Latest China Brief Articles
China’s Espionage Against Taiwan (Part II): Chinese Intelligence Collectors
Chinese intelligence operations have long been understood in the West as somehow different than more familiar forms of espionage: inscrutable, undirected and largely run by amateurs. Like most modern states, China, however, has entrusted intelligence to professional organizations. This second installment on China’s espionage against... MORE
China’s Soft-Power Deficit Widens as Xi Tightens Screws Over Ideology
Even for a country that is notable for its myriad contradictions, the gap between China’s hard and soft power has never been more pronounced. The year 2014 has witnessed the kind of global hard-power projection that is unprecedented in recent Chinese history. The two-year-old Xi... MORE
Xi’s Military Reform Plan: Accelerating Construction of a Strong PLA
Chinese President and Commander-in-Chief Xi Jinping’s military reform plan, announced at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee in November 2013, will take form over the next several years (see China Brief, November 20, 2013). The reforms, which appear... MORE
Assessing China’s Afghan Peace Play
Breaking with decades of distancing itself from Afghanistan’s various armed conflicts, the Chinese government has offered to facilitate peace talks between the Afghan national government and the Afghan Taliban insurgency movement. On November 29, Sun Yuxi, China’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan, for the first time... MORE
Special Issue on China’s Fourth Plenum
As Editor, I have the distinct pleasure of introducing a special issue of China Brief, focused on the Chinese Communist Party’s Fourth Plenum and its theme of yifazhiguo, often translated as the “rule of law,” though, as one contributor notes, the term is better translated... MORE
China’s New National Constitution Day: Is It Worth Celebrating?
In one of its few precise actions, the recent fourth plenary session of the current Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party declared December 4 to be “National Constitution Day” (China News, November 1). The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress, ever responsive to... MORE
After the Fourth Plenum: What Direction for Law in China?
On October 23, Chinese authorities concluded their annual Party plenum, focused on “ruling China according to law” (yifa zhiguo)—the first time that top Chinese leaders have designated law as the central focus for the meeting. In the weeks since, observers have been parsing the full... MORE
Xi Consolidates Power at Fourth Plenum, But Sees Limits
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pledged to promote rule of law with Chinese characteristics at the Fourth Plenary Session of its Central Committee. President Xi Jinping, also Party General Secretary, promised that the CCP would lead the nation in “strengthening the implementation of the Constitution... MORE
Fourth Plenum: Implications for China’s Approach to International Law and Politics
At the recently completed Fourth Plenum of the 18th Party Congress, Chinese leaders directed efforts to reform existing international institutions and laws and promote alternative values, political principles and legal arguments that better accord with China’s needs. These directions reflect a broader, whole-of-government effort to... MORE
The Fourth Plenum, Party Officials and Local Courts
The Fourth Plenum of the 18th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) focused on transforming the country’s legal system and passed the Decision Concerning Some Major Questions in Comprehensively Moving Forward and Governing the Country According to the Law. The Decision calls for the... MORE