
Latest China Brief Articles

Xi Jinping Burnishes Foreign Policy Credentials Despite Lack of Achievement At U.S. Summit
Despite a lack of concrete achievements in his summit with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping has accomplished a more important goal for his domestic audience—burnishing his image as a statesman. At a time when ordinary Chinese are bracing for a possible... MORE

China’s Search for a “Strategic Air Force”
Note: This piece is based on a longer article published in The Journal of Strategic Studies that is available for download here and will appear in the print version of the journal in early 2016. On September 10, People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) spokesman... MORE

China and Russia Multiply Efforts in Global Agenda-Setting
At the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly in late September, the leaders of China and Russia condemned western unilateralism (Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, September 28; UN.org, September 28). Chinese President Xi Jinping launched his week-long U.S. visit in Seattle, calling for “an... MORE

The End of China’s Play in the Canadian Oil Sandbox?
Only three years ago, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China’s third-largest national oil company (NOC), launched the largest-ever Chinese overseas takeover bid, offering $15.1 billion to buy Nexen Inc., Canada’s ninth-largest oil company. Together with China National Petroleum Corporation and Sinopec Group, China’s two... MORE

Xi Jinping’s Visit to the United States to Highlight Internet Rules, Economic Cooperation, Differences
Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit the United States next week, the seventh time since he first visited the country as Secretary of Zhengding County in Hebei in 1985 (People’s Daily Online, September 16). According to Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Spokesperson... MORE

The ‘Triple Win’: Beijing’s Blueprint for International Industrial Capacity Cooperation
In his opening remarks at the World Economic Summit in Dalian on September 10, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang suggested the integration of a “new” diplomatic concept—international industrial capacity cooperation (产能合作)—into existing bilateral and multilateral frameworks (Phoenix News, September 10). This concept accompanies important reforms of... MORE

The Park-Xi Friendship and South Korea’s New Focus on China
While the 12,000-troop parade at China’s September 3 ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII was a striking sight in Beijing, those who closely follow China’s relationship with the Korean Peninsula may have watched the guests of President Xi Jinping just as... MORE

Taiwan’s Han Kuang Exercises: Training for a Chinese Invasion One Drill at a Time
Earlier this month, in Beijing, the Chinese government staged an epic military parade for the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory over Japan in World War II. Chinese interpretations of history in a contemporary context have, of course, always had a political objective in mind.... MORE

PLA Transformation: Difficult Military Reforms Begin
President Xi announced a 300,000-personnel reduction at the 70th anniversary military parade (China Military Online, September 3). The reduction represents the most significant element of the current military reforms so far made public. Less contentious elements of the reform plan regarding training, rules and regulations,... MORE

The Future of Cyber Conflict: Beijing Rewrites Internet Sovereignty Along Territorial Lines
Over the past 12 months, China and a number of similarly-minded countries have taken firm steps to challenge the internet status quo. The January redrafting of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)–sponsored United Nations Information Security Code of Conduct, the signing of a China-Russia “cyber pact”... MORE