Latest China Brief Articles
Xi Jinping the Moralist: Assessing Continuity versus Innovation in Reform
Since assuming leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Xi Jinping has spoken most about two themes. The first of these is the issue of corruption and rejuvenating the party’s moral mandate to rule. The second is to promote the “China Dream,” a vision of... MORE
Informatization Drives Expanded Scope of Public Security
In a recent interview with the Ministry of Public Security’s (MPS) principle newspaper, a municipal police chief stated more than half of the solved cases were resolved because of the integration of technical surveillance data into his public security bureau’s operations (China Police Daily, March... MORE
The Second Artillery Force in the Xi Jinping Era
New Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary, Central Military Commission (CMC) Chairman and PRC President Xi Jinping’s early interactions with the PLA Second Artillery Force (PLASAF) have sparked a considerable amount of speculation about the future of China’s strategic missile force under his leadership. Late... MORE
Taming the Five Dragons? China Consolidates its Maritime Law Enforcement Agencies
China's new leadership recently announced its intention to reorganize its separate maritime law enforcement agencies under one governing body. State Council Secretary General Ma Kai announced the changes on March 10 at the 12th National People's Congress as part of broad institutional reforms involving the... MORE
Policy Reform Measures Highlight Potential for Transformation
In the next five years, China will implement a series of transformative public sector reforms due to the convergence of several factors over the past year that have made China ripe for change. Most obvious among them is the fact that the party leadership chosen... MORE
Centralized Power Key to Realizing Xi’s “China Dream”
Immediately after Xi Jinping was elected state president at the just-ended First Session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC), he revisited his idea about fulfilling the “China dream.” Xi, who is also general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and commander-in-chief, cited three... MORE
South Sea Fleet Exercises Shine Spotlight on Tensions
Tensions in the South China Sea once again appear to be on the rise as recent Chinese naval activity has attracted the attention of regional actors. On March 26, Hanoi publicly complained that a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy vessel had set a Vietnamese fishing... MORE
Sino-Indian Defense Dialogue: A Panacea for the Sino-Indian Security Dilemma?
Defense diplomacy may not be an important tool in international relations but the Sino-Indian relations stand exception to it. Beginning with the landmark treaty on maintenance of peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in 1993, defense diplomacy became the “central dynamics... MORE
System of Systems Operational Capability: Operational Units and Elements
Editor’s Note: This article as well as a subsequent article on the impact of System of Systems of Operations on Chinese military modernization are based upon Mr. McCauley’s presentation at Jamestown’s Third Annual China Defense and Security Conference held on February 28, 2013 in Washington,... MORE
Is Enough Finally Enough for China and North Korea?
Bound up in nearly every discussion about North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is the question of what role China could, should, and would play. It has been widely written that Beijing’s priority is to maintain a stable Korean Peninsula (albeit one that remains divided) and... MORE