ChinaFile Recommends
10.08.15China Turns Firepower to Soft Power to Try to Win Tiny Taiwan-held Island
Reuters
"In Kinmen, we can do what Taiwan can't, what Taiwan doesn't dare do."
Media
10.07.15An International Victory, Forged in China’s Tumultuous Past
On October 5, a share of this year’s Nobel Prize in medicine went to 84-year-old Chinese pharmacologist Tu Youyou for her discovery, decades ago, of the anti-malarial drug artemisinin. Tu and her team made the discovery during the Cultural...
Conversation
10.06.15What Will the TPP Mean for China?
On Monday, the U.S., Japan, and ten other countries concluded negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP—the largest regional trade accord in history. If approved, the agreement will set new terms for the nearly $28 trillion in trade and...
Caixin Media
10.06.15Authorities Should Do More to Protect China’s Lawyers
A Communist Party group led by General Secretary Xi Jinping that was established to spearhead reform efforts finished a document on September 15 addressing the plight of lawyers. A day later, top judicial authorities, including the Supreme People...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.05.15A Painting of China’s First Lady, Before a Rise to Stardom
New York Times
On the exhibition notes, the painting of Peng Liyuan by Jin Shangyi is identified only as “a well-known singer.”
Sinica Podcast
10.05.15Edmund Backhouse in the Long View of History
from Sinica Podcast
Edmund Backhouse, the 20th century Sinologist, long-time Beijing resident, and occasional con-artist, is perhaps best known for his incendiary memoirs, which not only distorted Western understanding of Chinese history for more than 50 years, but...
Culture
10.02.15In Zhang Yimou’s ‘Coming Home’ History is Muted But Not Silent
Coming Home, directed by the celebrated Zhang Yimou and released in the U.S. last week, begins as a man escapes a labor camp in China’s northwest and tries to return home. But he is captured when he and his wife attempt to meet, after their daughter...
Conversation
09.30.15The Future of Autonomy in Hong Kong
Yesterday, the governing board of Hong Kong University, one of the territory’s most esteemed institutions of higher education, voted to reject the promotion of Johannes Chan, a former law school dean, over the objections of the faculty and students...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.30.15China Says Arrests Two Japanese for Spying
Reuters
Japan's Asahi newspaper said one man was taken into custody in China's northeast province of Liaoning near the border with North Korea and the other in the eastern province of Zhejiang near a military facility.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.30.15The Thucydides Trap: Are the U.S. and China Headed for War?
Atlantic
In 12 of 16 past cases in which a rising power has confronted a ruling power, the result has been bloodshed.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.28.15Chinese President Xi Jinping Will Arrive At The UN Armed With A List Of Things He Wants Changed
Quartz
Xi Jinping will make his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.25.15Top Hong Kong Judges Defend Rule of Law in Face of China Pressure
Reuters
Two top Hong Kong judges on Friday defended the rule of law in an apparent rebuke of China's top official.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.24.15Cultural Revolution Shaped Xi Jinping, From Schoolboy to Survivor
New York Times
When the pandemonium of the Cultural Revolution erupted, he was a 13-year-old who loved classical Chinese poetry. Two years later, adrift in a city torn apart by warring Red Guards, Xi Jinping had hardened into a combative street survivor.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.24.15Hybrid Warfare With Chinese Characteristics
Diplomat
From Sun Tzu to Xi Jinping: Russia isn’t the only one who knows hybrid warfare.
Conversation
09.22.15Xi Jinping’s Message to America
China’s President Xi Jinping addressed an audience of more than 700 American businesspeople in Seattle on Tuesday evening on the first stop on his first state visit to the United States. Regular ChinaFile Contributors who watched the speech offer...
Conversation
09.22.15Can the U.S. & China Make Peace in Cyberspace?
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in the United States today on his first state visit. Xi will address a group of American business leadersin Seattle. High on their list of concerns about trade with China is cyber hacking, cyber espionage and...
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09.21.15Respect Your Elders: Confucian Kindergartens Catch On in China
WSJ: China Real Time Report
The Party is now introducing traditional culture classes in state-run kindergartens and other levels of schooling.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.18.15Japan's 'Profound' New American Military Ties Are All About China: Q&A
Christian Science Monitor
Japan's parliament passes the most sweeping changes to Japan's defense policy since World War II.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.16.15The Missing Piece of US-China Relations: Trust
Diplomat
“U.S. antipathy to China is rooted in angst about its rise and the prospect of American decline.”
ChinaFile Recommends
09.16.15Obama and China: Trying to Play Well With A Close Frenemy
Washington Post
Obama plans to welcome Xi with the highest level of diplomatic pageantry for a foreign leader.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.16.15China Teaching Troops Folk Dances to Make Friends in Xinjiang
Reuters
China's military tries to improve relations with the minority people who live there.
Sinica Podcast
09.14.15Parading Around China’s Military Legacy
from Sinica Podcast
The interpretation of history is an inherently political act in China, and the struggle for control of the narrative of the War of Resistance Against Japan—World War II—has heated up during the approach to the September 3 parade commemorating the...
Culture
09.11.15French Director’s Chinese Movie Balances Freedom With Compromise
In 2012, French movie director Jean-Jacques Annaud got a warm welcome in China after more than a dozen years as persona non grata there for having offended official Chinese Communist Party history with his 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet—the story of...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.10.15China: Through the Looking Glass
Maura Cunningham
Orientalism is generally understood as a bad thing. What the “Through the Looking Glass” exhibit designers attempted to do was reclaim Orientalism, demonstrating that Western designers might only have a superficial understanding of China, but that...
Conversation
09.08.15Advice for Xi Jinping
Later this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Washington for a state visit with President Obama. This week, a group of China experts from America traveled to Beijing to offer their advice to Chinese officials on how to conduct the...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.08.15The Important Anniversary China Won’t Celebrate in 2016
Diplomat
May 16, 1966 marked the start of the Cultural Revolution—but don’t except China to publicize the anniversary.
Caixin Media
09.08.15Amnesty As a Stepping Stone to Rule of Law
A recent amnesty declaration affecting convicted criminals deemed no threat to society was a poignant reminder of China’s tradition of prudent punishment, support for human rights, and progress toward of rule of law.The recent decision by the...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.08.15Photo Zines That Explore Singapore’s Identity
New York Times
In 1949, Sim Chi Yin’s grandfather, Shen Huansheng, a school principal and chief editor for the leftist Ipoh Daily newspaper, became a “Communist martyr.” A monument in Gaoshang with the inscription, “The tomb of martyr Shen Huansheng” proves it.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.04.15Seoul to Begin Discussions with Beijing on Unification
Korea Times
Park Gyun-hye said that Kim Jong-un is expected to take provocative actions in the future and it is important to deter them.
Viewpoint
09.04.15Flying Tiger: Why I Turned Down an Invitation to China’s Victory Parade
I was invited to attend the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-fascist War and the Chinese People’s Anti-Japanese war this September, as a guest of a government that wanted me to represent friendship with the U.S...
Media
09.03.15Who Is Xi Jinping? Introducing the Asia Society Podcast
from Asia Blog
Three years after Xi Jinping took control of China’s Communist Party and assumed the country’s leadership, he has emerged as one of the world’s most powerful people. But his tenure has also raised uncomfortable questions. Is he a reformer bent on...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.03.15China to Trim Military by 300,000
Wall Street Journal
One of the world's largest militaries undergoes reforms to make it more effective.
Environment
09.03.15The Yellow River: A History of China’s Water Crisis
from chinadialogue
During the hot, dry month of August 1992, the farmers of Baishan village in Hebei province and Panyang village in Henan came to blows. Residents from each village hurled insults and rudimentary explosives at the other across the Zhang River—the...
Viewpoint
09.03.15The U.S. Was the True Mainstay in the Fight Against Japan in World War II
from China Change
“When the Chinese people and the Chinese nation were in peril, the United States came to the rescue and asked for nothing in return. The U.S. never occupied a single inch of Chinese territory, never reaped any particular reward.”IAt 9:00 a.m. on...
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09.02.15Five Chinese Navy Ships Are Operating in Bering Sea Off Alaska Coast
Wall Street Journal
Chinese naval presence off Alaskan coast appears to be a first.
Features
09.02.15Parading the People’s Republic
from China Heritage Quarterly
In light of the September 3, 2015, mega military parade held at Tiananmen Square in Beijing both to mark the seventieth anniversary of the end of Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945 and to acclaim the achievements of Xi Jinping, China’s Chairman of...
Conversation
09.02.15What Is China’s Big Parade All About?
On September 3, China will mark the 70th anniversary of its World War II victory over Japan with a massive parade involving thousands of Chinese troops and an arsenal of tanks, planes, and missiles in a tightly choreographed march across Tiananmen...
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09.01.15As Economy Falters, Military Parade Offers Chance to Burnish China’s Image
New York Times
China celebrates a new national holiday to honor the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Media
08.31.15Netanyahu, Shanghai, and the Communist Party’s Forbidden History
On August 26, the Israeli Embassy in China posted a one-minute video to its official account on Weibo, China’s huge microblogging platform, thanking the coastal Chinese city of Shanghai for its role sheltering roughly 20,000 Jews fleeing persecution...
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08.31.15Rethinking the Obama-Xi Summit
Diplomat
How the U.S. might use the summit for a new “new model of great power relations.”
ChinaFile Recommends
08.31.15China’s Stocks Cap Biggest Selloff Since 2008 on Rescue Doubts
Bloomberg
Bearish options market bets climbed as traders weighed level of state support before a World War II parade this week.
ChinaFile Recommends
08.31.15China Punishes Nearly 200 Over ‘Rumors’ About Stocks, Blasts and Parade
New York Times
The moves indicate the political sensitivities aggravated in recent weeks by several volatile issues.
ChinaFile Recommends
08.31.15Donald Trump Meet the Chinese American Cook and the Father of ‘Birthright Citizenship’
Washington Post
All born or naturalized in the US and subject to jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the state where they reside.
ChinaFile Recommends
08.28.15U.S., China Stress Positives Ahead of Xi Trip
Reuters
The world's two largest economies have mutual interests, like trying to rein in North Korea's nuclear program, sevear deep disagreements exist.
ChinaFile Recommends
08.28.15A Mainstay of Presidential Campaigning: China-bashing
CBS News
Presidential candidates Trump, Walker, Rubio, Clinton and others are making politcal hay out of pitting the U.S. against China.
Books
08.27.15China’s Disruptors
In September 2014, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba raised $25 billion in the world’s biggest-ever initial public offering. Since then, millions of investors and managers worldwide have pondered a fundamental question: What’s really going on with the new wave of China’s disruptors?Alibaba wasn’t an outlier—it’s one of a rising tide of thriving Chinese companies, mostly but not exclusively in the technology sector. Overnight, its founder, Jack Ma, appeared on the same magazine covers as American entrepreneurial icons like Mark Zuckerberg. Ma was quickly followed by the founders of other previously little-known companies, such as Baidu, Tencent, and Xiaomi.Over the past two decades, an unprecedented burst of entrepreneurialism has transformed China’s economy from a closed, impoverished, state-run system into a major power in global business. As products in China become more and more sophisticated, and as its companies embrace domestically developed technology, we will increasingly see Chinese goods setting global standards. Meanwhile, companies in the rest of the world wonder how they can access the fast-rising incomes of China’s 1.3 billion consumers.Now Edward Tse, a leading global strategy consultant, reveals how China got to this point, and what the country’s rise means for the United States and the rest of the world. Tse has spent more than twenty years working with senior Chinese executives, learning firsthand how China’s most powerful companies operate. He’s an expert on how private firms are thriving in what is still, officially, a communist country. His book draws on exclusive interviews and case studies to explore questions such as:What drives China’s entrepreneurs? Personal fame and fortune—or a quest for national pride and communal achievement?How do these companies grow so quickly? In 2005, Lenovo sold just one category of products (personal computers) in one market, China. Today, not only is it the world’s largest PC seller; it is also the world’s third-largest smartphone seller.How does Chinese culture shape the strategies and tactics of these business leaders? Can outsiders copy what the Chinese are doing?Can capitalists really thrive within a communist system? How does Tencent’s Pony Ma serve as a member of China’s parliament while running a company that dominates online games and messaging?What impact will China have on the rest of the world as its private companies enter new markets, acquire foreign businesses, and threaten established firms in countless industries?As Tse concludes: “I believe that as a consequence of the opening driven by China’s entrepreneurs, the push to invest in science, research, and development, and the new freedoms that people are enjoying across the country, China has embarked on a renaissance that could rival its greatest era in history—the Tang dynasty. These entrepreneurs are the front line in China’s intense hunger for success. They will have an even more remarkable impact on the global economy in the future, through the rest of this decade and beyond.” —Portfolio/Penguin{chop}
ChinaFile Recommends
08.25.15China’s Complexity Problem
Project Syndicate
The challenge for Xi Jinping is to prioritize plentiful political will in a way that keeps China on the course of reform and rebalancing.
ChinaFile Recommends
08.24.15Scott Walker Calls on Obama to Cancel Chinese State Visit
Time
Amid rising tension, a Republican calls to end a diplomatic courtesy.
ChinaFile Recommends
08.24.15Great Fall of China Sinks World Stocks, Dollar
Reuters
A near 9-percent dive in China shares and a sharp drop in the dollar and major commodities sent investors rushing for the exit.
ChinaFile Recommends
08.24.15Japan Refuses to Take Part in China’s ‘Victory Day’ Event to Mark End of War
Guardian
Shinzo Abe has decided against visiting Beijing for the event, partly to protest against China’s regional military build-up.
ChinaFile Recommends
08.21.15China Says More than 10 Countries to Join Unprecedented WW II Military Parade
Reuters
Russia and Kazakhstan are among those countries joining a parade in Beijing in September to commemorate China's WWII victory over Japan.
Conversation
08.18.15How Should the U.S. Conduct the Xi Jinping State Visit?
As tensions increase between China and the United States over the value of the yuan, human rights violations, alleged cyber attacks, and disputed maritime territories, among other issues, how should the Obama administration conduct the upcoming...
ChinaFile Recommends
08.10.15China TV Anchor Bi Fujian to be Punished for Mao Insult
BBC
He committed "a serious violation of political discipline" mocking the man who led the Cultural Revolution and sparked a crippling famine.
ChinaFile Recommends
08.10.15China Hits Back at U.S. Criticism over South China Sea ‘Restrictions’
Reuters
Free overflights and navigation doesn't equal foreign warships and jets to violate sovereignty and security, Beijing said.
Excerpts
08.10.15What Happened to the Settlers the Japanese Army Abandoned in China
Seventy years ago today, thousands of Japanese settlers—mostly women and children—found themselves trapped in an area then known as Manchuria, or Manchukuo, the name of the puppet state the Japanese military established in 1931. Abandoned by their...
ChinaFile Recommends
08.03.15The Melancholy Pop Idol Who Haunts China
New Yorker
Teresa Teng’s influence is particularly powerful in China, which her parents had fled after the revolution.
ChinaFile Recommends
08.03.15China Seeks Businessman Said to Have Fled to U.S., Further Straining Ties
New York Times
Ling Wancheng is the younger brother of Ling Jihua, who for years held a post akin to that of the White House chief of staff.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.31.15Guo Boxiong Expelled From Chinese Communist Party in Bid to Reform Military
Sydney Morning Herald
The military has been a core focus of President Xi Jinping's campaign against official corruption.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.31.15China’s Naked Emperors
New York Times
By trying to control the market China's rulers show that despite 25 years of success they have no idea what they’re doing.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15Wan Li Obituary
Guardian
Former leader Wan Li, who died at age 98, was a reform-minded communist. In the post-Mao Zedong era, Wan achieved one great success only to fail dismally in another crucial enterprise.