Viewpoint

12.15.16

The Missing Topic in Trump’s Tough Talk on China

Melissa Chan
President-elect Donald Trump’s rhetoric suggests he will push China on many issues, not just one. Some observers have held on to the hope that his phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, his burst of anti-China tweets, and his most recent...

Taiwan is Both Exhilarated and Unnerved by Trump’s China’s Remarks

Javier Hernandez and Amy Qin
New York Times
What does it mean for one’s homeland to be put on the table by Mr. Trump, in negotiations with China’s leaders, who are not known for making concessions easily?

China’s Economic Policy Under Pressure After Fed Flags New Era

Tom Mitchell, Yuan Yang and Gabriel...
Financial Times
Rising US rates complicate balancing act for Beijing as it faces capital flight

GM China Reportedly Under Antitrust Investigation: A Warning for Trump?

Bertel Schmitt
Forbes
The surprising report of an investigation of GM comes suspiciously close to President-elect Trump’s incendiary recent comments on Taiwan

‘Friends Forever’? China Wary of Rex Tillerson Wooing Away Russia

Tom Phillips
Guardian
Trump will have close ties to Moscow via its Secretary of State, but relations with Beijing are frosty. Could Sino-Russian ties be under threat?

China’s Richest Man Threat to Trump ’Should Things Be Handled Poorly’

Echo Huang
Quartz
Wang Jianlin says 20,000 American jobs and $10 billion in investment are at stake

China Stocks Drop as Insurers Face Crackdown

Shen Hong
Wall Street Journal
China’s top securities regulator has accused some big insurers of behaving like ‘barbarians’

Is Latin America of Strategic Importance to China?

Shaheli Das
Diplomat
For China, Latin American countries will be a key part of its bid to influence global governance

If Donald Trump Pushes, How China Could Push Back

Jane Perlez
New York Times
Here are five ways the Chinese could make life difficult for a Trump administration

Beijing Concerned by Trump Questioning ‘One China’ Policy on Taiwan

Josh Chin
Wall Street Journal
President-elect Donald Trump questioned U.S. support for the idea that mainland China and Taiwan are part of ‘one China’

Trump Says China is Not a Market Economy. Here’s Why That is a Big Deal

Chad Bown
Washington Post
In 2001, in China’s view, the U.S. promised it would treat the Asian country as a “market economy” starting in December 2016. Trump has a different idea.

Small Investors Join China’s Tycoons in Sending Money Abroad

Emily Feng and Alexandra Stevenson
New York Times
It's Chinese investors and a developer in Brooklyn- with a digital lending twist

Going Green in China, Where Climate Change Isn’t Considered a Hoax

Matthew Kahn
Salon
Chinese leaders want to improve the quality of life in their nation's cities

Meet the Ma Family: How Millennials are Changing the Way China Thinks About Money

Engen Tham and Adam Jourdan
Reuters
China's millennials - roughly those aged between 18 and 35 - are embracing debt like never before

Viewpoint

12.09.16

I Think That Chinese Official Really Liked Me!

David Wertime & James Palmer
“Friendship” is everywhere in China, at least when it comes to dealing with foreigners. International societies are friendship associations. The stores once accessible only to foreign currency holders were called Friendship Stores. Provincial cities...

China Has Gained Hugely from Globalization, So Why Are Its Workers So Unhappy?

Economist
Now, more than ever, working-class Chinese fret about rising inequality, the impact of mass migration from the countryside into cities and job losses

China Faces off Against World on Open Global Markets

Mark Magnier and Will Mauldin
Wall Street Journal
Anniversary of China’s accession to World Trade Organization highlights global rift over Beijing’s economic policy

I Think That Chinese Official Really Liked Me!

David Wertime and James Palmer
Foreign Policy
Trump's pick for U.S. Ambassador to Beijing is apparently 'old friends' with President Xi Jinping. That will mean very little.

China Takes Aim at South Korea’s Lotte After Missile Move

Bryan Harris and Charles Clover
Financial Times
Series of probes follows Lotte’s surrender of golf course to host US-made Thaad missile shield

China Exports Snap Seven-Month Losing Streak as Imports Surge

Bloomberg
China’s exports gained as a cheaper yuan aided foreign purchasing; Imports jumped the most in more than two years on strong demand for raw materials

Uganda is Worried About the Number of Chinese Men Marrying Their Women

Lily Kuo
Quartz
An increasing number of Chinese men are marrying Ugandan women to gain residency and continue their business interests in the country

How a Midwest Governor Rose to Become America’s Top Official in China

Catherine Wong
South China Morning Post
Trump administration hopes Terry Branstad’s long-standing friendship with Xi Jinping will smooth often-strained ties between the two nations

Trump Picks Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad as Beijing Ambassador

Simon Denyer and Philip Rucker
Washington Post
Branstad has extensive ties to China and a personal friendship with Chinese President Xi Jinping

After 1,000 Year Slumber, China Vows to Invent Again

Eva Dou
Wall Street Journal
Beijing spends billions on moonshot projects, hoping to shake off its reputation as a copycat economy and curb dependence on foreign powers

Taiwan Feels Forgotten. But Not By Trump.

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
New York Times
Despite facing a sober future, Taiwanese will continue to celebrate what they see as an overdue recognition of their hard-won existence

China is Outsourcing Its Pollution

Kara Sherwin
Foreign Policy
Beijing's diplomacy is increasingly green, but its international trade is getting ever more coal-black

China’s Currency Didn’t Really Drop, Despite Jitters Over Trump

Neil Gough
New York Times
Early Tuesday it appeared the RMB had suddenly fallen more than 8%, but no deliberate devaluation took place. Instead, the culprit was a technical problem

In China, Trump-Style Infrastructure Partnerships are Used to Hide Debt

James T. Areddy
Wall Street Journal
To pay for a highway project, Wenling’s government teamed up with Bank of China to create an ‘industrial fund’ that pulls in money from ordinary investors

Xi Jinping to be ‘First Chinese President to Attend Davos Summit’

Li Jing
South China Morning Post
Trip has yet to be officially announced but preparations well underway for Chinese head of state’s visit to World Economic Forum in Switzerland

Trump’s China Tweets are Just Tough Talk

Melissa Chan
Guardian
A trade war would be damaging for the US, and the president-elect is likely to need Beijing’s help with North Korea. Wait until he’s in office

A China Economist Told Us How China Could Hurt the US in a Trade War

Business Insider
BI caught up with Gene Ma, IIF's Chief Economist, to ask him some questions about where the Chinese economy is going in the age of Trump

After the Call: Does Taiwan Have a Plan for the Trump Years?

Ankit Panda
Diplomat
What is Taiwan looking for from Donald Trump?

How China Could React to Trump’s Taunts: Best Case to Worst Case Scenarios

Heather Timmons and Zheping Huang
Quartz
In the wake of #TaiwanFreakout and the latest Twitter-storm, here’s a range of things Beijing could do, from the shrug-worthy to the downright terrifying

China Seizes Opening in U.S. Backyard as Trump Upends Policy

Ting Shi and John Quigley
Bloomberg
As Trump weighs plans to tear up trade deals and deport illegal migrants from Latin America, China's Xi is moving swiftly to reset relations in America’s backyard

Microsoft, Intel, IBM Push Back on China Cybersecurity Rules

Eva Dou
Wall Street Journal
Comments offer rare glimpse at tussle between Beijing and U.S. tech companies

China Stands to Gain from OPEC Deal

Brian Spegele
Wall Street Journal
Output agreement could boost the country’s oil industry and reduce its reliance on Saudi crude

Reports

11.30.16

Made in China 2025

Jost Wübbeke, Mirjam Meissner, Max J. Zenglein, Jaqueline Ives, and Björn Conrad
Jost Wübbeke & Mirjam Meissner
Mercator Institute for China Studies
This report analyses China’s ambitious plan to build one of the world’s most advanced and competitive economies with the help of innovative manufacturing technologies (“smart manufacturing”). China’s industrial master plan “Made in China 2025” aims...

China’s Approach to the Middle East Looks Familiar

Massoud Hayoun
Diplomat
Despite repudiating American foreign policy, China now borrows heavily from U.S.-style Middle Eastern diplomacy

China Adds Curbs on Pulling Money Out of the Country

Bloomberg
New restrictions added as authorities seek to prevent a flood of capital outflows from destabilizing the financial system

Despite Climate Change Vow, China Pushes to Dig More Coal

Keith Bradsher
New York Times
Desperate to deliver coal before power stations run out, China mobilizes trains and half-mile lines of trucks

Stuck at the Bottom in China

Lijia Zhang
New York Times
If the Chinese government is serious about fostering a stable and harmonious society, it must address limits on social mobility before it’s too late

How Rwanda Attracts Chinese Money and Migrants Without the Lure of Natural Resources

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
Quartz’s Africa correspondent Lily Kuo recently returned from a reporting assignment to Rwanda where she discovered a very different side of China’s engagement in Africa. Rwanda lacks many of the resources and large markets that other African states...

Castro’s Death a Reminder in China of Changed Communist Axis

Gerry Shih Associated Press
Washington Post
China and Cuba frequently nod to their shared ideological history, but relations revolve more around developing beach resorts or Chinese telecoms investments

China Cites ’The Art of War’ as Trump Signals Trade Battle

Bloomberg
You can kill 1,000 enemies, but you would also lose 800 soldiers

Animosity in a Burmese Hub Deepens as Chinese Get Richer

Jane Perlez
New York Times
Locals view Chinese as taking advantage of Mandalay’s location and resources. Chinese view locals as beneath them, slow at business and making money.

China Risks Wasting $490 Billion on New Coal Plant, Say Campaigners

AFP
Guardian
Carbon Tracker says many plants running at overcapacity but China reluctant to wean itself off coal, fearing unemployment and unrest

U.S.-China Trade Relations in the Trump Era

Paul Haenle & Claire Reade from Carnegie China
Donald Trump’s election injects greater uncertainty, and potentially increased contention, into the trade and investment relationship between the United States and China. In this podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Claire Reade, a senior associate with...

China Expands UN Peacekeeping Role as U.S. Influence Wanes

Lucy Hornby
Financial Times
‘Blue helmet’ deployments offer opportunity to burnish international image

China is Poised to Benefit from Trump’s Ambiguous Africa Policy

Eric Olander and Cobus van Staden
Huffington Post
By neglecting to propose a clear approach toward the continent, the future U.S. president may end up boosting Beijing

China Touts its Own Trade Pact as U.S.-Backed One Withers

John Lyons, Mark Magnier, and William...
Wall Street Journal
Nations begin to coalesce around China-led trade group after Trump reiterates plan to withdraw from TPP

Rwanda is a Landlocked Country with Few Natural Resources. So Why is China Investing So Heavily in it?

Lily Kuo
Quartz
Rwanda doesn't fit the usual narrative of China's interest in Africa-- namely that China is only interested in the continent's resources

Will Trump’s Love of Deals Work With China?

Andrew Browne
Wall Street Journal
A president known for deal-making could change the landscape in East Asia

U.S. Won’t Tolerate Pressure from China on Fugitive Families

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
China has upset Western countries by sending undercover agents to try and get suspects back, although it says it has changed tactics after complaints

Conversation

11.21.16

Will China Take the Lead on Climate Change?

Sam Geall, Barbara A. Finamore & more
At a time when the world is looking to China and the United States, the leading emitters of greenhouse gasses, to cooperate under the terms of the Paris Climate Change Agreement of 2015, will China now take the lead in fighting climate change?

As Trump Tweets about SNL and Hamilton, China’s Xi Embraces a New, Powerful Role

Zheping Huang and Heather Timmons
Quartz
Trump’s talk of increasing trade barriers and disdain for global organizations and agreements could create a more isolationist US, leaving China to fill the gap

India’s China Policy Off Target, Says Modi’s Mandarin- Speaking ‘Guided Missile’

Debasish Chowdhury
South China Morning Post
Delhi’s go-to guy for talking to Beijing is one of the few Indian leaders who openly advocate closer ties

A Retreat from TPP Would Empower China

Editorial Board
New York Times
China will take full advantage of the American shift to press its own trade vision--the Beijing-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

China’s Xi Calls for ’Smooth Transition’ in Relationship With U.S.

Jeff Mason
Reuters
During a meeting in Peru, Xi Jinping praised outgoing President Obama for strengthening ties between the two nations

Trans-Pacific Partnership Failure May be China’s Gain, Asia’s Loss

Laura He
South China Morning Post
Many Asian economies will benefit less under a China-led trade pact than they would have done under the now-doomed TPP, analysts argue

Features

11.18.16

Chinese and American City-Dwellers Differ on Trump Win

Frances Hisgen
City-dwellers in China and the United States are among the greatest beneficiaries of the international trade deals President-elect Trump says he’s against, but the two groups responded differently to the outcome of the U.S. election, and the...