ChinaFile Recommends
12.22.16The Trouble With Trumps Dangerous Instincts on China
New Yorker
The President-elect has shown that his instinct is to turn the world’s significant bilateral relationships into frighteningly spectacular reality TV
ChinaFile Recommends
12.22.16China’s Millennial Consumers: What Victoria’s Secret Got Wrong, and Nike Got Right
Forbes
Chinese millennials are conflicted between their national pride and their love for western brands
ChinaFile Recommends
12.22.16Students in China Were Made to Take Exams Outdoors in Toxic Smog
Time
Widely circulated photos of the students, sitting at desks while blanketed in choking pollution, starkly dramatize the Chinese "airpocalypse"
ChinaFile Recommends
12.21.16Smog Refugees Flee Chinese Cities as ‘Airpocalypse’ Blights Half a Billion
Guardian
Thousands head to pollution-free regions as haze descends on the country’s northern industrial heartland
ChinaFile Recommends
12.21.16Bring Back Jobs from China? In Shenzhen, They Aren’t That Worried
Wall Street Journal
As Trump presses companies on U.S. manufacturing, the city that became the globalization poster child has learned to adapt to economic shifts
ChinaFile Recommends
12.21.16Could Jane Zhang Become China’s First Global Pop Star?
BBC
Zhang's latest single breaks the mould of China's pop industry and could help her become its first global superstar
ChinaFile Recommends
12.21.16Step Inside China’s Hellish, Illicit Steel Factories
Wired
Kevin Frayer's photographs of illegal Chinese steel factories look like postcards from the dawn of the Industrial Revolution
ChinaFile Recommends
12.21.16China Unveils List of Activities Permitted for Foreign Non-Profits
Wall Street Journal
Law taking effect Jan. 1 is widely seen as targeted at groups working in areas such as human rights and rule of law
ChinaFile Recommends
12.21.16These Three Major China Themes Will Be Pivotal in 2017
South China Morning Post
China’s economic growth target, the depreciation of the yuan and a looming change in several senior Communist Party positions will be important factors
ChinaFile Recommends
12.20.16Norway and China Restore Ties, 6 Years After Nobel Prize Dispute
New York Times
The news accompanied an unannounced visit to Beijing by the Norwegian foreign minister, Borge Brende, who met with Premier Li Keqiang
ChinaFile Recommends
12.20.16Thousands of Refugees from Myanmar May Have Fled to China Due to Fighting
Al Jazeera
As many as 15,000 people have fled across Myanmar's border into China in the past month as fighting between the army and armed ethnic groups intensifies, the UN says
ChinaFile Recommends
12.20.16Are China’s Schools Failing?
Bloomberg
China's much-lauded education system remains riven by inequality, with far-reaching consequences for schools, students and, ultimately, the economy
ChinaFile Recommends
12.20.16“Messy, Mindless, Illogical”: Chinese Moviegoers Review “Great Wall”
Quartz
One of the most hyped-up film productions of the year is shaping up to be a box office success, and a critical bomb
ChinaFile Recommends
12.20.16China Chokes on Smog So Bad that Planes Can't Land
USA Today
Major cities across northern China choked Monday under a blanket of smog so thick that industries were ordered shut down and air and ground traffic was disrupted
ChinaFile Recommends
12.20.16China to Review Film Limits as Box Office Growth Slows
Reuters
China's box office is set to end the year with its smallest growth in a decade
ChinaFile Recommends
12.20.16Mooted $75 Million Oscar Trade Sets Up Record China Soccer Spend
Bloomberg
Chinese teams set to continue soccer spending spree in window; Spending comes amid warning from Communist Party newspaper
ChinaFile Recommends
12.20.16President Obama Says Donald Trump Should Deal Cautiously With Taiwan, China
Wall Street Journal
President warns successor to think through the consequences of his actions
Sinica Podcast
12.19.16Beijing Meets Banjo: Wu Fei and Abigail Washburn
from Sinica Podcast
Wu Fei is a classically trained composer and performer of the guzheng, or traditional Chinese 21-string zither. Abigail Washburn is a Grammy Award–winning American banjo player and fluent speaker of Chinese. They’ve been friends for a decade and are...
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
ChinaFile Recommends
12.19.16Heralding Social, Financial Change, China Aims Blow at Iron Rice Bowl
Reuters
China has ordered state firms to smash the decades-old system of providing cradle-to-grave welfare support, known as the country's "iron rice bowl"
ChinaFile Recommends
12.19.16China’s Notorious City Management Officers in Legal Limbo Despite Expanding Role
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has been charged with regulating the force that earlier was under the sole purview of local governments
ChinaFile Recommends
12.16.16Finding Balance in the US-China Relationship
Diplomat
As Donald Trump ascends to the Oval Office, he must recognize the larger vision required to see clearly at the height of power
ChinaFile Recommends
12.16.16Tibetan Leader Urges Trump to Confront China on Rights
Reuters
The head of the Tibetan government-in-exile said he was encouraged by Trump’s tough stand on China
ChinaFile Recommends
12.16.16China Has Made Strides in Addressing Air Pollution, Environmentalists Say
New York Times
Ma Jun, the director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, says transparency is up and pollution is down
ChinaFile Recommends
12.16.16When China Bullies Its Neighbors, India Gets More Muscular
Quartz
China’s increasingly rough-handed and assertive foreign policy towards its neighbors is raising India’s diplomatic and economic clout in the region
ChinaFile Recommends
12.16.16China Police Confirm Detention of Human Rights Lawyer Jiang Tianyong
Guardian
The activist’s family are still waiting to hear from him despite officials saying he was released more than two weeks ago
Features
12.15.16‘Caught in Quicksand’: Gay and HIV-Positive in China
China is a country with giant cities, huge skyscrapers, and the world’s second largest economy. But underneath its modern looking facade, the country is still very traditional; this is especially true of attitudes toward homosexuality.China’s...
Books
12.15.16Crashing the Party
It’s 1983. Scott Savitt, one of the first American exchange students in Beijing, picks up his guitar and begins strumming “Blackbird.” He’s soon surrounded by Chinese students who know every word to every Beatles song he plays. Savitt stays on in Beijing, working as a reporter for Asiaweek Magazine. The city’s first nightclubs open; rock ‘n’ roll promises democracy. Promoted to foreign correspondent for The Los Angeles Times and then United Press International, Savitt finds himself drawn into China’s political heart. His girlfriend is the assistant to Bette Bao Lord, the wife of the U.S. ambassador. He interviews people who will become leaders of the democracy movement.Later, at 25 years old, Savitt is the youngest accredited foreign correspondent in China, with an intimate knowledge of Beijing’s backstreets. But as the seven-week occupation of Tiananmen Square ends in bloodshed on June 4, 1989, his greatest asset is his flame-red 500cc Honda motorcycle—giving Savitt the freedom to witness first-hand what the Chinese government still denies ever took place. After Tiananmen, Savitt founds the first independent English-language newspaper in China, Beijing Scene. He knows that it’s only a matter of time before the authorities move in, and sure enough, in 2000 he’s arrested, flung into solitary confinement and, after a month in jail, deported.Savitt’s extraordinary memoir of his two decades in China manages to take an extremely complex political-historical subject and turn it into an adventure story. —Soft Skull{chop}
Caixin Media
12.15.16Attempts to ‘Clean Up Beijing’ Target Low-Cost Migrant Homes
Li Yi, a young computer engineer working in Beijing, said authorities forced him out of his apartment in a village in Haidian district in November, days after his power supply was cut off even though he had paid the bills.Li (not his real name) is...
ChinaFile Recommends
12.15.16Taiwan is Both Exhilarated and Unnerved by Trump’s China’s Remarks
New York Times
What does it mean for one’s homeland to be put on the table by Mr. Trump, in negotiations with China’s leaders, who are not known for making concessions easily?
ChinaFile Recommends
12.15.16New Chinese Law Puts Foreign Non-Profits in Limbo
Wall Street Journal
Many NGOs could be made illegal on Jan. 1 amid campaign against unwanted foreign influences
ChinaFile Recommends
12.15.16China’s Digital Dictatorship
Economist
Turn the spotlight on the rulers, not the ruled: Instead of rating citizens, the government should be allowing them to assess the way it rules
ChinaFile Recommends
12.15.16As 'The Great Wall’ Hits Theaters in China, Hollywood is Watching
Wall Street Journal
Movie industry sees $150 million picture starring Matt Damon as harbinger for future U.S.-China co-productions
ChinaFile Recommends
12.14.16For China’s State Media, Trump Victory Can’t Cure the ‘American Disease’
New York Times
China’s ruling elite seems to be consoling itself with the idea that Trump will take charge of a country staggering into decline and disunion
ChinaFile Recommends
12.14.16Lost Lives: The Battle of China’s Invisible Children to Recover Missed Years
Reuters
With the end of the One-Child Policy, unregistered younger siblings are trying to make up for lost time
ChinaFile Recommends
12.14.16Expensive Foreign Degrees Lose Edge in Competitive Chinese Job Market, Study Finds
Nearly 70% of Chinese students who returned after studying abroad said they were "unsatisfied" with job opportunities
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
ChinaFile Recommends
12.13.16Attempts to ‘Clean Up Beijing’ Target Low-Cost Migrant Homes
"They came and banged on tenants' doors every day until they agreed to move out, and they cut off their power supply for a week"
ChinaFile Recommends
12.13.16China’s Richest Man Threat to Trump ’Should Things Be Handled Poorly’
Quartz
Wang Jianlin says 20,000 American jobs and $10 billion in investment are at stake
ChinaFile Recommends
12.13.16China to Set Date to Close Ivory Factories
Guardian
Preparation is under way in China to bring in a ban on their domestic ivory trade, following a promise made with the US earlier this year
ChinaFile Recommends
12.13.16If Donald Trump Pushes, How China Could Push Back
New York Times
Here are five ways the Chinese could make life difficult for a Trump administration
ChinaFile Recommends
12.12.16Beijing Concerned by Trump Questioning ‘One China’ Policy on Taiwan
Wall Street Journal
President-elect Donald Trump questioned U.S. support for the idea that mainland China and Taiwan are part of ‘one China’
ChinaFile Recommends
12.12.16China Riot Police Seal Off City Center After Smog Protestors Put Masks on Statues
Guardian
Clampdown in Chengdu after protesters place masks on statues in anger at air pollution choking the city
ChinaFile Recommends
12.12.16Going Green in China, Where Climate Change Isn’t Considered a Hoax
Salon
Chinese leaders want to improve the quality of life in their nation's cities
ChinaFile Recommends
12.12.16Meet the Ma Family: How Millennials are Changing the Way China Thinks About Money
Reuters
China's millennials - roughly those aged between 18 and 35 - are embracing debt like never before
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
ChinaFile Recommends
12.09.16China Has Gained Hugely from Globalization, So Why Are Its Workers So Unhappy?
Economist
Now, more than ever, working-class Chinese fret about rising inequality, the impact of mass migration from the countryside into cities and job losses
ChinaFile Recommends
12.09.16WWE’s China Hopes Rest on Bin Wang’s Big Shoulders
Reuters
Wang will be joined by seven other Chinese athletes hand-picked by WWE Inc, in the hope that one of them will become the first Chinese WWE "superstar"
ChinaFile Recommends
12.08.16Uganda is Worried About the Number of Chinese Men Marrying Their Women
Quartz
An increasing number of Chinese men are marrying Ugandan women to gain residency and continue their business interests in the country
ChinaFile Recommends
12.08.16What Taiwan’s Leader Sees in Donald Trump
New Yorker
Taiwanese President Tsai's call to President-elect Trump, which riled both Washington and Beijing, suggests a hidden streak of boldness
ChinaFile Recommends
12.07.16The Great Wall: China Takes on the World with New Matt Damon Film
BBC
Despite a long tradition of movie-making, and much critical acclaim for its directors overseas, China has never yet produced a truly global blockbuster
ChinaFile Recommends
12.07.16Taiwan Feels Forgotten. But Not By Trump.
New York Times
Despite facing a sober future, Taiwanese will continue to celebrate what they see as an overdue recognition of their hard-won existence
ChinaFile Recommends
12.07.16China’s ‘Walter White’ Sold $600k of Illegal Drugs Every Month to the US and Europe
Time
A chemistry professor in China has been convicted in a case that has drawn comparisons with the hit TV show "Breaking Bad"
ChinaFile Recommends
12.07.16China is Outsourcing Its Pollution
Foreign Policy
Beijing's diplomacy is increasingly green, but its international trade is getting ever more coal-black
Environment
12.06.16The World’s Saddest Polar Bear
from chinadialogue
Pizza, “the world’s saddest polar bear,” is to be granted at least a temporary reprieve from the display case in which he lives in the Grandview shopping mall in Guangzhou, southern China. This follows a global outcry, a one-million-signature...
ChinaFile Recommends
12.06.16In China, Trump-Style Infrastructure Partnerships are Used to Hide Debt
Wall Street Journal
To pay for a highway project, Wenling’s government teamed up with Bank of China to create an ‘industrial fund’ that pulls in money from ordinary investors
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