Beijing published the 2008 edition of "China’s National Defense" (hereafter White Paper) on the cusp of U.S. President Barack Obama's historic inauguration on January 20th. The past three editions (2002, 2004, and 2006) of the White Paper were all published in the final month of... MORE

Oil and other commodity prices have been declining as major economies of the world go into a recession, but the Chinese are now more convinced than ever that their country had very little to do with the sharp climb and subsequent nose dive of oil... MORE

The economic slowdown in China started in the second half of 2007: well before the effects of the subprime crisis in the United States began to be felt internationally. The initial downturn was orchestrated by the Chinese government, which aimed at cooling an overheating economy... MORE

Even as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership pulls out all the stops to resuscitate the economy, it is grappling with the even more daunting task of maintaining social stability. Apart from familiar issues such as rising unemployment (see Pieter Bottelier’s article in this issue),... MORE

The top-brass of the Chinese leadership started the Lunar New Year on a sprint. The year of the ox, which began on January 26 in the Gregorian calendar, was marked by fervent planning for Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s trip to the World Economic Forum in... MORE

A profound transformation is taking place in Chinese battlefield aerospace, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLAs) xinxihua zhanchang (informationalized battlefield) program is assisting its armed forces in attaining information domination on the battlefield.   As part of this program, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems are undergoing... MORE

The Russo-Chinese relationship is a multi-dimensional one.  Thus progress in each aspect of those ties is uneven.  For instance, Russia has consistently failed to satisfy China’s demands for energy, which Russia regards as being excessively one-sided insofar as the apportionment of benefits is concerned.  China... MORE

The commodity price decline has revealed to the Africans something of the nature of their friends.  During the commodity price boom, China invested massively in Africa seeking to lock up as many raw materials as possible.  Some in academia spoke confidently of China having a... MORE

Even as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is projecting hard power across the four corners of the earth, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is mapping out a multi-pronged strategy to publicize globally the apparent viability of the “China model.” The administration of President Hu Jintao... MORE

According to the provincial Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) second plenary committees' work report collected by Guangdong-based newspaper Nanfang Daily, the gap between the rich and poor is growing wider in many provinces of China. Among China’s 31 provinces (including municipalities and autonomous regions), 26 provinces... MORE