commentary in the state-run People’s Daily blaming the United States for hindering efforts to resolve the issue.
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09.18.17China to Amend Party Constitution at October Congress
Reuters
China’s ruling Communist Party is expected to amend its constitution at a key party congress next month, state media said on Monday, in a sign that President Xi Jinping aims to enshrine his guiding ideological doctrine in the charter.
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09.18.17China and India Water ‘Dispute’ after Border Stand-Off
BBC
China and India may have defused a potential border conflict but the stand-off seems to have led to dispute over another contentious issue: water.