Where the Malan Blooms

60 Years After the First Chinese Nuclear Bomb

Yangyang Cheng

This October 16 marks the 60th anniversary of the testing of the first Chinese nuclear bomb. When my friends and I coiled up our jump ropes and returned to class, we learned inspirational tales about the earliest generation of Chinese nuclear scientists, who left the comfort of home for the northwestern frontier and toiled in anonymity to forge the country’s atomic shield. In the same classrooms and from the same textbooks, we also marveled at our motherland’s vastness and diversity: every inch... Read full story>>

Tick Tock for TikTok

A ChinaFile Conversation

Kevin Xu, Ivy Yang & more via ChinaFile Conversation

Will TikTok succeed in defending itself on First Amendment grounds, or will it be forced to shut down in the U.S.? Or will ByteDance find a creative way out of the problem? What will this case mean for Chinese business interests in the U.S. and the future of tech? And given that Donald Trump appears to have reversed his earlier position on banning TikTok while Joe Biden signed the ban, what effect might the TikTok ban have on the U.S. election? Read full story>>

Is China’s Cultural Outreach to Muslims in Indonesia Working?

Randy Mulyanto

Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. So as Beijing ramps up its engagement with the Global South and with the Muslim world, it is unsurprising that it has been reaching out to various Muslim organizations and strengthening its people-to-people exchanges with the Muslim community in Indonesia. Read full story>>

Can China’s Scholarships and Cultural Diplomacy Efforts Succeed in Pakistan?

Akbar Notezai

In Washington, D.C., China has a bad reputation for the way it treats its Muslim minorities. But views differ greatly in many majority-Muslim countries in Asia. Educational programs and exchanges are a key part of this. Pakistan is an exemplar: Estimates suggest that more than 28,000 students studied in China in 2019, making it the top destination for outward-bound students. Read full story>>

How a Crackdown Transformed LGBTQ Activism in China

With high-profile campaigns and organizing no longer possible, China’s LGBTQ advocates look to subtler channels for change

Darius Longarino

In 2020, events took a turn. Soon after wrapping up Pride Month festivities, Shanghai Pride announced it was ending its 12-year run. Organizers soon revealed the reason for the closure was that they no longer felt safe under intensifying harassment and threats from authorities. For many in China’s LGBTQ community, the news was gut-wrenching not only for the sheer sense of loss, but also because the takedown of the flagship celebration—which had once won plaudits from the Global Times and China... Read full story>>

From Wild Exuberance to State Control in China’s Art Market

A Q&A with Kejia Wu

Jeremy Goldkorn & Kejia Wu

The scholar and journalist Kejia Wu is the author of A Modern History of China’s Art Market, a fascinating book that examines the relationship between the Chinese government’s push for cultural “soft power” and its desire for control. In the book, Wu looks at the rise of contemporary art and a market for it after the end of the Cultural Revolution; the oddity of China’s parallel art systems: one highly ideological, censored, and state-organized market, and the other market-oriented; and five... Read full story>>

Southeast Asia Doesn’t Want to Choose between China and the U.S.

The U.S. Wants China’s Neighbors to Take Sides. But Based on America’s Record, Why Would They?

Bryanna Entwistle

If history provides a guide to the future, upholding human rights will continue to be sidelined in the U.S.’ Southeast Asia policy, and priority will be given to relationships and policies that benefit the U.S. as it seeks to build leverage over China. Given the history of America’s involvement in the region—especially in the case of Cambodia—Southeast Asians are understandably skeptical of American promises to champion human rights and protect their interests. Read full story>>