Latest China Brief Articles
A Profile of China’s Public Gem: China’s Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
On September 6, the China National Space Administration—the national space agency for the People's Republic of China (PRC)—announced that it has started developing the Long March 6 (Changzheng 6) carrier rockets for its burgeoning space program, which is backed by an industry that has rapidly... MORE
Changes in Beijing’s Approach to Overseas Basing?
Although China has traditionally avoided basing its troops abroad, the People's Republic of China's (PRC) growing global interests and its military's evolving missions are leading some Chinese analysts to suggest that Beijing may need to reconsider its traditional aversion to establishing overseas military facilities. In... MORE
The PRC 60th Anniversary Parade: Equipment on Display, Not Military Capabilities
The Chinese press has announced that 52 types of “new weapon systems” will be on display in 30 vehicle and 12 air formations during the October 1st military parade portion of the 60th anniversary celebration of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PLA... MORE
CCP 17th Central Committee Plenum Skips Xi Jinping and Inner-Party Democracy
The biggest piece of news to have come out of the Fourth Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 17th Central Committee is what that did not happen: the induction of Vice-President Xi Jinping into the policy-setting Central Military Commission (CMC). This is despite... MORE
Hu Sends Special Envoy to Pyongyang ahead of Whirldwind Summitry
As part of a three-day visit from September 16–18 that largely stayed below the fray of both domestic and international media, Chinese President Hu Jintao sent State Councilor and former Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Dai Bingguo—his trusted confidante and top foreign policy advisor on... MORE
Emerging Fault Lines in Sino-Burmese Relations: The Kokang Incident
Armed conflict between Burma’s armed forces (known as the Tatmadaw) and the Kokang militia (known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, MNDAA), along the Sino-Burmese border in late August brought into sharp focus the complex and sometimes testy relationship between Burma (Myanmar) and the... MORE
The Geopolitics of Cross-Strait Disaster Relief
Typhoon Morakot swept across Taiwan in August, dumping over 100 inches of rain with entire villages wiped out by mudslides, leaving a trail of destruction including over 600 dead and missing. The aftermath of this natural disaster has become enmeshed in Taiwan’s domestic and cross-Strait... MORE
Military Buildup Across the Himalayas: A Shaky Balance
In less than one year, China and India will celebrate six decades of bilateral relations capped by festivities in their respective country. This period, however, has been marked by a border war in 1962 that precipitated a long phase of antagonism and hostility between the... MORE
Sea-change in Japanese Politics Offers Hopes for Better Ties with China
Apart from breaking the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) 50-odd years of nearly uninterrupted dominance over Japanese politics, the ascendancy of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) as the new ruling party in the landslide general election on August 30 could have a pivotal impact on... MORE
PRC’s National Day to Showcase China’s Rise
The Hu Jintao administration appears to be pulling out all the stops for the October 1 celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The country’s National Day will be inaugurated by a keynote speech by Paramount Leader... MORE