Latest China Brief Articles

CCP Renews Political Loyalty Indoctrination

The late summer has been an eventful period for observers of the upper echelons of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), where yet another round of purges of senior figures — this time, within the diplomatic and military bureaucracies — appears to be underway. Cursory inferential... MORE

MSS WeChat Sets the Tone for the National Security State

According to the latest WeChat post from China's Ministry of State Security (MSS, 国家安全部), food security is a "strategic issue" [战略问题] — not for the reasons one might expect, but because of fears of foreign espionage (MSS WeChat, September 22). The post starts out with... MORE

Xi’s Personnel Mismanagement

Paramount leader Xi Jinping (习近平) has been widely blamed by foreign governments and media for failing to take effective measures to remedy an economy hurt by excessive leverage, weak exports, anemic consumer spending, and the massive withdrawal of investment by multinationals (Foreign Policy, September 6).... MORE

Coalitions of the Week: BRICS, ASEAN, the G20

Supreme leader Xi Jinping’s failure to attend the G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend (September 9-10) — thus nullifying the possibility of a meeting with top Western leaders including American counterpart President Joe Biden — is symptomatic of the isolation that China is facing... MORE

Political Drivers of China’s Private Sector Demise

Beijing has recently introduced a blitzkrieg of regulatory measures targeting industries ranging from video games and financial technology to food delivery and education (Tuzhixi, July 27, 2021). The introduction of these regulatory measures has had profound implications on China’s economic trajectory. China’s tech giants have... MORE

Characterizing China’s Rule of Law

Chinese President Xi Jinping is working in earnest to develop for China what his government calls “rule by law” (法治). It is sometimes translated into English as “rule of law,” though this is misleading, as Chinese law cannot restrict arbitrary exercise of power at the... MORE

The Chinese Debate on Economic Reform

A steady drumbeat of ominous data and troubling commentary on the state of China’s economy has punctuated the summer months. Reports from the commentariat in the anglosphere have provided diagnostic analysis and detailed potential policy solutions that the Chinese government might pursue. However, China’s central decision... MORE

The No Limits Partnership: PRC Weapons Support for Russia

Introduction Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, there is growing concern about the possible involvement of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in supplying Russia with weapons, munitions, and various other technology that could have dual-use applications. Notably, no significant provision of large-scale military hardware... MORE