ChinaFile Recommends
08.03.15For China’s Gay Men, Beijing Park Offers Haven
Los Angeles Times
Though illegal, Chinese media regularly report on gay home weddings and gay couples getting marriage certificates in the U.S.
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.
Two Way Street
08.01.15
China’s Foreign Policy Isn’t Transparent? You’ve Got to Be Kidding
from Two Way Street
In her recent article, “What China’s Lack of Transparency Means for U.S. Policy,” U.S.-China relations expert Susan Shirk caused a stir when she argued that China’s “lack of transparency” around public policy making, defense, national security, and...
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
07.31.15ChinaFile Recommends
07.31.15China Shares Suffer Worst Month in Nearly Six Years
Wall Street Journal
Shaken confidence in Beijing’s role in market led to wild swings in recent days.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.30.15In China, Michael Jordan Does Not Hold Rights to His Own Name
Quartz
Jordan first sued Qiaodan Sports in 2012 for using his Chinese name, his team number 23, and a jumping man logo to sell basketball shoes and jerseys.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.30.15China’s Film Industry Is Gaining on Hollywood
Businessweek
Chinese audiences are growing, more theaters are being built, and the movies are getting better.
Media
07.28.15
Clickbait Nationalism
On July 16, the lower house of the Japanese Parliament passed a set of new security legislation that would grant Japan limited power to engage in foreign conflicts for the first time since its defeat in World War II. Despite domestic public...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.27.15China’s Shares Tumble Again
New York Times
Artists, essayists, lawyers, bloggers and others deemed to be online troublemakers have been hauled into police stations and investigated or imprisoned for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a charge that was once confined to physical...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.27.15China’s Un-separation of Powers
Foreign Affairs
U.S. industry has figured out how to pull the levers of power in China but also points to a substantial change in how China is governed. In the past, there was at least some separation between party and government roles, but it seems that the line...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.27.15China Uses ‘Picking Quarrels’ Charge to Cast a Wider Net Online
New York Times
Artists, essayists, lawyers, bloggers and others deemed to be online troublemakers have been hauled into police stations and investigated or imprisoned for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a charge that was once confined to physical...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15Palace Intrigue: Chinese Soldiers Storm Replica of Taiwan Presidential Office
Wall Street Journal
Is Beijing doubling down on its longstanding threat to reclaim Taiwan by force?
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15Suicide Bombings in China: Beyond Terrorism
Diplomat
A suicide bomber attacked a park in Heze in China’s Shandong province, killing two (including the bomber) and injuring 24, with three people receiving “relatively severe” injuries.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15What Did China Bring to the Iran Talks?
Diplomat
While China stood with the Western powers in insisting Iran give up its ambitions for nuclear weapons, Beijing took Iran’s side in calling for more rapid sanctions relief.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15Confucius Says, Xi Does
Economist
Since he came to power in 2012, Mr Xi has sought to elevate Confucius—whom Mao vilified—as the grand progenitor of Chinese culture.
Media
07.23.15
Why Taylor Swift’s 1989 Merchandise Is Not Going to Get Her Banned in China
On July 20, one of China’s largest e-commerce websites, JD.com, announced that it is partnering with popular American singer Taylor Swift to become the first authorized retailer of her merchandise in China. That news likely wouldn’t have turned...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15In Quirky Hong Kong Voting System, Fishermen Play Key Role
Associated Press
Fishing and farming make up less than 1 percent of Hong Kong's $274 billion economy but command 60 votes in the leadership committee.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15China Cracks Down on Hong Kong Evangelists
BBC
A 2014 survey of more than 1,000 Protestant churches in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Church Renewal Movement gives some insight into their activities.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15China May Adopt 'Two-child Policy, Demographic Timebomb Looms
Guardian
China could be on the verge of introducing a two-child policy, under which all Chinese couples would be allowed to have two children.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.23.15China Targeting Rights Lawyers in a Crackdown
New York Times
Beijing is mounting a broad crackdown on human rights lawyers, contending that they have exploited contentious cases to enrich themselves and attack the party.
The China Africa Project
07.23.15
A Kenyan Columnist’s Provocative Views on the Chinese in Africa
In Mark Kapchanga’s view, the West, particularly the media, really does not understand what the Chinese are doing in Africa. Kapchanga, a provocative Nairobi-based journalist and columnist, isn’t shy in arguing his case that on balance China’s...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15China Calls Japan Foreign Policy 'Two-faced'
Reuters
China's Defense Ministry says it reserves the right to a "necessary reaction" after Japan called on Beijing to stop building oil and gas exploration platforms close to disputed waters.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15China Feared CIA Worked with Sheldon Adelson's Casinos to Bust Officials
Guardian
China fears that casinos owned by Sheldon Adelson were used by the CIA to blackmail Chinese officials.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15Myanmar Gives 153 Chinese Life in Jail for Illegal Logging
Associated Press
A court in Myanmar sentenced 153 Chinese nationals to life in prison on after convicting them of illegal logging in a case that has already strained relations with Beijing.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15China Probes Senior Xinjiang Security Official For Graft
Reuters
A deputy regional security chief and former head of the prison system, Xie Hui, in Xinjiang has been put under investigation for suspected corruption.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15Chinese Police Seize Ashes of Tibetan Monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche
New York Times
Chinese police forcibly seized the ashes of a prominent Tibetan monk whose death in prison set off public demonstrations.
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.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15Xi Turns Back the Clock on Women’s Rights in China
Wall Street Journal
Although it is unthinkable today, two decades ago 30,000 women from around the world converged outside Beijing to promote a host of social and political causes.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15Chinese Art Curator Admits to Faking Masterpieces
Wall Street Journal
A prestigious art institute in Guangzhou has discovered that it had forged artwork in its collection — faked by none other than one of its curators.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.22.15Louisa Lim: “How Chinese People Became Complicit...”
Guardian
I didn’t want to write this book. Even the thought of it scared me, but it hammered away at my conscience. When I finally gave in, I took elaborate precautions.
Media
07.21.15
China: The Best and the Worst Place to Be a Muslim Woman
A woman’s solitary voice, earthy and low, rises above the seated worshipers. More than 100 women stand, bow, and touch their foreheads to the floor as a female imam leads evening prayers at a women-only mosque during the first week of Islam’s holy...
Conversation
07.21.15
Is China’s Reform Era Over and, If So, What’s Next?
Fordham Law School professor and regular ChinaFile contributor Carl Minzner says we've arrived at “China After the Reform Era,” a development that’s “not entirely bad” but also has a “dark side.” Minzner’s conclusions, excerpted below, come...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.21.15Chinese Stocks Rise as Shenzen Gains 20% on July Low
MarketWatch
Pressure remains from a continuing unwinding of leveraged positions and analysts said they aren’t optimistic about cash-backed state support.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.21.15Japan Sharpens Censure of China Disputed Sea Activity
BBC
Japan is nearing approval of changes to a national security law that would allow Japanese troops to fight overseas for the first time since World War II.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.21.15Understanding Xi Jinping’s ‘Key Minority’
Wall Street Journal
Xi’s renewed attention to the performance of county leaders shows that he is relying on local officials to play a pivotal role in implementing his program.
Two Way Street
07.20.15
How China and the U.S. Will Manage Competition for Influence
from Two Way Street
Washington refuses to accept that though the United States is not in decline, its international influence is not what it was. It is unlikely to regain the leverage it once wielded, because China and so many others now have more than enough economic...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.20.15One-Time Aide to China’s Ex-President Accused of Corruption
CNN
Party investigators accuse Ling Jihua, 58, once aide to former President Hu Jintao, of accepting bribes and illegally obtaining party and state secrets.
Media
07.20.15
Taming the Flood
In August 1975, Typhoon Nina, one of the most powerful tropical storms on record, surged inland from the Taiwan Strait, causing floods so catastrophic they overwhelmed dam networks around the city of Zhumadian in China’s Henan province. When Banqiao...
Caixin Media
07.20.15
How Beijing Intervened to Save China’s Stocks
Top executives from 21 securities firms spent the morning of Saturday July 4 pinned to government office chairs while the future of China’s stock markets hung in the balance.They’d been summoned on a day off to the Beijing office of the China...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.19.15As Beijing Becomes a Supercity, the Rapid Growth Brings Pains
New York Times
The planned megalopolis, a metropolitan area that would be about six times the size of New York's, is meant to revamp northern China's economy.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.16.15The Most-Viewed Fitting Room in China
New York Times
Aside from shielding Internet users from political discussions the government considers deviant, China’s online censorship seeks to protect users minds from pornography.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.16.15China Warns Japan Over Laws to Allow Troops to Fight Abroad
Guardian
China warns Japan against “crippling regional peace and security” after Tokyo passes bills to allow Japanese troops to fight abroad.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.16.15Could China Be the Next Japan?
Bloomberg
Even as China's economy shows signs of recovering from a slowdown, it is vulnerable to the crash that dragged Japan into falling consumer prices and stagnant growth.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.16.15Amazon Prime sale--a Chinese import?
USA Today
Prime Day is "Amazon's effort to try and capture the magic that Alibaba has captured with its November 11 Singles' Day promotion," said Kevin Carter, founder of EMQQ
ChinaFile Recommends
07.16.15China Locks Up Lawyers, Defending the Rule of Law
Economist
Amnesty International says 120 lawyers, and more than 50 support staff, family members and activists, have been rounded up in China since July 9th.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.15.15Tibetans Protest to Demand Release of Monk's Body in China
Reuters
Dozens of Tibetans shouting "return the body" protested outside a prison in China after a prominent Tibetan monk died in jail, reflecting anger amongst his supporters and family, who believe he was murdered.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.15.15Google Alters Name of Disputed South China Sea Reef
CNN
Google says it has altered its map of a disputed reef in the South China Sea, removing its Chinese name in favor of what it says is its internationally recognized moniker.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.15.15China Detains South Africans, Britons Accused of Viewing 'Terror' Videos
Reuters
China detained nine foreign tourists including South Africans, Britons and an Indian national.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.15.15The Real Risk Behind China’s Stock-Market Drama
New Yorker
More recently, the Party has offered annual targets for economic growth that almost always bear out, no matter what sort of creative policy, or accounting, steps are required
ChinaFile Recommends
07.15.15China Surprises With 7% Growth in Second Quarter
Wall Street Journal
China’s growth remained at 7% in the second quarter, a level economists had thought would be hard to reach amid broad signs that Beijing’s policies to jump-start the economy hadn’t taken hold.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.15.15China's Pollution Quagmire
Forbes
China’s efforts to reduce air pollution could be negated by its unregulated and unmonitored burning of petcoke, a fuel dirtier than coal, an expert on Chinese climate and energy policy said.
Conversation
07.14.15
China’s ‘Rule by Law’ Takes an Ugly Turn
Yet another crackdown has begun under Chinese President Xi Jinping. This time, the target is so-called “rights lawyers,” loosely defined as those who defend unpopular or dissident clients, or bring cases against the state that rest on claims of...
Reports
07.14.15
Lawyers and Activists Detained or Questioned by Police Since 9 July 2015
Amnesty International
Amnesty International has compiled this list of Lawyers and Activists in China who have been detained or questioned by police since July 9, 2015. The list was collated based on various sources. Amnesty International attempted to confirm all...
Sinica Podcast
07.13.15
Good Riddance, Monsieur Epstein
from Sinica Podcast
The hosts of the Sinica Podcast are not surprised that Gady Epstein is moving on. We used to buy the papers for his “Telegrams from the Orient”, but then he took that Economist gig and his productivity plummeted and it has become hard to even...
Two Way Street
07.09.15
The ‘Two Orders’ and the Future of China-U.S. Relations
from Two Way Street
The China-U.S. relationship may be the most complex relationship that has ever existed between two major powers. Ties between China and the United States are deepening, and at every level the interaction between the two countries is marked by both...
The NYRB China Archive
07.09.15
A Blind Lawyer vs. Blind Chinese Power
from New York Review of Books
In early 2012, Chen Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who had been blind since infancy, lived with his wife and two children in the village of Dongshigu, where he’d been raised, on the eastern edge of the North China plain. They were not there by...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.09.15China’s War Against One American Journalist
Slate
Shohret Hoshur’s brothers are being disappeared by the Chinese government. Beijing is trying to silence an American reporter by sentencing his brothers to China’s gulag.