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Latest China Brief Articles
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The Soapbox and the Truncheon: Hu Jintao’s Amorphous Power
The last ten years in China have been difficult ones, filled with tremendous opportunities and challenges as China has deepened the reform and opening policies of Deng Xiaoping—or so the official press now proclaims (People’s Daily, July 11, July 9). These editorials did not name... MORE
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Beijing Plays Up the Carrot While Still Wielding the Stick
The relatively swift resolution of the protests in Shifang in southwestern Sichuan Province could mark a turning point in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) administration’s handling of the estimated 150,000 or so cases of mass incidents that erupt every year. While continuing to boost its... MORE
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Shoring Up PLA “Military Cultural Security” to Ensure Stability
As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) careens toward the 18th Party Congress and a generational leadership transition, Beijing seems concerned with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and where it stands politically. CCP and PLA press have expressed these concerns in a variety of ways, whether... MORE
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China and NATO: Grappling with Beijing’s Hopes and Fears
On July 4, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he hoped to expand the alliance’s dialogue with China, because “NATO needs to better understand China and define areas where [the two] can work together to guarantee peace and stability” as part of the transformation... MORE
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Confucius Institutes and the Question of China’s Soft Power Diplomacy
After a period of relative calm, Beijing’s promotion of the ever expanding number of overseas Confucius Institutes (CIs) since 2004 came to the attention of the international community once again. As stated in the 2011 Annual Report issued by the Confucian Institute headquarters, there are... MORE
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Toward A Second Generation of Ethnic Policies?
The recent self-immolations in Lhasa remind us that China has its fair share of ethnic problems. Chinese government officials continue to blame “outside forces” for inciting ethnic divisions, insisting that “sixty years of experiences have proved that China's ethnic policies are correct and effective” [1].... MORE
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Developing a Framework for PLA Precision Operations
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has examined U.S. military precision operations (jingque zuozhan) in local wars with limited objectives since the 1990’s, believing that precision operations have become the basic pattern of joint operations and will become a key capability for integrated joint operations.... MORE
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Re-Popularizing Marxism: Li Changchun’s contribution to reform
On the eve of the 91st anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), propaganda czar Li Changchun gave a speech to a political theories seminar emphasizing the need to re-popularize Chinese-style Marxism. Li, a Politburo Standing Committee member, argued the task is... MORE
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China’s Air Force Female Aviators: Sixty Years of Excellence (1952-2012)
In March 2012, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force celebrated the 60th anniversary of female aviators (feixing renyuan) joining the first operational unit, thus making China one of 16 countries with female air force pilots today (China Air Force, 2012-3). Although their numbers have... MORE
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From Strength to Strength: Military Exercises Bolster Sino-Thai Relations
In May, as the tense face off between maritime law enforcement vessels from the Philippines and China at Scarborough Shoal entered its second month, several hundred marines from Thailand and China conducted combined military exercises in Guangdong province. The two events highlight the widening fault... MORE