Conversation

02.05.17

Is The White House Beginning to Resemble Zhongnanhai?

Melissa Chan & Yifu Dong
Since Donald Trump was sworn into office on January 20, he has lied repeatedly about the size of the crowd at his inauguration, embraced xenophobic policies, and declareda “running war with the media.” The White House has frozen out the...

Xi Jinping’s Back Channel to Donald Trump

Katsuji Nakazawa
Nikkei Asian Review
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s regime is under pressure to rethink its U.S. strategy now that Donald Trump has been inaugurated as president of the U.S. and appears intent on changing the power dynamic between the two giants.

There Are Echoes of China in Today’s America

Maura Cunningham
Time
We are troubled by how often lately we experience a strange sort of China-related déjà vu when following events in the U.S.

How China Can Win as America Turns Inward

Newsweek
As the U.S. was backing away from a major international agreement, China continued its push to strike pacts with other nations.

Conversation

01.27.17

TPP is Dead, Now What?

David Dollar, Charlene Barshefsky & more
On Monday, on his first full working day as president, Donald Trump officially withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade pact that did not include China and did not have the votes to...

As Trump Stresses ‘America First,’ China Plays the World Leader

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
China is calmly mapping out global leadership aspirations from trade to climate change, drawing distinctions between President Xi Jinping’s steady hand and new U.S. President Donald Trump

China Corruption Prosecutions Drop for First Time in Five Years

Hudson Lockett
Financial Times
Fall of 20% in party officials handed to courts marks change of tack in campaign

Donald Trump Could Be Starting a New Cold War With China. But He Has Little Chance of Winning

Charlie Campbell
Time
The new U.S. administration has been testing Beijing with provocative stances on trade, Taiwan and the South China Sea. But starting up a Cold War with China is a highly risky strategy

A U.S.-China Role Switch: Who’s the Globalist Now?

Andrew Browne
Wall Street Journal
Xi Jinping sees a window as Donald Trump stirs masses with slogans

Punches, Kicks and the ‘Dangling Chair’: Detainee Tells of Torture in China

Chris Buckley
New York Times
Perched unsteadily on a stack of plastic stools in an isolated room, Xie Yang, a Chinese lawyer, was encircled day and night by interrogators

A Communist Party Man at Davos

Atlantic
Xi Jinping tries to charm the capitalist elite

Sinica Podcast

01.19.17

The State of Journalism in China—Ed Wong’s Exit Interview

Jeremy Goldkorn, Kaiser Kuo & more from Sinica Podcast
Edward Wong became a reporter for The New York Times in 1999. He covered the Iraq war from Baghdad from 2003 to 2007, and then moved to Beijing in 2008. He has written about a wide range of subjects in China for the Times, and became its Beijing...

Donald Trump and China’s Year of the Hawk

Melinda Liu
Politico
A brash new U.S. president is on a collision course with a Chinese leader bent on consolidating power.

In China, Pollution Fears Are Both Literal and Metaphorical

Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Benjamin Van...
NPR
Last month, as China encountered some of its worst pollution yet, artists in Chengdu did something bold: They put smog-filtering cotton masks over the faces of statues representing ordinary urbanites that dot a centrally located shopping street.

China Builds World’s Biggest Solar Farm in Journey to Become Green Superpower

Tom Phillips
Guardian
Vast plant in Qinghai province is part of China’s determination to transform itself from climate change villain to a green energy colossus

How Donald Trump Could Give China a Real Boost in Africa

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
The election of Donald Trump has introduced a new era of uncertainty in global politics, especially in Africa where the U.S. president-elect has said nothing about his foreign policy agenda for the continent. Not surprisingly, Trump’s unpredictable...

Viewpoint

01.19.17

Do We Want to Live in China’s World?

Robert Daly
Each weekday morning, I cross D.C.’s National Mall and pass a sign on Constitution Avenue bearing an epigram by the U.S. architect Daniel Burnham: Make No Little Plans. And every morning, these words make me think not of Burnham’s 20th century...

China’s Top Economic Official Braces for Possible Trade War

Chris Buckley and Keith Bradsher
New York Times
Liu He has struggled to overcome resistance to a program of measured economic liberalization and more open markets that he argues is critical to China’s long-term economic health

Taiwan Carries out Drills amid Rising Fears of Chinese Invasion

Nicola Smith and Tom Phillips
Guardian
The island’s armed forces test combat readiness, amid deteriorating relations between Beijing and Taipei

An ‘Old Friend of China’ Prepares to Bridge Differences at a Fraught Time

Rob Schmitz and Clay Masters
NPR
Branstad’s relationship with China goes back to 1985, when he was in his first term as governor and a young agricultural official from Hebei Province named Xi Jinping visited Iowa.

In Davos, Xi Makes Case for Chinese Leadership Role

Noah Barkin and Elizabeth Piper
Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping offered a vigorous defense of free trade at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday in a speech that underscored Beijing’s desire to play a greater global role

New U.S.-China Rivalry Risks Lethal Confrontation

Andrew Browne
Wall Street Journal
Provocations by President-elect Trump over trade and territory could escalate into armed conflict

Trump Warming to Reality of Climate Change, Says Senior Chinese Official

Tom Phillips
Guardian
Beijing’s chief climate negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, talks down fears that joint leadership shown by China and the US will be reversed under new president

China’s Xi Set for Star Turn at Davos Gathering

Tom Mitchell and Charles Clover
Financial Times
President aims to show he is one of the few responsible adults left on the global stage

China Delegation Reportedly Open to Meeting Trump’s Team at Davos

Gemma Acton
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

China, Fanning Patriotism, Adds Six Years to War with Japan in History Books

Javier Hernandez
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.

2016 China-Africa Year in Review

Eric Olander & Cobus van Staden
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,...

A Human Rights Activist, A Secret Prison and A Tale from Xi Jinping’s New China

Tom Phillips
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.

China'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?

Barbara A. Finamore, Shen Dingli & more
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...

A Good Year for Xi Jinping— But Trouble is Heading His Way

Tom Phillips
Guardian
After domestic victories in 2016, China’s president must deal with a worsening economy and Trump in the White House

Uncertainty Over New Chinese Law Rattles Foreign Nonprofits

Chris Buckley
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

Xi’s Power Play Foreshadows Historic Transformation of How China is Ruled

Jeremy Page and Lingling Wei
Wall Street Journal
Party insiders say president wants to remain in office after his second term, breaking succession conventions

Trump’s and Xi’s Differences Magnify Uncertainties Between U.S. and China

Chris Buckley
New York Times
Both came to power vowing to restore their nations to greatness...but that's where the similarities end

Facing a Transition of Power, China’s Xi is More Desperate Than Ever to Control Young Minds

Echo Huang
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

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...

Popular Chinese Muslim Website Down After Posting Letter Critical of Xi

Christian Shepherd
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’

Eric Fish 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!

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 Universities Must Become Communist Party 'Strongholds', Says Xi Jinping

Tom Phillips
Guardian
All teachers must be ‘staunch supporters’ of party governance, says president in what experts called an effort to reassert control

Does One Man in China Control the Fate of Africa’s Elephants?

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
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...

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

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

Conversation

12.05.16

Should Washington Recalibrate Relations with Taipei?

Yu-Jie Chen, J. Michael Cole & more
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 “...

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

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

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

A 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

Electing Donald Trump: The View from China

Paul Haenle & Zhao Hai from Carnegie China
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...

China Discovers the Price of Global Power: Soldiers Returning in Caskets

Jeremy Page and Matina Stevis
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?

Richard J. Heydarian, Sheila Smith & more
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...

Trump, China’s Xi Set Tone of “Mutual Respect” in Phone Call

Te-ping Chen
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

Beijing Reacts Cautiously to Trump Triumph

Tom Mitchell
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

Bo Zhiyue & Kerry Brown
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...

China Ousts Finance Minister Lou Jiwei as Xi Turns to Allies in Surprise Reshuffle

Lingling Wei and Jeremy Page
Wall Street Journal
Senior official was widely seen as a voice for reform of the country’s fiscal system

In Xi’s China, Everything Old is New Again

Julian Gewirtz and Jeff Wasserstrom
Foreign Policy
Eighty years after the end of the Long March, a Communist leader asks for another one. What is he really seeking?

Xi Jinping is China’s “Core” Leader: Here’s What That Means

Chris Buckley
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?

Matthias Stepan, Anna Ahlers & more
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...