ChinaFile Recommends
01.15.17China’s Xi Set for Star Turn at Davos Gathering
Financial Times
President aims to show he is one of the few responsible adults left on the global stage
ChinaFile Recommends
01.11.17China Delegation Reportedly Open to Meeting Trump’s Team at Davos
CNBC
China’s President Xi Jinping’s delegation to the World Economic Forum to be held in Davos next week is open to a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump’s team
ChinaFile Recommends
01.11.17China, Fanning Patriotism, Adds Six Years to War with Japan in History Books
New York Times
For generations, the “Eight-Year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression” has been ingrained in the minds of Chinese schoolchildren. Now the war is getting a new name, and an extended time frame.
The China Africa Project
01.10.17
2016 China-Africa Year in Review
After years of relatively trouble-free development, 2016 marked a turning point in the China-Africa relationship, amid turbulent changes in the global economic and political order. China increased its deployment of combat troops to the continent,...
ChinaFile Recommends
01.03.17A Human Rights Activist, A Secret Prison and A Tale from Xi Jinping’s New China
Guardian
Peter Dahlin spent 23 days in a ‘black prison’ in Beijing, where he says he was deprived of sleep and questioned with a ‘communication enhancement’ machine.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.02.17China's Homegrown Populism to Test Xi Jinping
CNBC
Britain voted to leave Europe, and the United States voted to elect Donald Trump. Now, could China be facing a populist backlash of its own? Some China watchers say a growing populist movement will test the nation's leadership ahead of the 19th...
Conversation
12.30.16
Rex Tillerson at State: What Will He Mean for U.S.-China Relations?
On December 13, President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team announced the selection of ExxonMobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. We asked ChinaFile contributors to respond to the choice with a specific focus on how Tillerson...
ChinaFile Recommends
12.30.16A Good Year for Xi Jinping— But Trouble is Heading His Way
Guardian
After domestic victories in 2016, China’s president must deal with a worsening economy and Trump in the White House
ChinaFile Recommends
12.30.16Uncertainty Over New Chinese Law Rattles Foreign Nonprofits
New York Times
A new law in China is raising concern among thousands of nongovernmental organizations about their ability to continue their work in the new year
ChinaFile Recommends
12.27.16Xi’s Power Play Foreshadows Historic Transformation of How China is Ruled
Wall Street Journal
Party insiders say president wants to remain in office after his second term, breaking succession conventions
ChinaFile Recommends
12.19.16Trump’s and Xi’s Differences Magnify Uncertainties Between U.S. and China
New York Times
Both came to power vowing to restore their nations to greatness...but that's where the similarities end
ChinaFile Recommends
12.19.16Facing a Transition of Power, China’s Xi is More Desperate Than Ever to Control Young Minds
Quartz
With 2017 nearing, it’s likely China will expand its campaign to further instill the ideologies of the party in young minds
Viewpoint
12.15.16
The Missing Topic in Trump’s Tough Talk on China
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...
ChinaFile Recommends
12.14.16Popular Chinese Muslim Website Down After Posting Letter Critical of Xi
Reuters
Users of China Muslim Net say they have been unable to access the website since Saturday
Media
12.09.16
U.S.-China Relations As a Cycle of ‘Rapturous Enchantment’ and ‘Deep Disappointment’
from Asia Blog
In 1872, China’s imperial government began sending teenage boys to the United States to study science and technology. After a series of “humiliating” military defeats at the hands of technologically superior foreign powers, China’s leaders realized...
Viewpoint
12.09.16
I Think That Chinese Official Really Liked Me!
“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...
ChinaFile Recommends
12.09.16China Universities Must Become Communist Party 'Strongholds', Says Xi Jinping
Guardian
All teachers must be ‘staunch supporters’ of party governance, says president in what experts called an effort to reassert control
The China Africa Project
12.09.16
Does One Man in China Control the Fate of Africa’s Elephants?
In the powerful new Netflix documentary The Ivory Game, Elephant Action League Executive Director Andrea Crosta ominously warned that the entire fate of Africa’s elephants is in the hands of a single man, Chinese President Xi Jinping. Only President...
ChinaFile Recommends
12.08.16How a Midwest Governor Rose to Become America’s Top Official in China
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
ChinaFile Recommends
12.07.16Trump Picks Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad as Beijing Ambassador
Washington Post
Branstad has extensive ties to China and a personal friendship with Chinese President Xi Jinping
ChinaFile Recommends
12.06.16Xi Jinping to be ‘First Chinese President to Attend Davos Summit’
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
Conversation
12.05.16
Should Washington Recalibrate Relations with Taipei?
On Friday, Donald Trump shocked the China-watching world when news broke that he had spoken on the phone to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. The call was remarkable not for its content—Tsai’s office said she told Trump she hoped the United States “...
ChinaFile Recommends
12.02.16China Seizes Opening in U.S. Backyard as Trump Upends Policy
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
Conversation
11.21.16
Will China Take the Lead on Climate Change?
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?
ChinaFile Recommends
11.21.16As Trump Tweets about SNL and Hamilton, China’s Xi Embraces a New, Powerful Role
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
ChinaFile Recommends
11.21.16China’s Xi Calls for ’Smooth Transition’ in Relationship With U.S.
Reuters
During a meeting in Peru, Xi Jinping praised outgoing President Obama for strengthening ties between the two nations
ChinaFile Recommends
11.18.16A China-America Romance?
Economist
After the wildest political upsets this year, here’s a prediction for next: China will deem its relations with America to be entering something of a golden period
China in the World Podcast
11.16.16
Electing Donald Trump: The View from China
from Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy
Donald Trump’s election in the 2016 U.S. presidential race ushers in a period of considerable uncertainty in regard to the future of U.S. policies in the Asia-Pacific and vis-à-vis its relationship with China. In this podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.16.16China Discovers the Price of Global Power: Soldiers Returning in Caskets
Wall Street Journal
Xi’s quest to make his nation a military player on the world stage provokes soul-searching as China absorbs its first combat casualties in decades
Conversation
11.15.16
Should China’s Neighbors Rely on the U.S. for Protection?
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a platform of neo-isolationism that could see many traditional U.S. allies in Asia left without Washington’s support in the newly roiled waters of the South- and East China Seas. What will the governments...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.14.16Trump, China’s Xi Set Tone of “Mutual Respect” in Phone Call
Wall Street Journal
Mr. Trump’s campaign was marked by heated rhetoric targeting China, but in a phone call, the leaders agreed cooperation was key
ChinaFile Recommends
11.09.16Beijing Reacts Cautiously to Trump Triumph
Financial Times
President-elect has threatened China with trade and currency wars
Conversation
11.07.16
The Chinese Communist Party, with Xi Jinping at the Core
In late October, the Chinese Communist Party anointed Xi Jinping as a “core leader.” While the position doesn’t come with any formal responsibilities, its symbolism is important. According to The New York Times, it shows that senior Party officials...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.07.16China Ousts Finance Minister Lou Jiwei as Xi Turns to Allies in Surprise Reshuffle
Wall Street Journal
Senior official was widely seen as a voice for reform of the country’s fiscal system
ChinaFile Recommends
11.04.16In Xi’s China, Everything Old is New Again
Foreign Policy
Eighty years after the end of the Long March, a Communist leader asks for another one. What is he really seeking?
ChinaFile Recommends
10.31.16Xi Jinping is China’s “Core” Leader: Here’s What That Means
New York Times
President Xi got a lift when the CCP give him the title of "Core" Leader last week. But what does that mean for Mr. Xi and China’s political future?
Conversation
10.27.16
What Does Xi Jinping’s Top-Down Leadership Mean for Innovation in China?
One of the hallmarks of Xi Jinping’s leadership has been a centralization of power across a whole range of areas of domestic politics. This week, the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership meets in Beijing for the sixth plenary session of its 18th...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.27.16China’s Communist Party Declares Xi Jinping ‘Core’ Leader
New York Times
The term suggests Mr. Xi has already joined the same revered league as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping before a big shake-up in the party’s top ranks next year
ChinaFile Recommends
10.24.16China’s 6th Plenum Begins With a Focus on Intra-Party Discipline: What to Expect
Diplomat
The highlight of China’s 2016 political calendar, the Sixth Plenum of the 18th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, kicked off on Monday
ChinaFile Recommends
10.20.16Party Time in China: The Riddle of Xi
Bloomberg
The prospect of the Party Congress in fall 2017 is already roiling politics.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.19.16‘I Am Chinese’: Philippine President Duterte’s Awkward Charm Offensive in China
Time
Having sanctioned thousands of extrajudicial killings, Duterte says his visit to China is “the defining moment of my presidency”
ChinaFile Recommends
10.19.16How the Party’s Absolute Power Undermines its Efforts to Strengthen China’s Rule of Law
South China Morning Post
While Chinese leaders support the need for a credible legal system, it is their iron-clad grip that is the stumbling block to its development
ChinaFile Recommends
10.18.16China’s Real ‘House of Cards’: TV Series Unveils Graft Excess
Bloomberg
The eight-episode series, called “Always On the Road,” is being beamed daily to hundreds of millions of Chinese homes through Oct. 25 on CCTV’s Channel 1
ChinaFile Recommends
10.18.16The Limits of Chinese Isolationism
Atlantic
Can a country doing business all over the world really avoid other peoples' politics?
ChinaFile Recommends
10.17.16The Race to China’s 19th Party Congress
Diplomat
Next fall, China’s leaders will kick off the 19th Party Congress. Start your engines.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.13.16Xi Jinping Reminds China’s State Companies of Who’s the Boss
New York Times
In an unusual meeting that ended on Tuesday, President Xi Jinping announced that the Chinese Communist Party had the ultimate say over state companies
ChinaFile Recommends
10.12.16Why Cambodia is Pinning its Hopes on Chinese President’s Visit
South China Morning Post
A country reeling from falling rice prices and foreign investment has its eyes on emergency aid and a boost in trade
Books
10.11.16

The Red Guard Generation and Political Activism in China
Raised to be “flowers of the nation,” the first generation born after the founding of the People’s Republic of China was united in its political outlook and ambitions. Its members embraced the Cultural Revolution of 1966 but soon split into warring factions. Guobin Yang investigates the causes of this fracture and argues that Chinese youth engaged in an imaginary revolution from 1966 to 1968, enacting a political mythology that encouraged violence as a way to prove one’s revolutionary credentials. This same competitive dynamic would later turn the Red Guard against the communist government.Throughout the 1970s, the majority of Red Guard youth were sent to work in rural villages. These relocated revolutionaries developed an appreciation for the values of ordinary life, and an underground cultural movement was born. Rejecting idolatry, their new form of resistance marked a distinct reversal of Red Guard radicalism and signaled a new era of enlightenment, culminating in the Democracy Wall movement of the late 1970s and, finally, the Tiananmen protest of 1989. Yang completes his significant recasting of Red Guard activism with a chapter on the politics of history and memory, arguing that contemporary memories of the Cultural Revolution are factionalized along the lines of political division that formed 50 years before. —Columbia University Press{chop}
ChinaFile Recommends
10.10.16China Anti-Corruption Campaign Backfires
Financial Times
Xi Jinping drive to cleanse Communist party of graft tarnishes its image
ChinaFile Recommends
10.07.16China Seeks Tighter Grip in Wake of a Religious Revival
New York Times
Increased regulations on religion are the latest move by President Xi to strengthen the Communist Party’s control over society and combat foreign influences.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.06.16Five Ways China Has Become More Repressive Under President Xi Jinping
Time
According to the 2016 report by the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, there has been a broad corrosion of freedoms
Conversation
10.06.16
Is the Growing Pessimism About China Warranted?
from Washington Quarterly
There are few more consequential questions in world affairs than China’s uncertain future trajectory. Assumptions of a reformist China integrated into the international community have given way in recent years to serious concerns about the nation’s...
Conversation
09.21.16
What Should the U.S. Presidential Candidates Be Saying on China?
Barely eight weeks before the United States presidential election, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival Donald Trump have said surprisingly little about how they plan to address China—in areas ranging from the global economy...
The China Africa Project
09.16.16
Chinese Business’ Complicated Role in Kenyan Corruption
One of the many simple, widely-believed narratives about the Chinese in Africa is that Chinese businesses fuel corruption across the continent. Chinese corporate corruption in Africa is well documented, from allegations of paying off corrupt...
Viewpoint
09.08.16
Mao the Man, Mao the God
Mao Zedong was dying a slow, agonizing death. Diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in July 1974, he gradually lost control of his motor functions. His gait was unsure. He slurred his speech and panted heavily. The decline was...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.07.16International Diplomatic Incidents Bring Benefits for China
Financial Times
Western officials say that negotiations and joint events often feel like exercises in humiliation.
Media
08.25.16
China Analysts Should Talk to Each Other, Not at Each Other
On August 12, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued its annual report card on China’s economy and gave the country mixed grades, finding that its “economic transition will continue to be complex, challenging, and potentially bumpy.” In...
Viewpoint
08.11.16
The Future of China’s Legal System
In early August, Beijing held show trials of four legal activists—a disheartening turn for those optimistic about legal reform in China. What are the prospects for the development of the rule of law in China under Communist Party Secretary Xi...
The China Africa Project
07.21.16
China’s Relationship Status with South Africa: ‘It’s Complicated’
South Africa’s relationship with China has undergone a profound transformation in a remarkably short period of time. In less than 20 years, the two countries have gone from barely acknowledging one another to developing a deep partnership that...
Viewpoint
07.14.16
China’s Failure in the South China Sea
By reiterating its policy of “no acceptance, no participation, no recognition, and no implementation,” China has painted itself into a difficult corner and diminished the chances of resolving the myriad maritime disputes—involving Vietnam, Brunei,...