ChinaFile Recommends
02.11.14China and Taiwan Hold First Official Talks Since Civil War
New York Times
The discussions were not expected to produce major breakthroughs, but they had important symbolic significance.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.10.14How Does China Impact the Global Economy? (Video)
Bloomberg
Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Elizabeth C. Economy discusses the Chinese economy, natural resources, the pollution problem, the fallacies of referring to the C.C.P. as a “totalitarian regime”, and more on Bloomberg Television’s “...
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02.10.14Chinese Dissident Lands at Cato Institute With a Caution to Colleauges
New York Times
Xia Yeliang, dismissed from his job as an economics professor at Peking University after clashes with his government over liberalization, warned that American universities should be careful about partnerships with Chinese universities. “They use the...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.10.14No, China Did Not Win the Global Battle for Supremacy
Foreign Policy
Eric X. Li enumerates the defects of a U.S.-centric international system that he perceives to be crumbling, praises the deftness and strength he sees in China's statecraft, and predicts a coming period of international volatility as...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.10.14China’s Television War on Japan
New York Times
The state prohibits content that “incites ethnic hatred,” yet according to Southern Weekly more than 70 anti-Japanese TV series were screened in China in 2012. The result of this stream of rancor is just what you’d expect. &...
Culture
02.10.14Will Xi Jinping Stop the Music?
In late November of 2013, I sat chatting in a California concert hall with one of the PRC’s most famous first-generation pianists. Normally at this time of year, the pianist told me, he would be heading off to China to perform multiple New Year’s...
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02.08.14Tangling with China
New York Times
The international community should insist China abide the rule of law and heed the United Nations arbitration ruling where tensions around China’s claims in the South and East China Seas are concerned.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.08.14The State of Journalism in China
Nieman Journalism Lab
How reporters are trying to work around China’s resurgent censorship, 25 years after Tiananmen.
Media
02.06.14Beijing’s State Secrets Law—Still Broad, Still Opaque
Beijing may be whittling back its widely reviled state secrets laws—but given their opacity, it’s hard to say for sure. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signed a regulation, announced February 2, that would prohibit Chinese government organs from “using...
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02.06.14The Original Manchurian Candidate
Economist
In 1868 Anson Burlingame became not only America’s first minister to China to reside in Beijing, but also China’s first ambassador to the world.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.06.14China, the Death Star of Emerging Markets
Bloomberg
On any list of banking accidents waiting to happen, China is assured a place at the very top. But could a crash there take the entire global economy down with it?
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02.06.14Growing Concern With China's Behavior at Sea: Senior U.S. Diplomat
Reuters
The United States has growing concerns that China's maritime claims in the disputed South China Sea are an effort to control oceans in the Asia-Pacific region, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.
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02.06.14Commentary: Philippine Leader's Senseless Attack Against China Smells of Amateurish Politician
Xinhua
A Xinhua writer fiercely responds to Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III’s comparison of China to Nazy Germany.
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02.06.14The Censorship Pendulum
New York Times
People like to hear voices critical of the government, so social media companies can’t silence them entirely.
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02.06.14China Ends One Notorious Form Of Detention, But Keeps Others
NPR
Despite the closure of labor camps across China, groups targeted as political threats are still subject to incarceration in mental institutions and secret jails.
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02.06.14Philippine Leader Sounds Alarm on China
New York Times
President Benigno S. Aquino III called for nations around the world to support the Philippines in resisting China’s claims to the seas near his country, drawing a comparison to the West’s failure to support Czechoslovakia against Hitler’s demands...
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02.06.14Xi Jinping’s Inner Circle: The Shaanxi Gang
Brookings Institution
This analysis is an excerpt of a paper examining the members of Xi Jinping's inner circle. It specifically looks at the “Shaanxi Gang,” national leaders tied to Shaanxi province whose ascent to leadership paralleled Xi’s own.
Conversation
02.05.14What Should the U.S. Do about China’s Barring Foreign Reporters?
Last week, the White House said it was “very disappointed” in China for denying a visa to another journalist working for The New York Times in Beijing, forcing him to leave the country after eight years. What else should the U.S. government...
Books
02.05.14By All Means Necessary
In the past thirty years, China has transformed from an impoverished country where peasants comprised the largest portion of the populace to an economic power with an expanding middle class and more megacities than anywhere else on earth. This remarkable transformation has required, and will continue to demand, massive quantities of resources. Like every other major power in modern history, China is looking outward to find them.In By All Means Necessary, Elizabeth C. Economy and Michael Levi explore the unrivaled expansion of the Chinese economy and the global effects of its meteoric growth. China is now engaged in a far-flung quest, hunting around the world for fuel, ores, water, and land for farming, and deploying whatever it needs in the economic, political, and military spheres to secure the resources it requires. Chinese traders and investors buy commodities, with consequences for economies, people, and the environment around the world. Meanwhile the Chinese military aspires to secure sea lanes, and Chinese diplomats struggle to protect the country’s interests abroad. And just as surely as China’s pursuit of natural resources is changing the world—restructuring markets, pushing up commodity prices, transforming resource-rich economies through investment and trade—it is also changing China itself. As Chinese corporations increasingly venture abroad, they must navigate various political regimes, participate in international markets, and adopt foreign standards and practices, which can lead to wide-reaching social and political ramifications at home.Clear, authoritative, and provocative, By All Means Necessary is a sweeping account of where China’s pursuit of raw materials may take the country in the coming years and what the consequences will be—not just for China, but for the whole world. —Oxford University Press{chop}
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02.04.14China to Ramp Up Military Spending
New York Times
China will spend $148 billion on its military this year, up from $139.2 billion in 2013, according to IHS Jane’s, a defense industry consulting and analysis company.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.03.14Taiwan: The Winner in the China-Japan Row?
Al Jazeera
Dispute between two powers results in unexpected benefits for tiny Taiwan's fishing industry.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.03.14In China’s War On Bad Air, Government Decision to Release Data Gives Hope
Washington Post
China’s Communist state is hardly known for its transparency. So when environmental groups appealed for official air pollution data, they were not expecting much.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.03.14Justice in China: A Conversation with Yiyun Li
Guernica
Emily Parker talks with Yiyun Li about self-censorship in China, the line between fact and fiction, and whether it’s possible to create good art under a repressive regime.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.03.14In China, ‘Once the Villages Are Gone, the Culture Is Gone’
New York Times
Across China, cultural traditions like the Lei family’s music are under threat. Rapid urbanization means village life, the bedrock of Chinese culture, is rapidly disappearing, and with it, traditions and history.
Reports
02.01.14The State of Journalism in China
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard
The Communist Party has long striven to control freedom of speech in China. Websites from around the world are blocked. Major social media cannot be accessed, and advanced software is used to delete “sensitive” entries from the Internet. Domestic...
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01.31.14Propaganda Photographer Wang Shilong
Shanghaiist
Wang Shilong 王世龙 (born in 1930 in Henan province) served in the Propaganda Department of the People’s Liberation Army as photographer and oil painter between the years 1948 and 1950. He then became a photojournalist for local newspapers and...
Media
01.31.14Closing Time? China’s Social Media Crackdown Has Hit Weibo Hard
Findings by East China Normal University (ECNU), a research university in Shanghai, commissioned by respected U.K. outlet The Telegraph and released January 30, lodges concrete data behind what frequent users and analysts of Chinese social media...
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01.31.14China is Playing Chicken with the U.S. Military in the South China Sea
Global Post
Vessels from the U.S. military and other countries increasingly find themselves in high-stakes confrontations in the region.
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01.30.14White House ‘Very Disappointed’ NYT Reporter was Forced to Leave China
Weekly Standard
The statement also raised concerns about the treatment of foreign journalists in China.
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01.30.14United Against China?
New York Times
Japan invests in India, and the two countries prepare for potential hostility from China.
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01.30.14China Forces New York Times Reporter to Leave Country
Washington Post
Ramzy’s forced departure will result in the first full-time Times correspondent stationed in Taiwan.
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01.29.14China Challenging U.S. Military Technological Edge: Pentagon Official
Reuters
Chinese and Russian military developments are threatening to the U.S.’ technological edge.
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01.29.14ChinaFile Recommends
01.29.14China’s Global Popstars
BBC
The ‘Earth Music Project’ will train Ruhan Jia who is one of the first popstars to be actively promoted by the government.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.29.14Beijing Forces U.S. Reporter to Leave China
USA Today
“The government is punishing the Times for the content of its coverage...it seems as simple as that.”
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01.29.14Baucus Pledges to Press China on Security Issues, Trade in Hearing on Ambassador Post
Washington Post
Baucus says he will hold firm on human rights, intellectual property, free trade, and marine navigation.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.29.14Virgin Galactic Bans Chinese Tourists from Space Flights Fearing Espionage
Asian News International
Tycoons willing to pay 250,000 dollars for the tickets have been advised to get another nationality's passport to board the flights.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.28.14Why is the Chinese Communist Party so Afraid of Legal Activist Xu Zhiyong?
Foreign Policy
Some fear that Xu and his fellow activists in the New Citizens Movement had formed an “anti-CCP clique”.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.28.14Publisher of Book Critical of China’s Leader Is Arrested
New York Times
Yiu Mantin, a retired engineer from Hong Kong, had plans to distribute a withering denunciation of Xi Jinping.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.28.14China's New Foreign Policy: Not Conflict But Convergence Of Interests
Guancha.cn
China will begin to underwrite domestic benefits in exchange for political support in Central and Southeast Asia.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.28.14Who is Xu Zhiyong?
Telegraph
Four people whose lives were change by Xu Zhiyong describe how he helped them.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.28.14Anxiety Rising Over Relations Between Japan and China
New York Times
A "stealth war" between the second and third largest economies sparks fear amongst international businesses and leaders.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.28.14Jailed Dissident’s Wife: ‘I Don’t Want You to Give Up’
Wall Street Journal
A public letter from the wife of Xu Zhiyong shows the emotional burden imposed on the family members of jailed dissidents.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.28.14China Appears Set to Force Times Reporter to Leave
New York Times
Austin Ramzy is the most recent of such journalists since a critical article about Wen Jiabao and his family was written in 2013.
Conversation
01.27.14China’s Offshore Leaks: So What?
Two recent stories by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists detailed China’s elite funneling money out of China to tax havens in the Caribbean. We asked contributors to weigh the impact of the revelations.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.27.14China Exclusive: Chinese, U.S. Presidents Possibly to Meet on Three Occasions in 2014
Xinhua
Possible meetings on the sidelines of three international conferences will enable more bilateral cooperation.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.27.14Is China really running out of cash?
CNBC
Citibank fund transfer delays sparks concern over a possible nation-wide liquidity shortage.
Caixin Media
01.27.14Time for Overhaul of China’s Land Market
The expected launch of land reform is dividing opinions. At a work meeting this month, the Minister of Land and Resources, Jiang Daming, said the central government would limit land supply in cities with more than five million residents. His words...
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01.27.14Chinese Trust Fund Avoids High-profile Default
Financial Times
One of China's biggest “shadow banks” raises Rmb3bn from investors, which was backed by a coal mine which later collapsed.
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01.27.14Chinese Court Places Heavy Sentence on Prominent Activist
Wall Street Journal
The most closely watched trial of a Chinese dissident in years calls attention to CCP clamp down on dissent.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.27.14China: Reverse Judgment in Show Trial of Xu Zhiyong
Human Rights Watch
The harsh conviction and four-year sentence of Xu Zhiyong is a pretext to chill popular protests against corruption.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.27.14China's Deluxed Hotels: Modern Sumptuary Laws
Economist
The new humility of both officials and hotels is a response to Xi's campaign against lavish spending.
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01.27.14China Accuses Uighur Intellectual of Separatism for His Advocacy Work
New York Times
The news comes at a time of intensifying bloodshed in Xinjiang despite a growing security presence by Chinese personnel.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.27.14China Reveals Members of New Leading Group on Reform
Diplomat
The highly publicized nature of the meeting implies that the Party intends for the group to play a prominent role in future reforms.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.27.14A Dream Deferred
Foreign Policy
The challenge the ICIJ expose poses to Xi's reputation as an anti-corruption crusader, is a vindication of Xu's advocacy.
Features
01.26.14For Freedom, Justice, and Love
from China Change
Following is legal activist Xu Zhiyong’s closing statement at the end of his trial in Beijing on January 22, 2014. According to his lawyer, Xu was only able to read “about ten minutes of it before the presiding judge stopped him, saying it was...
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01.25.14Li Na Beats Cibulkova to Win Australian Open Title in Her 3rd Appearance in the Final
Associated Press
Li Na made beat Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (3), 6-0 the Australian Open final on January 25 to become the oldest woman to clinch the title in the Open era.
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01.24.14China Loses its Allure
Economist
Life is getting tougher for foreign companies. Those that want to stay will have to adjust.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.24.14Abe Comparing China to Pre-World War One Germany Fuels Tensions
Businessweek
China said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was evading Japan’s “history of aggression” by comparing Sino-Japanese relations to those of the U.K. and Germany prior to World War I.
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01.24.14China Media: Xi's Chinese New Year Greetings
BBC
President Xi Jinping said the Communist Party of China “firmly relying on the people, including non-communist members, defeated various challenges and difficulties in the last year and achieved outstanding results.”