Depth of Field
04.03.16
Meet ‘Depth of Field’: The Month’s Best Chinese Photojournalism
from Yuanjin Photo
Welcome to ChinaFile’s inaugural “Depth of Field” column. In collaboration with Yuanjin Photo, an independent photo blog published by photographers Yan Cong and Ye Ming on the Chinese social media platform WeChat, we will highlight new and...
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03.28.16China Official Says Dalai Lama 'Making a Fool' of Buddhism
Reuters
Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader suggested he may not reincarnate, or reincarnate as something inappropriate.
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03.16.16Life in Purgatory: Buddhism Is Growing in China, But Remains in Legal Limbo
Time
There are an estimated 245 million Buddhists in China, but the religion faces severe legal and political hurdles.
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03.10.16Exclusive: China Urges Diplomats and U.N. to Boycott Dalai Lama in Geneva
Reuters
Inviting Dalai Lama to the aforementioned event violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China.
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02.23.16Why Does China Have Women-Only Mosques?
BBC
The old capital of the Song Dynasty is home to women-only mosques with female prayer leaders.
Media
02.22.16
Leave China, Study in America, Find Jesus
Shelly Cai was 18 years old when she left the southern Chinese metropolis of Nanjing to enroll in the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In August 2010, after a 13-hour flight from Shanghai to Chicago and a three-hour bus ride, Cai finally arrived in...
Media
02.11.16
Chinese Students Are Flooding U.S. Christian High Schools
It is no secret that Chinese students are pouring into the United States; over 300,000 of them attended U.S. colleges and universities in 2015 alone, and Chinese are filling up spots in U.S. secondary schools in search of a better education and an...
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02.09.165 Things to Know About the Chinese New Year
Time
China’s biggest and most ceremonious holiday is a chance to honor one’s ancestors and prepare for the good fortune to come.
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02.09.16Invisible Bridges
New Yorker
Over the past two centuries, there have been periodic tensions between Russia and China, including some serious border conflicts, and historically Russia has usually held the upper hand. But nowadays, at the personal level, Monteleone notices a...
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02.03.16How China's Celebration of the Year of the Monkey Breaks Down by the Numbers
Los Angeles Times
Here’s a further look at the celebrations and some more related numbers.
Photo Gallery
01.18.16
People’s Friendship
Across the frozen Ussuri River that marked the boundary between China and Russia, two armies stared each other down. Soon they would clash, as they did almost every week, on the ice. The Chinese swung halberds and hooks; the Russians advanced like...
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01.07.16Chinese Stock Plunge Forces a Trading Halt, and Global Markets Shudder
New York Times
The aftershocks carried over to Europe and the United States, where markets fell sharply once again.
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12.31.15Schoolgirl's Death Sparks Riots, Clashes in China's Gansu
Radio Free Asia
The 13-year-old is believed to have jumped from the top of a tall building after being accused of shoplifting, drawing around 1,000 locals.
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12.11.15China’s Database of ‘Living Buddhas’ Is the Latest Attempt to Control Tibetan Affairs
Time
The Chinese government’s self-declared right to choose living Buddhas extends to the Dalai Lama.
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12.09.15China Denounces Dalai Lama's 'Sympathy' for Islamic State
Reuters
"By saying, 'listen, understand and respect' them, it exposes, in his very bones, his sympathy or endorsement for IS."
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11.30.15China Stick to Right to Decide Reincarnation of Dalai Lama
Reuters
The Dalai Lama and China's officially atheist Communist Party have repeatedly tussled over who has final authority on the issue of reincarnation.
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11.27.15China Bars Anastasia Lin, Miss World Canada (and Rights Advocate)
New York Times
A Chinese who moved to Canada as a kid, the charismatic Lin is a practitioner of Falun Gong, the spiritual movement China calls an “evil cult.”
Conversation
11.24.15
The China Africa Relationship: Crossroads or Cliff?
As we approach the sixth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit in Johannesburg, we try better to understand the main issues that surely will arise when Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma meet on December 4...
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11.20.15China Aims to Build Its Own Secure Smartphones
Wall Street Journal
State-owned and private tech firms team up to cut cord to U.S. suppliers.
Media
11.20.15
China Censors Online Outcry After ISIS Execution
On November 18, the Islamic State (IS) released photos of what it claimed were two executed hostages. The photos, appearing in the terrorist group’s English-language magazine Dabiq, depict two men with bloodied faces, the word “executed” emblazoned...
Conversation
11.19.15
Is China a Credible Partner in Fighting Terror?
In the wake of the terror attacks in Paris China’s foreign minister Wang Yi said, “China is also a victim of terrorism. The fight against the ‘East Turkestan Islamic Movement’… should become an important part of the international fight against...
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11.04.15China to Push Cultural 'Blending' in Xinjiang Stability Push
Reuters
China will push the study of Mandarin and the "blending" of different races as part of a new stability push in the troubled far western region of Xinjiang.
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10.22.15Human Rights: What Is China Accused of?
BBC
China's human rights record has been criticised for years.
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10.19.15In a Region Disturbed by Ethnic Tensions, China Keeps Tight Lid on a Massacre
New York Times
Armed with only knives, the assailants struck at the coal mine in the dead of night.
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10.07.15Dalai Lama: China More Concerned About Future Dalai Lamas Than I Am
CNN
"I have no concern," he told Amanpour in London, adding that it is "possible" he would be the last Dalai Lama.
Media
10.02.15Meet China’s Salman Rushdie
On a warm late afternoon in June, I sat with Perhat Tursun as he slowly exhaled a puff of smoke from a blue cigarette with shiny gold trim. Arrayed on the pale lace tablecloth before us was an assortment of nuts, sunflower seeds, and wine. The...
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10.01.15China’s Latest Ally in Its Crackdown on Religion: The Pope
Quartz
This week, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Pope Francis missed each other on their back-to-back visits to the United States.
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09.30.15China Micromanages Tibet, Floods It With Money to Woo Locals
Tablet
Nearly 6,500 civil servants have been dispatched to manage hefty budgets and shape Tibet's modernization.
Media
09.23.15
‘God’s United Front’ and the Battle Over China’s Crosses
This article first appear in Chinese on September 2 in Hong Kong-based outlet The Initium Media. Foreign Policy translates with permission, with edits for brevity and clarity.On the evening of August 16, nearly one hundred pastors, ministers, and...
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09.08.15I’m with the Banned: China Blocks Bon Jovi Gigs
Guardian
U.S. group were due to perform first China shows next week, but previous use of Dalai Lama image may have prompted officia intervention.
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09.04.15Inside the Quiet Lives of China’s Disappearing Tibetan Nomads
Time
As settlements see an influx of Tibetans, the transition is difficult for these nomad-turned-villagers.
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09.02.15Suspect in Bangkok Bombing Has Chinese Passport, Thailand Says
New York Times
The bombing was connected to the grievances of Uighurs who say they are oppressed by ethnic Han.
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08.25.15Who Loses Most from Chaos in China—And Some Possible Silver Linings
Washington Post
The panic may weaken demand for U.S. exports. But that could make some goods cheaper for consumers.
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08.22.15Tibet’s Road Ahead
Los Angeles Times
Tibetans complain that they live, essentially, as second-class citizens in their own land. Their language, culture and faith are all under pressure. They attend substandard schools and, if they manage to get an education, lack the same job...
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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.
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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.
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...
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07.06.15Chinese Tourists Warned over Turkey Uighur Protests
BBC
China advised citizens against travelling to Turkey after it said several tourists were attacked in protests over the Chinese government's treatment of Uighur Muslims.
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07.01.15China Concerned Over Turkish Religious Complaints
Washington Post
China expressed displeasure with Turkey’s complaints about restrictions on worship and fasting by Uighur Muslims during Ramadan.
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07.01.15'Ghost Fleet' Depicts War Between China, U.S.
USA Today
Peter Singer and August Cole expand their research as analysts into the realm of imagination about a future that could find the U.S. at war with China.
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06.24.15At Least 18 Dead in Ramadan Attack on Police Checkpoint in Xinjiang
Radio Free Asia
18 dead after a knife and bomb attack by a group of Uyghurs on a checkpoint in Xinjiang amid harsh restrictions on observance of Ramadan.
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06.24.15China Opens New Land Route to Tibet for Indian Pilgrims
New York Times
The crossing of Nathu La, between India and Tibet, signals the opening of a new pilgrimage route for Indian pilgrims to holy sites.
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06.18.15Civil servants, students, teachers in Xinjiang banned from fasting during Ramadan
South China Morning Post
China bans fasting for Ramadan and orders restaurants to stay open in Xinjiang.
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05.13.15Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping Aim to Shelve Rifts Amid Economic Courtship
New York Times
Indian and Chinese officials are promoting Modi’s three-day visit as a business trip filled out with displays of good will.
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05.13.15Why China and India Just Can’t Get Along
Time
A stunning dearth of fraternal ties exist between the two Asian superpowers.
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05.12.15Searching for Identity in China’s Outer Lands
New York Times
“ ‘China’s Outer Lands’ is about people instinctively looking for their own identity, between conformity or originality or autonomy or dependence,” Mr. Sakamaki said. “It’s natural, it’s happening in not only China, it’s everywhere.”
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04.24.15China Shocks World by Genetically Engineering Human Embryos
Telegraph
Critics warn China's the ‘Wild West’ of genetic research, on its way to desiging children.
Conversation
04.23.15
A New Era for China and Pakistan?
This week, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Islamabad and showered Pakistan with attention and promises of $46 billion in development support. What does this intensified Sino-Pakistani engagement mean for Asia and the rest of the world? —The...
Sinica Podcast
04.20.15
China’s Ideological Spectrum
from Sinica Podcast
Last week, Harvard doctoral student Jennifer Pan and MIT graduate student Yiqing Xu co-released a paper, “China’s Ideological Spectrum,” that has garnered a tremendous amount of attention in China-watching circles. And the reason for the fracas?...
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04.15.15Wild Pigeon
Daylight
“The underlying theme I heard when talking to people was that how you interpret things is how they will be, so its best to look at the bright side of things. You don’t mention bad dreams, or you try to interpret them in a positive way. People told...
The NYRB China Archive
04.13.15
China: What the Uighurs See
from New York Review of Books
Xinjiang is one of those remote places whose frequent mention in the international press stymies true understanding. Home to China’s Uighur minority, this vast region of western China is mostly known for being in a state of permanent low-grade...
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03.31.15Mystery Surrounds Disappearance of Xinjiang Article and Related Apology
New York Times
An article on a Muslim couple jailed for beard and burqa appeared Sunday in state media but was gone Monday.
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03.23.15Chinese Relic Experts Claim 1,000-year-old Mummified Monk Was Stolen
CNN
Fujian officials found photos and historical records suggesting the statue belonged to a village temple.
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03.11.15China’s Tensions With Dalai Lama Spill Into the Afterlife
New York Times
Chinese Communist Party leaders are deathly afraid that the Dalai Lama will not have an afterlife.
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03.11.15China’s Tensions With Dalai Lama Spill Into the Afterlife
New York Times
Chinese Communist Party leaders are deathly afraid that the Dalai Lama will not have an afterlife.
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02.17.15China Says Thousands Forced to Flee Myanmar Fighting
Reuters
The Yunnan government said that since Feb. 9 there had been more than 30,000 trips by border residents both into and out of China.
Caixin Media
02.17.15
Prosperity, International Cooperation, Civil Rights Key to Defeating Terror
The global fight against terrorism has entered a new stage with the emergence of the Islamic State (IS), and the battle lines have never been so clearly drawn all over the world.On February 18, Washington will host the Summit on Countering Violent...
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02.11.15Parent Meddling Makes for Unmerry Marriages in China
Wall Street Journal
"Parental matchmaking is robustly correlated with lower marital harmony,” says a new World Bank report.
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02.09.15Is China Making Its Own Terrorism Problem Worse?
Foreign Policy
Beijing's repressive policies toward members of its Uighur minority may be helping to strengthen ties to the Islamic State and al Qaeda.
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02.06.15Obama’s Public Encounter With the Dalai Lama Riles China
New York Times
Obama previously met the Dalai Lama privately in the White House rather than in public.