ChinaFile Conversation
The ChinaFile Conversation is a regular, real-time discussion of China news, from a group of the world’s leading China experts.
Last Updated: March 22, 2022
Conversation
08.03.17As China Reins in Capital, What Next for Global Trade?
China’s Communist Party and its leader, Xi Jinping, are tightening controls on overseas spending by the country’s biggest companies and their highly visible billionaire CEOs. The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Xi personally signed off on...
Conversation
07.20.17Should the U.S. Play Hardball with China on Trade?
Last week, United States President Donald Trump suggested that he is considering leveraging tariffs on Chinese steel imports. Trump’s aggressive posture has left diplomatic experts uneasy amid an already divided U.S. diplomatic house in Beijing, and...
Conversation
07.14.17Liu Xiaobo, 1955-2017
When news this morning reached us that Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo had died, we invited all past contributors to the ChinaFile Conversation to reflect on his life and on his death. Liu died, still in state-custody, eight years into his 11-...
Conversation
06.30.17What Does Xi Jinping Intend for Hong Kong?
Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Hong Kong on Thursday to mark the 20th anniversary of the July 1, 1997 return of the territory to China from the United Kingdom. Since the handover, many Hong Kongers have chafed under...
Conversation
06.23.17How Big a Deal Are Guo Wengui’s Allegations?
In a months-long barrage of mudslinging via Twitter and theatrical online videos, Chinese real estate billionaire Guo Wengui has alleged corruption at the highest levels in the Chinese Communist Party—some of which appear to be accurate, some as yet...
Conversation
06.14.17The World Is Deserting Taiwan. How Should the U.S. Respond?
On June 12, the small Central American nation of Panama announced it was severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan so that it could establish relations with the People’s Republic of China. Now, only 19 countries and the Vatican recognize Taiwan. Why did...
Conversation
06.14.17Do Street Protests Work in China?
A rare street protest broke out in China’s biggest city and commercial capital on Saturday night, June 10, when residents of Shanghai marched against new housing rules that some residents claimed have caused the value of their property to plummet...
Conversation
06.09.17Australia Is Debating Chinese Influence. Should the U.S. Do the Same?
“The Chinese Communist Party is waging a covert campaign of influence in Australia,” went the claim in the newspaper The Age, in a series of articles exploring China’s hard and soft power “Down Under.” The articles set off a domestic debate about...
Conversation
06.01.17Can China Supplant the U.S. in Europe?
From May 31 to June 2, Premier Li Keqiang will visit Germany and Belgium, to “further deepen and enrich China’s relations with the European Union (EU) at a time of increasing global uncertainty,” according to an article in China’s state newswire...
Conversation
05.25.17Can Free Speech on American Campuses Withstand Chinese Nationalism?
Earlier this week, Kunming native Yang Shuping, a student at the University of Maryland, gave a commencement speech extolling the “fresh air” and “free speech” she experienced while studying in the United States. Video of her speech spread on the...
Conversation
05.16.17How Big a Deal is the New U.S.-China Trade Deal?
Last week, the United States and China announced a new trade deal on the eve of China launching a sweeping conference to promote its One Belt, One Road development and infrastructure investment initiative. How good are the terms of the Washington-...
Conversation
05.09.17Can China’s Approach to Internet Control Spread around the World?
Earlier this month, citing concerns over “cyber sovereignty,” China’s Internet regulators announced new restrictions on the country’s already tightly controlled Internet—further curbing online news reporting and putting Party-appointed editors in...