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Intra-Asian security ties 'good for US
Following the meeting of President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, a report urges Washington to take a more active role in putting together security ties in Asia in ways that include Beijing in any multilateral activities while remaining "vigilant against threats of entrapment from adventurous allies and partners". - Jim Lobe
(Jun 13, '13)
SINOGRAPH
Obama and Xi forge a way out
At eight hours, they didn't reprise Mao Zedong and Richard Nixon's 17-hour session in 1972, but presidents Xi Jinping and Barack Obama opened a way out of the American "pivot" siege for China, and a path for the US to avert costly confrontation. Eight hours is a start - a collaborative breakthrough on issues such as the environment and handling North Korea requires much rethinking. - Francesco Sisci
(Jun 11, '13)
Spy vs spy in the cyber age
Beijing's hand may or may not be behind Edward Snowden's decision to seek refuge in Hong Kong and his disclosure of details of a vast US intelligence program to mine domestic Internet data, but the revelations dented whatever impact President Barack Obama hoped to make on his counterpart Xi Jinping in their weekend discussion of cyber attacks between China and the United States. - Brendan O'Reilly
(Jun 11, '13)
US-China shadow boxing at Shangri-La
A few rungs lower than the presidential confab, China used the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore to mount a charm offensive targeting the US "rebalance" in Asia. Suggestions of "peace, development, cooperation and win-win" were quickly followed with hints that Beijing may carry out tit-for-tat maritime surveillance. The US hit back forcefully, and it was left to emerging regional players to seek equanimity and restraint. - Abhijit Singh
(Jun 11, '13)
South China Sea row risks wider clashes
Polarizing positions in South China Sea disputes are becoming evident this year as talks on a code of conduct make painfully slow progress, Beijing resolutely sticks to choosing a bilateral path and the process is derailed by maritime incidents. Even if pressure does ease on conflicts involving Southeast Asian nations, this will sees focus retrained on equally fiery East Asian disputes. - Ian Storey
(Jun 10, '13)
COMMENT
Accentuate the positive
China and the US can minimize the potential for conflict by increasing the economic linkage that distinguishes their relationship from other historical power contests. But a new, more positive interdependence is required. A good place to start is with a better alignment of China's need to invest is $3.3 trillion reserves with US states' needs to finance infrastructure renewal. - Bill Mundell
(Jun 6, '13)
US-CHINA SUMMIT
Humble pie for Xi on Sunnylands menu
China's Western critics, expecting US President Barack Obama this weekend to surrender to Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping's panda-like charm at their summit in the Californian sunshine, are in for a big surprise. Xi is cognizant of the fact that right now the United States holds the advantage in the evolving US-China relationship, and he will think seriously about validating American concerns over cyber-threats. - Peter Lee
(Jun 6, '13)
Nowhere to turn for China's Uyghurs
Pressure from the United Nations and Washington over alleged religious and cultural suppression by China in Xinjiang province is being resisted by Beijing, which insists its achieving progress in religious freedoms and autonomy in minority regions. Deadly clashes in the province in April that saw 21 killed, including 19 Uyghur “suspects”, suggest a lack of self-determination is leading to radicalization. - Audrey Petit
(Jun 6, '13)
Shangri-La lost for China
China's proactive participation in regional organizations in recent years raised hopes that Beijing would use the latest Shangri-La Dialogue gathering in Singapore to dispel the notion that East and Southeast Asian stability is being undermined by its assertive defense of expansive sovereignty claims. Instead, the Beijing delegation delivered platitudes that failed to confront the serious issues. - Bonnie Glaser
(Jun 5, '13)
North Korea common ground for US, China
Tensions over the US's military build-up in the Asia-Pacific will test President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, as they meet this week. With North Korea's nuclear developments, missile launches and threats irritating both countries, the heads of state have an opportunity in Washington to find common ground. - George Gao
(Jun 4, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
The closed Gate of Heavenly Peace
Twenty-four years, a generation and an Internet after China's leaders quashed the Tiananmen Square protest, the political stagnation continues. With wealth inequality and corruption now part of the Chinese Communist Party's DNA, it is either ironic or just plain tragic that the "people's government" has made it clear that the people have no role in decisions. - Peter Mitchelmore
(Jun 4, '13)
Migrate or educate in China's borderlands
Urbanization, labor migration and universalization of education are creating radical shifts in China's social and cultural fabric, particularly in minority regions. A study of southwestern Sichuan reveals that as agricultural priorities fade, parents are forced to choose between the immediate income of labor migration and investing in a Han-based education that could lead to college and better jobs. - Stevan Harrell and Aga Rehamo
(May 31, '13)
World eyes China's coexistence strategy
Strategies of coexistence and non-interference that China has used to great effect in engineering its international rise are gaining popularity globally over the West's liberal economic and political agendas. However, its impact as a challenge to American alliance-based system is being undermined by Beijing infringing on sovereignty rights in areas such as the South and East China Seas. - Liselotte Odgaard
(May 29, '13)
Li makes his Potsdam declaration
Li Keqiang broadened the dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands by citing the 1945 Potsdam Declaration, the World War II demand for Japanese surrender which set severe (though ambiguous) limits on Japan's post-war territories. Li's remarks, made during a visit to Germany, directly warn China's neighbors not to forget Japan's past aggression. - Brendan O'Reilly
(May 28, '13)
CHINA DIPLOMACY
Frost in a promising Indian summer
High drama of a Chinese troop "intrusion" on the disputed border with India seemed to ebb through negotiations as silently as it had begun, with seemingly little damage to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's state visit to New Delhi. Yet Beijing may have weakened the very power centers in India that were working to usher in a brave new world of partnership. - M K Bhadrakumar
(May 28, '13)
Six-party soap opera set to restart
Recent talks between Xi Jinping and North Korean envoy Vice Marshall Ch'oe Ryong-hae produced an unexpected result with Pyongyang's agreement to restart the six-party nuclear negotiations that stalled in 2007. When the talking starts, hard facts will likely be glossed as the North is coming back to the table only to placate China. - Andrei Lankov
(May 28, '13)
One country, one system in Hong Kong?
Lavish welcomes that Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption laid on for visiting mainland officials - detailed in recent accusations against its chief - threaten the city's reputation as a transparent bastion quite distinct from China's graft-ridden official culture, with the charges against Timothy Tong Hin-ming part of a trend that undermines the city's singular identity. - Kent Ewing
(May 28, '13)
China's reform hands fail to clap
The young Chinese leadership is displaying a near-schizophrenic split that can be summed up by President Xi Jinping's gung-ho style and no-holds-barred defense of Mao Zedong and the seriousness with which Premier Li Keqiang, China's first "PhD prime minister", is pushing economic reforms. Irreconcilable contradictions persist between nurturing the marketplace and the Chinese Communist Party's power imperative. - Willy Lam
(May 24, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Western hypocrisy over Chinese nukes
Speculation that China plans to depart from a strict nuclear policy that emphasizes minimum deterrent and a no-first-use pledge flies in the face of official rebuttals and the fact that its nuke arsenal hasn't expanded with economic advances. Instead of assuming Beijing is aggressive, Western nations should ask why their own policy is based on preemptive strikes and not more defensive postures.
- Hui Zhang
(May 24, '13)
SINOGRAPH
China nears point
of no return with Kim
China is losing patience with North Korean leader Kim Jong-eun, slowly but surely moving into the US orbit to deal with his threats and blackmail. As Beijing will sooner than later reach the point where it has little to lose from falling out with North Korea, Kim had better start contemplating his own mortality. - Francesco Sisci
(May 22, '13)
New spark in the South China Sea
Sanctions Taiwan has imposed following the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine Coast Guard, including a hiring freeze on Filipino workers and banning tourism to the Philippines, are shows of sovereignty aimed at bolstering the administration's sagging approval ratings. Manila has no such problems, but economically and diplomatically it can't afford another front opening in the South China Sea. - Julius Cesar I Trajano
(May 22, '13)
Fox leads US tiger into China's crosshairs
"Irritating Japan" is well on its way to replacing "Rising China" as the meme favored by the United States as Abe Shinzo's new nationalism exploits US backing to advance its own goals. Beijing sees "the fox pretending to the tiger's might". Tokyo is pushing bigger game, the weakened US Asian "pivot" itself, into Beijing's crosshairs. - Peter Lee
(May 17, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Chinese opinion jars with policy on Korea
An unexpectedly significant outburst of anger from China's elite at North Korea's brazen provocations may be enough to require that Beijing try to harmonize public opinion and foreign policy on the issue. If Beijing bows to the public demands and cracks down on Pyongyang this time, it could undermine the government's ability to censor debate on internal issues.- Niklas Swanstrom and Kelly Chen
(May 17, '13)
Gangsters and politics shake hands in Taiwan
An attempt by hundreds of members of a crime syndicate to join Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party, seemingly designed to manipulate a vote to elect the DPP chairman, has perplexed observers. China is a key suspect to be the hidden hand, as the only outside power with the clout, know-how and motive to generate such harmful press for the pro-independence party. - Jens Kastner
(May 15, '13)
SINOGRAPH
East-West divide starts here
Capitalism, as a new theory that stressed the importance of individual knowledge and contribution while undercutting the role of the state, represented something that bureaucracy-obsessed, ultra-efficient imperial China found impossible to impose. Adam Smith's free thought - not free trade - pushed the West ahead. China only caught up due to the industriousness of individuals and Beijing giving them free rein. - Francesco Sisci
(May 14, '13)
Binding the baton in China
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has waved his cudgel at the police amid wide-reaching plans for weiwen or "preserving socio-political stability" with a spate of reshuffles in political-legal bodies aimed to boost internal checks and balances. While publicly described as measures to stop "unjust law enforcement", critics say Xi is just cementing Chinese Communist Party control over the force. - Willy Lam
(May 14, '13)
US hoist by its own pivot petard
Efforts by the United States to orchestrate a win-win economic and security regime in Asia through constructive pressure on China, aka the "pivot", is being undercut by Tokyo, concerned at China's rise and determined to contain it. Beijing knows how to tweak that tail, with Okinawa a deliciously sensitive spot to touch. The pivot to Asia isn't about China anymore. It's about Japan. - Peter Lee
(May 10, '13)
US criticism stirs China's military pride
The annual US defense report on China's military development openly accusing it of state-sanctioned cyber-espionage. While China has condemned the provocations as overly combative and alarmist, the government appears to be somewhat proud of being taken seriously as a rival. - Brendan P O'Reilly
(May 10, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
China's incursions show strategic blindness
Incursions by Chinese troops into eastern Kashmir are reflective of new leader Xi Jinping's assertive strategy on territorial disputes. While rallying behind People's Liberation Army causes may boost Xi's leadership, such aggression merely vindicates the "China threat" discourse among the country's neighbors. - Namrata Goswami
(May 9, '13)
SINOGRAPH
China widens stride
on Middle East stage
As the US repositions its core foreign and economic policy to the Pacific theater, China has stepped in to fill the gap on the Middle Eastern stage with an offer to host a summit between the Israelis and Palestinians. True, Beijing would prefer to stay out of the conflict, but it has strong reasons to take a mediation role in a region increasingly vital to its national interests. - Francesco Sisci
(May 8, '13)
SINOGRAPH
China losing cultural race with India
More than border flare-ups, deep cultural disconnects between China and India are sabotaging growth of a bilateral dynamic as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's prepares for landmark visit. One factor niggling Beijing is that while its rival seems economically, militarily and politically inferior, India, from dress to religion, has better preserved its traditions and enjoys a special place of interest in the Western world. - Francesco Sisci
(May 7, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
India-China war delayed by technology
The asymmetry and imperious emperors that could provoke an India-China conflict aren't in place, and even if a war were to break out over remote border areas, international pressures and military parity require that at most, the two countries fight a very limited war that does not cause irremediable loss of face. - Mohan Guruswamy
(May 7, '13)
China's border rows mirror grim history
Two Chinese territorial disputes - one high in the Himalayas with India, the other with Japan involving similarly uninhabitable islands - indicate two different paths concerning Asia's future security. The clash with Japan is the more unsettling, not least as the government in Tokyo faces a political and economic environment uncomfortably parallel to that of Germany in the 1930s. - Peter Lee
(May 3, '13)
Australians attitudes hold back China ties
Major deals struck during Australian Prime Minister's Julia Gillard trip to China in April highlighted the strategic potential of greater military and economic cooperation. However, doubts expressed in the Australian press concerning China's authoritarian character and human-rights abuses highlighted perhaps the greatest challenge to deeper engagement - mistrust. - Eileen McInnes
(May 3, '13)
COMMENT
Does China have a strategy?
Beijing's assertive behavior in Asia is mobilizing its neighbors against it at a moment when it needs a peaceful external environment more than ever. At home, the development model no longer fits. In short, China has strategic goals, but no strategy for achieving them. - Robert A Manning and Banning Garrett
(May 2, '13)
Beijing elevates core security concepts
China's defense white paper this year revolved around the concepts of "historic missions" and "core interests", with the former referring to strategic guidance for the military and the latter covering the collective "material and spiritual demands of a state and people". Far from the communist dogma of the past, the concepts plot a clear-headed path towards prioritizing modern responsibilities and threats. - Timothy Heath
(Apr 30, '13)
China's changing calculus on North Korea
North Korea's advances in nuclear weapons technology and escalation of bellicose rhetoric against the US and its allies have triggered a reassessment of the threat it poses. Even ally China's overall strategic assessment is shifting, as the North goes from being an intermittently problematic entity to a source of regional instability. - David Mulrooney
(Apr 29, '13)
Fierce debate erupts over the 'China Dream'
The vague yet all-embracing connotations of the "China Dream" concept being pushed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping have produced divergent interpretations, even raising expectations in some quarters of a shift towards democratic reform and individualism. In-the-know commentators underline that far from a Westernized future, the dream envisions a strong, assertive global power and a "renaissance of the Chinese race". - Willy Lam
(Apr 29, '13)
US, China military top brass take aim
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey and his People's Liberation Army counterpart, Fang Fenghui, treaded carefully between a range of tensions at their Beijing summit. Even as the two powers' military-to-military relationship is increasingly vital to upholding Asian stability, the top brass didn't sidestep contention. - Brendan P O'Reilly
(Apr 26, '13)
Envoy urged to press Uyghur rights
US Ambassador Gary Locke was visiting Xinjiang when 21 people were killed in the worst episode of violence in the restive region in nearly four years. With 16 people from the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority among the dead, exiles have called on the envoy to press Beijing on rights violations.
(Apr 26, '13)
BOOK REVIEW
Banker tries bait and switch
Nothing Gained by Phillip Y Kim
When this tale of death and mystery in a crisis-hit US investment bank relates how a life built on arrogance, privilege and luck can rapidly unravel, it's a pleasure to watch high-fliers squirm. However, the would-be international business thriller pushes its most compelling characters offstage and offers unsatisfying substitutes. - Muhammad Cohen
(Apr 26, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
What China wants from North Korea
North and South Korea are being relegated to bit-players in peninsular tensions as the contest increasingly becomes another front for their powerful sponsors. China is stoking the East Asian tensions to push US forces away from its coast, in the knowledge that US bases in Taiwan and South Korea have had the Chinese navy covered. - Joel Gibbons
(Apr 26, '13)
Post-quake prices anger Sichuan survivors
Protests have erupted over skyrocketing food prices in the wake of an earthquake in Sichuan over the weekend that left hundreds dead or missing. Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province warned businesses against increasing their prices and shut a noodle shop that became a focal point for anger.
(Apr 25, '13)
COMMENT
China will not change its nuclear policy
The absence in this year's defense white paper of China's annual pledge against first use of nuclear weapons sparked speculation that Beijing might consider changes to its long-held policy. Reality is prosaic: there is no sign of a new stance. The report merely takes a new focus to present specific themes. - Yao Yunzhu
(Apr 24, '13)
Taiwan's Chen gets a spacious cell
Friends and family of disgraced former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian are not too pleased to see him transferred back to prison from hospital to continue doing time for corruption. But they can probably thank recent high-profile graft cases against aides to his presidential successor for securing him a more spacious cell. - Jens Kastner
(Apr 23, '13)
SINOGRAPH
An alternative route
for China's ascent
Despite President Xi Jinping's concept of the "Chinese Dream", the ascent to global political and economic dominance, is undermined by a mish-mash of old communist and new American ideas. The key for Beijing will be to assimilate successful ideals of failed American, British and Spanish empires, while aligning its own aspirations with those of the rest of the world. - Francesco Sisci
(Apr 23, '13)
INTERVIEW
Chen: The people must drive reforms
Chinese civil-rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who famously escaped house arrest last year and now lives in the United States, says Chinese people are waking up to regard the Communist Party's talk of reform as just talk, so it is up to an increasingly aware public to drive political reform in China. - Courtney Brooks
(Apr 22, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
China-India border talks pivot on Tibet
For China and India to resolve issues surrounding Tibet that have for decades stalled progress on border talks, both countries must bring together their brightest minds to identify intertwining core interests. Although Beijing and Delhi both view the Tibetan independence struggle as a security threat, an impasse that prevents the Sino-Indian dynamic from reaching its full potential is allowed to persist. - Namrata Goswami and Jenee Sharon
(Apr 22, '13)
Obama edges to realpolitik on Koreas
President Barack Obama may become an unlikely convert to realpolitik and allow Secretary of State John Kerry to sacrifice America's nuclear non-proliferation principles on the battered altar of North Korean diplomacy. The Korean nuclear crisis has the potential to be a good thing for the US and South Korea - and perhaps even for China - if the US president bends on some cherished non-proliferation beliefs. - Peter Lee
(Apr 19, '13)
BOOK REVIEW
Living (and dying) in the shadows
Hong Kong Noir by Feng Chi-shun
Gruesome tales from the minds of Hong Kong's most notorious serial killers and gangsters fascinate and appall in equal measure. While the 15 "factual" stories in the book sometimes mobilize the author's imagination, the squeamish detail in the former pathologist's writing will likely leave some readers cold. - Kent Ewing
(Apr 19, '13)
China's Catholic body vs the Vatican
While Western critics lambast China for its insistence on internalizing the running of the country's Roman Catholic establishment, the Vatican is just as stubborn when it comes to "protecting" its own officials, as seen in its handling of child abuse allegations. Both institutions are stuffy, tone-deaf bureaucracies, but at least Beijing has grown much more amenable to Catholic influence in recent years. - Vaughan Winterbottom
(Apr 17, '13)
US misreads Sino-Russian affair
Since the Cold War, the United States has always been vexed about the possibility of an alliance between Russia and China. Xi Jinping's first trip to Russia as the president of China has once again raised American concerns about the implications of Beijing-Moscow relations. Yet current Sino-Russia cooperation is largely symbolic, and its impact is more psychological than of substance. - Jinghao Zhou
(Apr 16, '13)
China's choppers fly under the radar
The development of China's stealth fighters and its first aircraft carrier have taken the spotlight away from steady expansion in its helicopter attack force. An increasing number of squadrons of the Z-10, China's premier attack helicopter, and other specialized choppers shows that China is making more significant progress than has been acknowledged. - Peter Wood and Cristina Garafola
(Apr 16, '13)
China sees red over Taiwan-Japan pact
A fisheries agreement between Taiwan and Japan will allow Taiwanese boats - their own waters now largely bereft of fish - to make catches in Japan's exclusive economic zone covering the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, while staying clear of the 12 nautical mile zone immediately around the islands. The pact is a direct snub to Beijing. - Jens Kastner
(Apr 15, '13)
Xi, Putin share bed, with their own dreams
Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Russia came as their partnership assumes a stronger definition in light of Washington's ''rebalancing'' towards Asia. Their mutual interests and perspectives are considerable, highlighted economically by gas deals waiting to be sealed. In effect, the Russian and Chinese dreams seem somewhat similar, but that is not saying they have similar dreams . - M K Bhadrakumar
(Apr 12, '13)
China: Pivot partner or pinata?
As the North Korean crisis lumbers on, a novel take engineered in Washington optimistically suggests China is being roped in as a partner in the US pivot to shepherd its errant ally to reason. This is largely a work of fiction that serving the pivot narrative that an indispensable US security role in Asia is doing something more than wielding a big stick that is accelerating the North's nuclear weapons program and generating Chinese anxiety and anger. - Peter Lee
(Apr 10, '13)
China targets South Korea with soft power
China's forceful condemnation of North Korea's nuclear provocations have brought it closer than ever to the South, just as Seoul was tiring of American reticence in security commitments. With new leaders in both East Asian capitals, the time seems right for blossoming relations. But South Korea is likely playing one suitor against the other. - Sunny Seong-hyon Lee
(Apr 10, '13)
SINOGRAPH
China walks fine line on Korea
China's determination to prevent North Korea from hijacking Beijing's foreign policy to Pyongyang's advantage has led to harsher than ever condemnations of the Korea's nuclear brinkmanship. But as the North becomes a crucible for East Asian tensions, China needs to think of better ways to manipulate the crisis that will strengthen its regional hand. - Francesco Sisci
(Apr 9, '13)
'Occupy' Hong Kong plan
a nightmare for Beijing
Plans for an "Occupy" Hong Kong movement, timed to coincide with official celebrations to mark next year's 16th anniversary of the handover to China, have been exposed, likely filling the city's pro-business and pro-Beijing camps with dread. While pro-mainland media are already predicting the plan would be "economic suicide", it seems ordinary Hong Kongers have little interest in taking part. - Kent Ewing
(Apr 8, '13)
Xi embraces China's big dream
Xi Jinping's first address as China's president made repeated allusion to the country's past periods of economic success and territorial expansion. The big question is how the state's dream of a ''renaissance'' and the quite different hopes of the people can be achieved harmoniously, and how will these interlink with the fears of neighbors. - Hoang Anh Tuan
(Apr 4, '13)
Where the Yangtze meets the Congo
Expectations that China is baiting a neo-colonial trap in Africa ignore Beijing's pledges that economic and cultural relations rest on an equal plain, and that burgeoning ties were built on mutual anti-Western contempt. As European diplomats wring hands over no-strings aid and human rights, Africa and China can reflect on a decade that's seen the continent experience its fastest growth in history. - Brendan P O'Reilly
(Apr 4, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
China finds soft power in sport
Chinese sporting stars such as tennis player Li Na, hurdler Liu Xiang and basketball player Yao Ming are proving vital tools of soft power as Beijing tries to beat rival superpower the United States at its own game. Just as American athletes like Michael Jordan and Mohammed Ali changed how the world viewed the country, China hopes sporting achievement will develop into greater global influence. - Jieh-Yung Lo
(Apr 3, '13)
China signals with Coast Guard overhaul
Beijing has moved to bring separate maritime law enforcement agencies under one governing body. Although the overhaul seems a response to international criticism that poor communication between agencies had stoked internal tensions and worsened territorial disputes, it's more likely aimed at improving response times and bolstering command and control mechanisms. - Lyle Morris
(Apr 3, '13)
SINOGRAPH
Italy's Internet politics
menace China
While online debate in China represents a potential training ground for future democratic dialogue, the dangers of Internet politics can be seen in the rise of Italy's "5 Star Movement". The prevailing voices in Beppe Grillo's movement are those most active on the web, and they post the most barbed comments. Such chaotic, volcanic politics only lead masses to seek radical leaders. - Francesco Sisci
(Apr 3, '13)
Centralized power key to Xi's 'China dream'
After his election, President Xi Jinping cited three precedents for fulfilling the "China dream", all concerned with creating conditions for a "renaissance". Judging from how he has concentrated ministerial responsibilities, in contrast to dictums of late patriarch Deng Xiaoping, he might have added a fourth precedent, the Leninist doctrine of centralizing power. - Willy Lam
(Apr 2, '13)
Taiwan war games get back their bang
Tensions between mainland China and Taiwan have never been more absent since the island went its own way from Beijing. So President Ma Ying-jeou's decision to re-introduce live-firing of ammunition in annual war-game maneuvers raises several questions. The answers, it seems, have more do to do with domestic issues than a changed perception of the Taiwan's potential foe. - Jens Kastner
(Apr 2, '13)
COMMENT
China can defuse North Korea time-bomb
Time is of the essence if an impending nuclear disaster at the hands of North Korea is to be avoided. As China's three most-senior foreign policy officials, including new Foreign Minister Wang Yi, have rich experience with the diplomacy of the issue and appreciate the need to achieve denuclearization peacefully, their intervention is not only desirable, it is necessary. - Joseph R DeTrani
(Mar 25, '13)
Xi tightens bonds with Moscow
The deepening bond between Beijing and Moscow, highlighted by Xi Jinping making Moscow his first port of call as Chinese president, has immense implications for the world - especially the United States. Indeed, it appears that Washington may have made a failed attempt at a "divide and rule" stratagem before Xi's Russian trip. - Brendan O'Reilly
(Mar 26, '13)
China's elderly exposed to suicide risk
Suicide rates in China's general population have fallen dramatically amid rapid urbanization and economic growth, but the breakdown of traditional communal structures has exposed the elderly to greater risk, particular after the death of a spouse. Innovative ways to keep suicidal thoughts at bay have been found, yet more needs to be done to increase mental well-being. - Cameron Frecklington
(Mar 26, '13)
US disc jockey makes waves in China
American radio host Rick O'Shea has spent two decades in Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing learning that his interactions with his audience prove that when blended, US and Chinese creative energy can lead to something special. As the last lover of San Mao, one of China's most beloved and tragic modern novelists, his insights into today's China make for compelling listening. - Tamara Treichel
(Mar 22, '13)
BOOK REVIEW
Searching the globe for China Inc
China's Silent Army: The Pioneers, Traders, Fixers and Workers Who Are Remaking the World in Beijing's Image by Juan Pablo Cardenal and Heriberto Araujo
As Chinese business expands overseas, it is increasingly important to understand how mainland companies and Beijing interact as the latter steers the economic juggernaut. This book unravels some aspects of how Chinese diplomacy and business cooperate to serve geopolitical goals, but it mistakenly implicates Chinese immigrants in search of a better life in the economic exploitation being orchestrated by their leaders. - Muhammad Cohen
(Mar 22, '13)
Mongolia and Russia show military sheen
Military cooperation with Russia, including preparations for joint exercises, gave a distinct sheen to Mongolian Minister of Defense Dashdemberel Bat-Erdene's first official overseas visit last month. Under the surface, Moscow likely gave vent to concerns over a coal and uranium mine project that, though stalled, favored China in a manner that has held up foreign investment in Mongolia. - Alicia J Campi
(Mar 21, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
China seeks military friends in Central Europe
Beijing has sent diplomats and top military brass to press official flesh in Central Europe, most likely in an attempt to gain more torque to lift the European Union embargo on the sale of arms to China. Poland is a particular target, with a strong track record supplying other Asian countries with simple technological solutions that the People's Liberation Army also wants. - Paul Behrendt
(Mar 21, '13)
SINOGRAPH
Surrender is the
best option for Tibet
Self-immolation by Tibetans taints the rule of those in Beijing who are in charge of Tibet, but does not change basic facts and the reluctance of the majority Han Chinese to see it become independent. With autonomy always a distant dream, the best hope for the Tibetan cause is not suicide, but a strategic surrender. - Francesco Sisci
(Mar 20, '13)
China may wear out African welcome
While many African countries favor Chinese investment that's free from the political strings and human-right lectures attached to Western agreements, growing complaints over labor abuses, poor construction and delays suggest an end to the Sino-African honeymoon. Prospects for future cooperation depend on how Beijing responds to such dissent and how Africa manages expectations of its trading partner. - Nan Chen
(Mar 20, '13)
New China leader Li warns world
In his first meeting with foreign media as premier, Li Keqiang has served notice to the world: Any militarized threats to China's territorial claims are threats not only to regiof internal reforms, relevant powers must also be cnal stability, but also to world peace. As Beijing wades into the "deep waters" oareful of their footing in the turbulent seas of East Asia. - Brendan O'Reilly
(Mar 19, '13)
Xi unmoved by Tibetan self-immolation
Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to remain as unmoved as his predecessors to frustration over Beijing's attitude to Tibet that has seen the toll of deaths by self-immolation in the autonomous region reach 108 in the past three years. While Tibetan exiles debate the hardline policies, Xi's sight is fixed on growth and stability.
- Saransh Sehgal
(Mar 19, '13)
Is enough enough for China, North Korea?
Subtle evolutions in the language with which China officially condemns North Korean nuclear tests suggest that Beijing is becoming less forceful, while the public outcry over the most recent detonation was nothing new. While Western analysts see Beijing writing a harsh new playbook on Pyongyang, the latest test will actually have little impact on its ''dual-track" strategic approach. - A Greer Meisels
(Mar 19, '13)
War trumps peace in Myanmar
Myanmar President Thein Sein this month claimed that ''there's no more fighting in the country'' - in complete denial of the harsh facts on the ground, facts Western nongovernmental organizations and think tanks scrabble together for cash and influence in seeking peace, just as China takes the lead in the process. Despite all the effort and rhetoric, lasting peace in Myanmar's war-torn frontier areas is as elusive as ever.
- Bertil Lintner
(Mar 19, '13)
Beijing underlines 'stability' beats reforms
China's new leaders, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, have dealt an early blow to hopes that they would introduce a series of liberalizing reforms, instead underlining the paramount importance of "stability", Party dominance and the failures of Western democracy, backed up with arrests and warnings to intellectuals who want things otherwise. - Willy Lam
(Mar 18, '13)
China counter-pivots on Myanmar
A beefed up Beijing diplomatic interest in Asia, with particular focus on Myanmar, is an apparent response to the United States' renewed focus on the region and its warming relations, at China's expense, with Myanmar's government. Washington should be wary of overreacting to this Chinese "pivot", or, in turn, fall out of favor in Naypyidaw. - David I Steinberg
(Mar 18, '13)
A papal mission to close gap with Beijing
Pope Francis is a Jesuit, as was Francis Xavier, the missionary who oversaw the Catholic Church's 16th century near-successful efforts to convert China, which today is the only real opening for the Church to expand in Asia. Perhaps Pope Francis and President Xi Jinping, elected within hours of each other, can close the gap in trust between Beijing and the Holy See. - Francesco Sisci
(Mar 15, '13)
Beijing's pit bull alliance
China not only benefits from North Korea stealing its limelight as one of Asia's biggest human-rights violators, Pyongyang also serves a key political weapon against the strangulation strategy being visited on Beijing by the US and its allies. Diplomatic efforts to paint China as "renegotiating" terms of bilateral cooperation with the North are a "dog-and-pony" show. - Brett Daniel Shehadey
(Mar 15, '13)
<IT WORLD>
China cyber-war: Don't believe the hype
Anyone hoping for a reset in US-China relations might feel a twinge of disappointment at Washington's decision to hype Chinese cyber-intrusions. If a measured escalation was its aim, the Obama administration was hijacked by the sequestered US military and security industry's desire for more power and profit. Besides, occupants of the White House throw cyber-stones too. - Peter Lee
(Mar 15, '13)
SINOGRAPH
China seizes the day
for market forces
A roll-back of the state by restructuring the functions and philosophy of ministries in China and a strong push, ostensibly the opposite direction, to hand control of vital concerns such as energy policy back to the center, are the deep and long-term changes emanating from this month's National People's Congress. Together they suggest real urgency to give space to market forces. - Francesco Sisci
(Mar 13, '13)
Bo Xilai airbrushed from family album
Defiant gestures by deposed Chongqing chief Bo Xilai from jail, from reported beard-growing protests to hunger strikes, underline why the party needed to him gone before Xi Jinping is endorsed as president this month. US pop historians may overplay Bo's significance, but his is a cautionary tale and highlights that no one is bigger than the party. - Muhammad Cohen
(Mar 13, '13)
Hong Kong's miser-minister
For a growing number of his critics, the budgets of Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang are a perennial exercise in miscalculation, predicting deficits but ending up with an embarrassment of riches then stashed away in the city's swollen reserves. As Tsang and miserly officials remain bereft of fresh ideas for the future, surely it's time to wake up and smell the coffee. - Kent Ewing
(Mar 11, '13)
Did China execute the wrong pirate?
Western coverage of the execution of Naw Kham focused on whether it would be broadcast - and if not, why not. All good hackwork over a macabre event in far-off China, and totally missing the point. There seems little doubt the Burmese pirate was a baddie on a considerable scale, but whether he had a hand in the massacre of 13 crew members of two ships on the Mekong River is quite another matter. - Peter Lee
(Mar 8, '13)
US faces China's 'unrelenting strategy'
Aggressive, self-confident maneuvers by China's military seemingly targeting the US suggest Beijing is following the ancient ''unrelenting strategy" written of in the I Ching, which calls for confusing an opponent before creating and deepening internal conflicts and launching an offensive assault. As the sun sets on US power, the method could offer a short-cut to usurping it as the sole superpower. - Jenny Lin
(Mar 7, '13)
SINOGRAPH
Devil in detail
of grand
urban plan
A grand plan announced by the National People’s Congress this week envisions spending of US$6.4 trillion over 10 years to bring 400 million people into China's smaller cities. As an economic initiative, the migration could lead to China becoming the largest contributor to global growth within a few decades. As a complex project of structural transformation, the devil is in the detail. - Francesco Sisci
(Mar 6, '13)
Kerry, Hagel and us
While Beijing may welcome US Secretary of State John Kerry's concerns that Washington's Asian rebalancing strategy "creates a threat" where there wasn't one, past accusations from new Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that India opened a "second front" in Afghanistan still stick in the craw in Delhi. Instead of fretting over pitfalls in the Obama-era "course correction", India and China should instead focus on creating new traction in their bilateral engagement.
- M K Bhadrakumar
(Mar 6, '13)
China homes in on Pacific air supremacy
The likely capability of China's new DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile to cripple US aircraft carrier strike groups threatens the platform that established and maintained post-World War II US supremacy in the Asia-Pacific, with momentous ramifications for regional power equations. If Washington fails to demonstrate adequate countermeasures to such asymmetric weapons, China's leaders will see the Asian "pivot" as a hollow threat. - Andrew S Erickson
(Mar 6, '13)
Beijing holds seeds of cross-strait pride
Beijing can grow the seeds of Chinese nationalism now appearing in Taiwan if it applies patience and a continued willingness to avoid confrontation. Visiting Kuomintang leader Lien Chan's admiration of achievements such as China's growing space program can be fertile ground for cultivating cross-straits pride. - Brendan P O'Reilly
(Mar 4, '13)
Foreign, domestic policy blur for Beijing
New foreign policy strategists in the hot seat as Xi Jinping takes the Chinese presidency must navigate relations at a time when international issues are having a greater impact than ever on domestic security and the public mood. From the South China Sea to Afghanistan, past approaches stressing indifference and neutrality simply won't suffice. - Nadine Godehardt
(Feb 28, '13)
Abe raises ghost of glories past
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Washington proclamation that Japan is "back" may have been unwelcome in a White House preferring a more stabilizing tone in the eastern Pacific. Abe's currency policy, praised by some, is also a cause for worry, its lack of neighborly concern raising the prospect of the yen as official currency of the Japan Sole Prosperity Sphere. What could possibly go wrong? - Peter Lee
(Feb 27, '13)
Xi's egalitarian streak runs into reality
Incoming Chinese president Xi Jinping's early tenure has been marked by clampdowns on lavish official parties and gifts, with sales of top-end liquor going into a rapid decline as a result. But curbing the elites' most egregious excesses will only appease masses suffering through wealth gaps in the short term. To ensure the party's survival, Xi needs to target deep-seated rot.
- Brendan P O'Reilly
(Feb 26, '13)
COMMENT
China should take lead on North Korea
China, as the only country North Korea may listen to, should step in at a potentially explosive time on the peninsula. Much in the spirit of necessary intervention that cooled tensions in 2005, Beijing's leadership of talks that also involve South Korea and the United States will determine quickly if a negotiated settlement to the nuclear issue is achievable and the wider six-party process still viable. - Joseph R DeTrani
(Feb 26, '13)
INTERVIEW
Pyongyang tests Xi's populist credentials
North Korea's third nuclear test produced rare protests in China, with pockets of the public infuriated at the impact of such provocation on China's national interests. Security expert Sun Zhe says growing support for a harsher stance on Pyongyang comes as incoming Chinese President Xi Jinping is projecting himself as more in tune with the mood on the street than his predecessors. - Sunny Lee
(Feb 26, '13)
China's autism oasis
Spiraling autism rates in China and a paucity of modern treatment means competition is intense among parents for places in Qingdao city's Elim Autism school, seen as the premier early intervention center for the disorder. With expectations running so high as a result, one of the hardest task for teachers is explaining that the facility only instills coping skills, and not a life-long cure. - Nick Compton
(Feb 25, '13)
North Korean nukes: A useful stage device
Washington wants to hand Xi Jinping a lead role on taming North Korea and its nuclear program - to show the world progress on the intractable issue and to make the Chinese government play the part of "responsible stakeholder". This wrongly assumes that China will relinquish its most useful buffer state in return for a promised backsliding of the US Asian "pivot" that's unlikely to take place. - Peter Lee
(Feb 22, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Change in the Middle Kingdom
Examine the composition of China's Politburo Standing Committee under Xi Jinping and it becomes clear that democracy reform is off the table, while economic reforms and political consolidation are the name of the game. That's bad news for those expecting the domestic security stance to relax, while the good news is that in the name of cooperation and stability, the territorial dispute with Japan will be shelved. - Stefan Soesanto
(Feb 21, '13)
Chinese doctors pull bullets in Mali
Chinese doctors have been occupied with the treatment and prevention of communicable diseases in Mali since the first medical teams from China began arriving there in 1968. With the surge in violence in the African nation, they are turning their skills to treat victims of the civil war on a daily basis amid the din of gunfire. - Olivia Rosenman
(Feb 21, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
China edges closer to rule of law
Optimizing China's progress and development while maintaining a strong economy will require a more accountable and respected legal system, but Beijing need not abandon its Confucian and legalist traditions and blindly adopt Western ideals. Through a modern outlook, and transforming traditional wisdom into practical policy, China can develop a unique legal system that obtains the best of two worlds. - Thomas Velk and Shannon Gong
(Feb 21, '13)
SINOGRAPH
Papal vote takes a Chinese hue
The Cardinal of Manila Luis Antonio Tagle is a Filipino of Chinese origin, and a candidate to lead the Catholic Church in the upcoming vote to choose a new pope. While to Beijing, the Catholic question is arcane and in many ways incomprehensible, the prospect (however distant) of a pope of Chinese descent and other Chinese in the church's hierarchy will inevitably turn the Vatican's focus its way. - Francesco Sisci
(Feb 20, '13)
Radar incident belies China-Japan progress
Allegations that a Chinese Navy frigate locked its fire-control radar onto a Japanese destroyer near the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands fitted well with speculation that China is strategically escalating the situation to put pressure on Japan. However, Beijing's muted response suggests hawkish military elements were responsible for the aiming, and acted out-of-step with efforts to thaw diplomatic ties. - Andrew Chubb
(Feb 20, '13)
Tibetan self-immolation hard to stifle
 A 102nd Tibetan has self-immolated in protest at China's rule despite new repressive measures introduced to stop the burnings. Although critics say that criminalizing the act is unlikely to stop it, Beijing has persisted with steps such as deploying paramilitary forces, shutting down communications and restricting travel in areas where self-immolations have occurred.
(Feb 19, '13)
Xi Jinping's imperfect inner circle
The network of incoming Chinese President Xi Jinping has taken shape, with consolidation of his authority a remarkable feat given that he lacked the powerful Chinese Communist Party cliques enjoyed by Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. As the military remains the princeling Xi's premier power base at the expense of liberals, his inner circle could yet shape pugilistic foreign policies. - Willy Lam
(Feb 19, '13)
SINOGRAPH
Catholic Church faces
brave new world
The Pope's unexpected decision to resign presents the Catholic Church with a challenge to defy its conservatism, and presents a particular challenge for Western culture. Finding a pope from Asia, a dynamic frontier for the Church, is one option being considered by one of the most momentous conclaves in history, even as one-twentieth of the world's Catholics live there. - Francesco Sisci
(Feb 15, '13)
Hong Kong's colonial acres under threat
A drive by Hong Kong's development bureau to reclaim land to ease the severely squeezed housing market has seen it target lavish clubs built and enjoyed by past colonial masters. While withdrawing the privileged status and token rents enjoyed by institutions like the Cable & Wireless Recreation Club seems an overdue concept, critics fear it will further deprive the city of green space and recreational opportunities. - Kent Ewing
(Feb 15, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Time for Chinese culture to strike back
Failure to care about "cultural property rights" as much as Beijing frets over sovereignty of lands and seas has seen too many Chinese concepts and words co-opted and replaced by inferior Western examples. China has taken its place as the world's biggest trading nation, now it needs to re-write so-called "world history". - Thorsten Pattberg (Feb 15, '13)
Rethinking the US-China-Taiwan triangle
The asymmetric security triangle that has defined US-China-Taiwan relations since the Cold War is becoming obsolete as the mainland becomes vital to Taipei's economic prospects and as Beijing develops the army, naval and air forces needed to counter American military support. A new inclusive triangle is the answer, with Taiwan serving as multi-dimensional entrepot for the two larger powers' business and political connections. - Brantly Womack (Feb 14, '13)
North Korea nukes the Year of the
Snake
China made plain that North Korea would pay a high price for the nuclear test
even before the ground shook as the Year of the Snake slithered into view.
While Beijing is showing itself increasingly to be on the "right side of
history" and will likely support new sanctions against Pyongyang, competing
geopolitical priorities mean that incoming leader Xi Jinping will be
hard-pressed to make a seismic shift. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Feb 13, '13)
SINOGRAPH
Beijing nurtures new
foreign policy thinking
Stern warnings to North Korea over its third nuclear test alongside a new
openness on the territorial dispute with Japan show that new thinking on
international affairs is blooming in China. This offers the United States the
prospect of rethinking its focus in Asia and considering less confrontation and
more cooperation with Beijing, which would have huge repercussions globally. - Francesco
Sisci (Feb 13, '13)
China's Sudan challenge
Sudan's partition in 2011 has presented China with a new set of challenges
after cordial relations dating back to mutual estrangement from the West more
than two decades ago. The tense crisis between the two Sudans is compelling
Beijing to question how well its foreign policy principle of non-intervention
advances its geostrategic interests. - Giorgio Cafiero
(Feb 8, '13)
Snakes, ladders, deities and presidents
Far from the satanic serpent seen in the West, the snake in China represents
intelligence, wisdom and self-discipline. While next week's dawning of the Year
of the Snake thus appears to benefit the country's rise and incoming president
Xi Jinping, himself born under that sign of the Chinese zodiac, conflicting
elements of fire and water suggest both will face earth-shattering conflict. - Kent
Ewing (Feb 8, '13)
Rocky road ahead for Mongolia
The Mongolian government is advancing a strategy of resource nationalism and
retreating from an open investment policy to increase its leverage with major
customers, particularly China, in the extraction of considerable mineral
reserves. While welcoming rough treatment meted out to Beijing, other foreign
investors will be discouraged by the fact they are likely next. - Peter Lee
(Feb 8, '13)
Legal push in the South China
Sea
Vietnam's new Law of the Sea and the Philippines' decision to take its dispute
with China over areas of the South China Sea to an international arbitration
tribunal both serve notice to Beijing that its territorial claims in the region
will be hotly disputed. They also put pressure on new Association of Southeast
Asian Nations chairman Brunei and freshly appointed Secretary General Le Luong
Minh (from Vietnam) to find a way to ease tensions. - Roberto Tofani
(Feb 7, '13)
China steps into Kachin conflict
Beijing's hosting of peace talks between Myanmar's government and the Kachin
Independence Army reflects its increasing involvement in their conflict, as
civilians seek refuge across the border and as the fighting threatens the
supply of resources to China. It could also be a prelude to a greater Chinese
third-party role in other regional disputes. - Brendan O'Reilly
(Feb 6, '13)
China-Japan tango treads on regional toes
Unless Chinese and Japanese policymakers start to appreciate the consequences
of "their" bilateral tensions on the wider region, realize the limitations of
simply holding conferences and start to approach historic faultlines with
creativity, what some see as insignificant issues - such as the Diaoyu/Senkaku
Island dispute - could easily escalate into a deep freeze in relations or
worse, militarized conflict. - Jean-Marc F Blanchard
(Feb 6, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
US goads Japan into China
confrontation
A US delegation sent to Japan in late 2012 purportedly to diffuse island
tensions with China was headed by two senior officials who in the past have
stated that the US-Japan alliance can only survive if Tokyo renounces its
pacifist constitution and develops a "capable military force" to face the
"re-rise" of China. By becoming the US's "bait", Japan puts itself in the
firing line. - John V Walsh (Feb 5, '13)
SINOGRAPH
Ang Lee shows
China the way forward
China's future standing will depend on cultural as well as political factors.
The United States' success is built in part on its use of overseas talent and
absorption of "foreign" culture - both necessary for the rising Asian giant if
it is to pass the US as a global power. Movie director Ang Lee, loved in both
countries, has shown what can grow from such cross-cultural awareness. - Francesco
Sisci (Feb 5, '13)
Washington's dilemma on a 'lost' planet
US policy since reaching the apex of global power following World War II is
premised on the US owning the world and fighting anything that weakens its
control. Like China in the 1940s, countries that move towards independence are
considered "lost". That hegemonic outlook makes supposed US yearnings for
democracy and stability appear as the ranting of a commissar. - Noam Chomsky
(Feb 4, '13)
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ATol Specials
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Shanghai, the becoming thing |
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China:
The
Impossible
Revolution
By
Francesco Sisci |
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Sinoroving
Pepe Escobar in China
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Henry C K Liu
on the yuan
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A 3-part series by Macabe Keliher
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China-US: The Quest
for Peace
A series by Henry C K Liu
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A 3-part series on the lamas of Tibet by Julian
Gearing
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A 3-part series by Miao Yi
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A 4-part series by Jasper Becker
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