Rights Group Demands Chinese Supporters of Hong Kong Democracy Be Freed

CLARE BALDWIN
Reuters
Amnesty International called for the release of eight mainland Chinese activists.

Chinese Youth Admire American Culture But Remain Wary of U.S. Policy

CHRIS BUCKLEY
New York Times
“We really like American culture, but we also like to have a government that doesn’t show weakness abroad.”

China Angered By Hillary Clinton Tweet on Women's Rights

Tessa Wong
BBC
China has reacted furiously at Hillary Clinton's recent comments about China's record on women's rights.

How A 10-Gallon Hat Helped Heal Relations Between China And America

Adam Taylor
Washington Post
Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's 1979 tour marked a turning point in Americans' views of Communist China.

Top Hong Kong Judges Defend Rule of Law in Face of China Pressure

STELLA TSANG AND CLARE BALDWIN
Reuters
Two top Hong Kong judges on Friday defended the rule of law in an apparent rebuke of China's top official.

Six Questions for Chinese President Xi Jinping

Steven Mufson
Washington Post
Chinese President Xi Jinping does not usually conduct open news conferences, but when in America, do as the Americans do.

China’s First Lady Tones Down Star Power

LAURIE BURKITT And TE-PING CHEN
Wall Street Journal
On U.S. visit, Peng Liyuan must balance charity pursuits to not steal focus from Xi.

China Dissident's Wife Rejects Invite to State Department

MATTHEW PENNINGTON
Associated Press
Relatives of Chinese dissidents met with Secretary of State John Kerry as the Obama administration sought to demonstrate it won't gloss over human rights during this week's state visit of Chinese President Xi.

Cultural Revolution Shaped Xi Jinping, From Schoolboy to Survivor

CHRIS BUCKLEY and DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW
New York Times
Visiting the United States this week, Mr. Xi, 62, has presented himself as a polished statesman.

Two Very Different Men Visit D.C.: China’s Leader And His Teenage Nemesis

Emily Rauhala
Washington Post
Xi Jinping will get a state dinner and a 21-gun salute while Joshua Wong is in town to talk about Hong Kong’s fight for self-determination.

China Dissident's Wife Rejects Invite to State Department

MATTHEW PENNINGTON
Associated Press
The United States has warned that the toughest crackdown in years on Chinese activists threatens to cloud the high-profile visit by Xi.

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...

Why Tibet Could Be the Best Opportunity for Xi Jinping

Matteo Mecacci and Bhuchung Tsering
Huffington Post
The state visit is a growing alarm about China's less than peaceful rise, and provides a rare opportunity for Obama to give an important message on Tibet.

Boeing to Sell 300 Jets to China Firms, Set Up China Plant: Xinhua

FANG YAN AND MATTHEW MILLER
Reuters
Boeing Co is becoming the first U.S. firm to clinch a business tie-up in the country since Chinese president Xi Jinping began a U.S. state visit.

Boeing to Sell 300 Jets to China Firms, Set Up China Plant: Xinhua

FANG YAN AND MATTHEW MILLER
Reuters
Boeing Co is becoming the first U.S. firm to clinch a business tie-up in the country since Chinese president Xi Jinping began a U.S. state visit.

Rights Protesters, China Supporters Greet President Xi in Seattle

Reuters
About 100 people protesting against human rights abuses in China greeted President Xi Jinping in Seattle.

China's Xi Tells Foreign NGOs to Obey the Law

Agence France-Presse
Foreign organisations in China should "obey Chinese law".

Caixin Media

09.22.15

Chinese Contractor Finds Project in Bahamas Is No Day at Beach

A giant luxury resort planned on a beach outside the Bahamas’ capital, Nassau, that is supposed to be a showpiece to help China’s largest construction company tap the U.S. market has become a headache for both its builder and a lender.The resort was...

U.S. to China: Quit Cyber Spying

Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton
Reuters
Xi said China's government does not engage in the theft of commercial secrets and does not support Chinese companies that do so.

Working for A Chinese Boss Is Great, Ordinary Americans Explain in This Slick New Pro-China Video

Zheping Huang
Quartz
The video is called “When China met Carolina”.

China’s Workers Stumble as Factories Stall

CHUN HAN WONG
Wall Street Journal
As factories run out of money and construction projects idle, China sees a rise in unrest.

China Says Investigating U.S. Woman Suspected of Spying

Megha Rajagopalan
Reuters
An American woman suspected of spying is being investigated.

Respect Your Elders: Confucian Kindergartens Catch On in China

Jeremy Page
WSJ: China Real Time Report
The Party is now introducing traditional culture classes in state-run kindergartens and other levels of schooling.

Warner Bros. Strikes Deal to Make Chinese-Language Films

Jackie Wattles
CNN
China's movie market is thriving.

Neil Gaiman Joins Authors in Urging Chinese President to Release Jailed Writers

Alison Flood
Guardian
More than 40 authors have written to Xi Jinping, expressing ‘concern about the deteriorating state of free expression in China’.

Controversy Brewing Around China’s Oscar Submission

Patrick Brzeski
Hollywood Reporter
Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke revealed that producers are lobbying for his latest feature, Mountains May Depart, to be submitted. 

Teaching ABCs of The Birds And The Bees

Zhang Qian
Shanghai Daily
Pupils eagerly participate in a class about sex and gender difference at a school in Shanghai.

Japan's 'Profound' New American Military Ties Are All About China: Q&A

Robert Marquand
Christian Science Monitor
Japan's parliament passes the most sweeping changes to Japan's defense policy since World War II.

The New Asian Order

Evan A. Feigenbaum
Foreign Policy
And How the United States Fits In.

Daring Sailboat Escape by Chinese Dissidents Ends in Rescue, Detention by Taiwan

Hsia Hsiao-hwa
Radio Free Asia
Chinese dissidents escaped by boat to Taiwan before attempting a journey to Guam.

“These Old Men Look So Terrible”—China Watches The U.S. Republican Primary

Zheping Huang and Heather Timmons
Quartz
"Just looking at these faces, I feel Hillary being the next president is already certain."

China Defends Xi Visit to U.N. Forum Despite Activists' Detention

BEN BLANCHARD AND MEGHA RAJAGOPALAN
Reuters
President Xi's attendance at a U.N. women's summit, brushing off concern about its detention of women activists in March.

China’s Fast Growing Film Industry

Bloomberg
The discussion on the expansion of the entertainment industry in China and differences between audiences in the U.S. and Asia

The Chinese Government Is Censoring A Documentary About Mothers Who Love Their Gay Kids

Josh Horwitz
Quartz
The upcoming court case of a filmmaker from Beijing, stands out.

The Missing Piece of US-China Relations: Trust

Michael Tai
Diplomat
“U.S. antipathy to China is rooted in angst about its rise and the prospect of American decline.”

Obama and China: Trying to Play Well With A Close Frenemy

David Nakamura
Washington Post
Obama plans to welcome Xi with the highest level of diplomatic pageantry for a foreign leader.

China Teaching Troops Folk Dances to Make Friends in Xinjiang

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
China's military tries to improve relations with the minority people who live there.

Is Romance Dead? France Seeks New Image in China

MICHEL ROSE
Reuters
France's finance minister wants to persuade Chinese officials to set aside their romantic image.

Caixin Media

09.15.15

Stock Market Volatility Is Not a Harbinger of Collapsing Growth

It would be a sad end to an amazing story. An economic miracle—one that lifted 300 million people from poverty and shifted the world's economic center of gravity—collapsing under the weight of risky investments and a financial crisis.This seems...

U.S. and China Aim to Hit Climate Goals Sooner Than Expected in Some Cities

CHRISTI PARSONS AND CHRIS MEGERIAN
Los Angeles Times
U.S. and Chinese officials plan to unveil more ambitious carbon-emission rules for several Chinese cities and provinces.

China's Biggest, Yet Most Unlikely Film of This Summer

JUSTIN BERGMAN
Mashable
As of Sept. 12,Monster Hunthad grossed a whopping RMB 2.428 billion (US$380.95 million).

China Frees Activist Academic Before Xi Trip to United States

SUI-LEE WEE
Reuters
Guo Yushan, founder of a think-tank that did research on business regulations, reform and civil society is released recently.

Who Are Uighurs? A Look at Group from Restive China Region

Associated Press
A primer on the Uighurs, the repression they face in China and their presence abroad.

UN Rights Chief Airs Worry About Lawyers Detained in China

JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern about the detention and interrogation of more than 100 lawyers in China.

U.S. Drops Charges That Professor Shared Technology With China

MATT APUZZO
New York Times
The Justice Department dropped all charges against Mr. Xi, the chairman of Temple University's physics department.

The US and China: Will It be Collision or Cooperation?

Simon Montlake
Christian Science Monitor
On the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to the US, a China expert lays out how the two great powers can avoid confrontation.

China: Government Should Account for Activist’s Detention, Death

Human Rights Watch
United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) member states should press China to account for a Chinese activist's detention and death.

‘I Try to Talk Less’: A Conversation with Ai Weiwei and Liao Yiwu

Ian Johnson from New York Review of Books
In late July, Chinese authorities renewed travel privileges for conceptual artist and political activist Ai Weiwei, ending a five-year prohibition following his arrest in 2011. He promptly flew to Munich and then Berlin, where he has accepted a...

Environment

09.11.15

Beijing Slams Henan Capital for Using Scarce Fresh Water to Combat Smog

Officials in the city of Zhengzhou are under central government scrutiny after media reports revealed the capital of Henan province is using valuable fresh water supplies to combat air pollution. Scientists and academics have criticised...

Chinese Society 'Very Fragile,' Warns Dissident Artist Ai Weiwei

Mick Krever
CNN
Suffocated by censorship, Chinese society is "very fragile," warned dissident artist Ai Weiwei on Thursday.

U.S. to China: Take Back Your Undocumented Immigrants

MARK HOSENBALL AND TIM REID
Reuters
China was taking steps to provide the paperwork needed to expel undocumented immigrants from the U.S.

Sinica Podcast

09.10.15

China’s Millennials

Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn & more from Sinica Podcast
This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn record from San Francisco, where they interview Eric Fish, a long-time China resident, writer at Asia Society, and author of the recent book China’s Millennials: The Want Generation. The hosts talk...

How Chinese and Americans Are Misreading Each Other—And Why It Matters

Fu Ying
Huffington Post
Young Chinese don't like it when Americans see China as a monolith. 

Guo Meimei, Chinese Web Celebrity, Gets 5-Year Sentence on Casino Charge

DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW
New York Times
A woman notorious for a lavish lifestyle while claiming to work for a charity was convicted of running a casino.

Chinese Television Program Features LGBT Rights Panel

PW Marchant
Washington Post
In any authoritarian country, controlling the flow of information is always key to the survival of the regime.

Culture

09.09.15

The Met Goes to China

Jeffrey Wasserstrom
In July, while in New York, I toured The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s much buzzed about “China: Through the Looking Glass,” a visually stunning multimedia exhibit that showcases the varied ways that Western fashion designers have been inspired by...

Caixin Media

09.08.15

Amnesty 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...

No Coins, No Red Faces: Apps Change Chinese Attitudes to Splitting Bills

Shen Lu
CNN
Splitting the bill is a relatively new idea to most Chinese, but now it's being embraced by cash-strapped young people.

Sinica Podcast

08.31.15

A ‘China Watcher’s China Watcher’ Decamps

Kaiser Kuo, David Moser & more from Sinica Podcast
As anyone who reads the Sinocism newsletter knows, Bill Bishop is among the most plugged-in people in Beijing with an uncanny ability to figure out what is actually happening in the halls of power. But as casual readers may not be aware, he is also...

Media

08.27.15

Chinese Media Jumps on Tragic Virginia Shooting

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
On the morning of August 26, a reporter and a cameraman for a local Virginia television station were fatally shot during a live television interview. The alleged gunman, now dead, apparently shot himself before being apprehended by police.The...