ChinaFile Recommends
07.17.14Japan’s Opposition Leader Visits Beijing, Vows Candid Talks
China Daily
Banri Kaieda, who arrived in Beijing on July 15, told journalists that he would discuss with high-ranking Chinese officials ways to break the impasse in ties and smooth out disputes China has with current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
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07.17.14China Widens Anti-Corruption Drive to Officials with Family Abroad
Reuters
Wang Qishan, secretary of its watchdog Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, told investigators to go after “naked officials”, state media said, referring to those who have children or spouses who live abroad.
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07.17.14Inside a Beijing Interrogation Room
New York Times
In the course of my seven-hour interrogation the officers were never ferocious. In fact, they were polite. In this respect, the Chinese government has evolved to appear friendly, but it is still a dictatorial regime that will never...
Environment
07.17.14
China Faces Long Battle to Clean Polluted Soil
from chinadialogue
This is the third of a special three-part series of investigations jointly run by chinadialogue and Yale Environment 360 with the support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. You can also read parts one and two.Luo Jinzhi is 52 and lives in...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.16.14Unprecedented: Chinese Company Beats Obama in Court
Wall Street Journal
In an unprecedented development on Tuesday,Chinese-owned Ralls Corp. proved the naysayers wrong, securing a court victory over the president that could shake up the way the U.S. reviews foreign acquisitions with national security concerns.
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07.16.14With Tensions Rising, Japanese Investment in China Plummets
Businessweek
Another consequence of the worsening Sino-Japanese relations: Japanese investment into China dropped by nearly half in the first six month of 2014, according to a new report by China’s Ministry of Commerce.
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07.16.14China’s Censors Take Aim at Popular Internet TV Operators That Offer Foreign Shows
South China Morning Post
Seven companies told ‘unauthorized’ content will be taken down in seven days and they could see license revoked if breach is found.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.16.14Note to Cadres: Hands Off the Black Audi and Chauffeur
New York Times
Can you take away that ultimate perk of the respectable cadre—the black car with intimidatingly tinted windows, an equally intimidating medley of official insignia, passes and a faithful driver? We’re about to find out.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.16.14Chinese Media Blast Fox News Host Bob Beckel Over ‘Chinamen’ Rant
Hollywood Reporter
“The Five” co-host’s discriminatory remarks have caused a storm of controversy and anger in China, echoing calls in the U.S. for him to be fired.
The NYRB China Archive
07.16.14
Hong Kong Rising: An Interview with Albert Ho
from New York Review of Books
The former British colony of Hong Kong reverted to China on July 1, 1997, and on every July 1 since then Hong Kong citizens have marched in the streets asking for democracy. The demonstrations on this year’s anniversary, however, were on a much...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.15.14Chinese Oil Rig Near Vietnam to Be Moved
New York Times
The China National Petroleum Corporation, a state-owned company, said the billion-dollar rig, known as HD 981, would be relocated to an area around the Qiongdongnan basin, closer to Hainan Island, a southern province of China, and apparently in...
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07.15.14Many Asian Nations Believe That a War With China Is Looming
Time
A majority in the Asian countries polled in a new Pew study say they fear a looming military conflict with China.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.15.14Chinese Hackers Extending Reach to Smaller U.S. Agencies, Officials Say
New York Times
After years of cyberattacks on the networks of high-profile government targets like the Pentagon, Chinese hackers appear to have turned their attention to far more obscure federal agencies.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.15.14China Tells U.S. To Stay Out of South China Seas Dispute
Reuters
China told the United States on Tuesday to stay out of disputes over the South China Sea and leave countries in the region to resolve problems themselves, after Washington said it wanted a freeze on stoking tension.
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07.15.14China’s Campaign Against Corruption Is Huge. Will It Do Any Good?
Time
President Xi has netted more “tigers,” or top-level officials, than his predecessor Hu Jintao did during his entire decade in power.
Caixin Media
07.15.14
Silencing a Health Reformer’s Voice
Dr. Liao Xinbo is struggling to square his enormous popularity and thirst for healthcare reform with a recent demotion that, in his words, marked the culmination of his frustrated work life.Liao served as Deputy Director of the Guangdong Province...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.14.14All Aboard: China’s Railway Dream
BBC
At Asia’s biggest rail cargo base in Chengdu in south-west China, the cranes are hard at work, swinging containers from trucks onto a freight train. The containers are filled with computers, clothes, even cars.
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07.14.14Chinese Banks Halt Experimental Yuan-Remittance Program
Wall Street Journal
China’s major banks have halted an experimental program, sanctioned by the country’s central bank, that helped citizens transfer large sums overseas despite government capital controls, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
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07.14.14China TV Anchor Known For Fatriotic Views is Held in Corruption Probe
Los Angeles Times
For years, TV news anchor Rui Chenggang has been a China booster and an icon for China’s global “soft power” push. But in a development that’s shocked the nation, Rui has been detained on suspicion of corruption, the scourge of the system he has...
Photo Gallery
07.12.14
Soccer on the Silk Road
from Tencent QQ
As the World Cup draws to a close, we present a photo essay by Chinese photographer Zhang Xinmin exploring the game of soccer along the Silk Road in Xinjiang, where it has a special place in Uighur education and culture. China’s forays into...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.11.14China Labels iPhone a Security Threat
Wall Street Journal
Report cites researchers who say tracking app could expose 'state secrets.'
ChinaFile Recommends
07.10.14China Aims to Justify New Media Restrictions
Wall Street Journal
China moved to justify and explain a series of new restrictions on its media that tightened the government’s control of information in the world's No. 2 economy.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.10.14Power Shift: Hopeful Signs in China’s Legal Reform Plan
Wall Street Journal
The Central Leading Group for Judicial Reform of the Chinese Communist Party announced the reform measures last month and an overview of a new five-year plan issued by the Supreme People’s Court on Wednesday signals a serious intention to implement...
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07.10.14China Touts $14.4 Billion in Foreign Aid, Half of Which Went to Africa
Wall Street Journal
Instead of focusing on support for pricey, high-profile infrastructure that is often a lightning rod for foreign critics who say it’s less necessary than basic on-the-ground needs, the report highlighted China’s spending on comparatively smaller-...
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07.10.14President Xi Welcomes Obama to Visit China for APEC Summit
Xinhua
Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that he welcomes and expects talks with Barack Obama when the U.S. president visits China to attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November.
Environment
07.10.14
U.S.-China Climate Cooperation More Crucial Than Ever
from chinadialogue
As the governments of the United States and China meet in Beijing this week for the Sixth U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), one area worth watching closely is clean energy and climate change cooperation. While this topic may...
The NYRB China Archive
07.10.14
Tibet Resists
from New York Review of Books
Tsering Woeser was born in Lhasa in 1966, the daughter of a senior officer in the Chinese army. She became a passionate supporter of the Dalai Lama. When she was very young the family moved to Tibetan towns inside China proper. In school, only...
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07.09.14Kerry Presses China to Abide by Maritime Laws to Ease Tensions
New York Times
In a closed-door session at a high-level gathering of Chinese and American officials here on Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry urged China to follow maritime law in nearby seas to reduce regional tensions.
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07.09.14Chinese Hackers Pursue Key Data on U.S. Workers
New York Times
Chinese hackers in March broke into the computer networks of the United States government agency that houses the personal information of all federal employees, according to senior American officials.
Conversation
07.09.14
The U.S. and China Are At the Table: What’s At Stake?
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew are in Beijing this week for the sixth session of the high level bilateral diplomatic exchange known as the Strategic and Economic Dialogue. We asked contributors what's likely...
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07.08.14The Untold Story of China’s Forgotten Underground Nuclear Reactor
Foreign Policy
How social media and a little sleuthing turned up a Mao-era nuclear program.
Media
07.08.14
Changing the Chinese Embassy’s Address to Liu Xiaobo Plaza Is a Silly Idea
I rarely agree with the Chinese Embassy in Washington, but an amendment making its way through Congress has made me unlikely bedfellows with Beijing’s Washington diplomats.Representative Frank Wolf (R-Va.) has sponsored an amendment to rename the...
Caixin Media
07.08.14
Hard Choices for Family Planners and Parents
The technocrats in charge of China's one-child policy have the power to force sterilizations, abortions, and intra-uterine device (IUD) implants, as well as punish uncooperative parents by denying them jobs, denying their children schooling,...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.07.14China’s Rise and Asian Tensions Send U.S. Relations Into Downward Spiral
Washington Post
Hundreds of rocky islands, islets, sandbanks, reefs and cays lie scattered across Asia’s eastern waters, unimportant-looking to the naked eye but significant enough to spark what may be the most worrying deterioration in U.S.-China relations in...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.07.14What You Need to Know About the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue
Since 2009, the Strategic and Economic Dialogue has offered a platform for both countries to address bilateral, regional and global challenges and opportunities, and this year’s meeting comes at a critical time to stabilize the U.S.-China...
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07.07.14U.S. Pushes China to Give Ground on Technology Trade Deal
Reuters
The United States on Monday urged China to give ground on a deal to eliminate duties on billions of dollars of technology products and said it would use talks in Beijing later this week to push to restart negotiations.
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07.07.14China’s State Media Goes Into Overdrive Over the Marco Polo Incident
Wall Street Journal
President Xi Jinping led other members of the leadership to the area on the western outskirts of Beijing where 77 years ago Japanese troops attacked Chinese soldiers. The 1937 skirmish led to Japan invading much of eastern China and...
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07.07.14From Mountains, Island, Secret Town, China’s Electronic Spy Shop Watches
Wall Street Journal
Using Chinese government websites, academic databases and foreign security expertise, The Wall Street Journal assembled an overview of some secret operations of China's global monitoring organization, the Third Department of the People's...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.07.14China Denies Entry to an American Scholar Who Spoke Up for a Uighur Colleague
New York Times
When Elliot Sperling landed in Beijing, he found himself dragged by border officers back to the same jet that he had flown in on, despite the fact he had arrived with a valid one-year tourist visa.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.07.14China Thinks It Can Defeat America in Battle
Week
China is wrong — and for one major reason. It apparently disregards the decisive power of America's nuclear-powered submarines.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.07.14Shadow of Brutal ’79 War Darkens Vietnam’s View of China Relations
New York Times
She was 14 when Chinese artillery fire echoed across the hills around her home in northern Vietnam, and hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers swarmed across the border.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.06.14Two Studies of Modern China: ‘Age of Ambition’ & ‘The New Emperors’
Guardian
Evan Osnos examines a changing China through gentle reportage, while Kerry Brown provides illuminating forensic analysis of its vicious power struggles
ChinaFile Recommends
07.04.14An Online Shift in China Muffles an Open Forum
New York Times
In recent months, Chinese microblogging service Weibo has been eclipsed by the Facebook-like WeChat, which allows instant messaging within self-selected circles of followers.
Infographics
07.03.14
Spoils of the ‘Tiger’ Hunt
The Chinese Communist Party announced the expulsion from its ranks of Xu Caihou, who before his retirement in 2012 was one of the highest ranking officers in the People’s Liberation Army. He also became the highest-ranking member of the Chinese...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.02.14China Bans Xinjiang Officials From Observing Ramadan Fast
BBC
Activists have accused Beijing of exaggerating the threat from Uighur separatists to justify a crackdown on the Uighurs’ religious and cultural freedoms.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.02.14‘There Are No Rules in China’
Foreign Policy
When dissident author Murong Xuecun returns home, he says he will tell Beijing authorities they can come and get him.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.01.14Is Japan Targeting China in Next Move?
Xinhua
The Japanese government’s endorsing of a reinterpretation of its pacifist Constitution on Tuesday for the right to collective self-defense is a dangerous move that will lead to security worries for other Asian countries.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.01.14China to Let Indian Experts Monitor Brahmaputra in Tibet
Hindu
China has for the first time formally agreed to allow Indian hydrological experts to conduct study tours in Tibet to monitor the flows on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra, according to a new agreement signed here on Monday during the visit of...
Culture
07.01.14
Inside the Mind of a Chinese Hacker
In May, the U.S. announced the indictment of five Chinese hackers for breaking into the computers of U.S. companies. The men went by code names like UglyGorilla and KandyGoo. A recent report revealed that the hackers, who worked for Unit 61398 of...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.01.14China’s Complicated Relationship with Golf
Golf
Dan Washburn, managing editor of the Asia Society and author of the new book “The Forbidden Game,” tells Jessica Marksbury that golf in China is both banned and booming.
Conversation
07.01.14
The Debate Over Confucius Institutes PART II
Last week, ChinaFile published a discussion on the debate over Confucius Institutes–Chinese language and culture programs affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education—and their role on university campuses. The topic, and several of the...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.01.14Billionaire South African Family Sells Wine to China Rich
Bloomberg
When 45 alumni of Tsinghua University, the alma mater of China’s last two leaders, stopped for lunch at La Motte vineyard in South Africa two years ago, they ordered 1.5 million rand ($141,000) of wine to take away.
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07.01.14China Housing Bubble Won’t Impact Global Financial Markets, Says Treasury Secretary Lew
Forbes
The Treasury Secretary said China’s housing market was not connected to the rest of the world, and was generally not over leveraged like it was in the U.S. and Europe.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.01.14Pro-Democracy Activism Not in Hong Kong’s Interest, China Warns
CNN
As potentially hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong citizens prepare to take to the streets in a now-annual display of public disapproval of Beijing’s interference in the city’s affairs, voices in China’s state-run press are warning that the protests...
Caixin Media
07.01.14
China Pulling the Plug on Foreign Mainframes
E-commerce companies and banks in China are scrapping hardware and uninstalling software for mainframe servers made by American suppliers in favor of homegrown brands said to be safe, advanced, and a lot less expensive.The movement has taken special...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.01.14Big Brother Comes Wooing
Economist
For more than six decades after the Chinese civil war, the mainland did not allow its minister-level officials openly to set foot in Taiwan. This changed on June 25th when Zhang Zhijun, director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, visited the island...
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06.30.14Top China Military Official General Xu Caihou Accused
BBC
One of China's most senior military officials has been accused of accepting bribes and expelled from the Communist Party, state media report.
ChinaFile Recommends
06.30.14China Tries To Establish Foothold In Zambia, Tanzania
NPR
Howard French, author of China's Second Continent, talks to Steve Inskeep about why some African countries are of particular interest to Chinese leaders.
ChinaFile Recommends
06.30.14China ‘Baby Hatch’ Inundated With Abandoned, Disabled Children
CNN
In just 11 days, 106 children, all with disabilities or medical conditions, were dropped off at the Jinan Orphanage, according to local state media. That is more than the 85 orphans the city accepted the entire previous year.
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06.30.14Chinese Territorial Claims Driving Asia Closer to U.S.
Wall Street Journal
Muscle flexing by the Chinese in the South China Sea is driving Asian neighbors into a closer alliance with the U.S. and feeding regional insecurity, cautioned one of Australia's most senior government ministers.