Latest China Brief Articles
Future Prospects of China’s Policy on Climate Change
China’s economic boom has made the country a dominant producer of man made greenhouse gases (GHG). Since 1978, China’s fuel combustion carbon dioxide (CO2) emission has quadrupled, reaching 5,664 Mt in 2006 and 6,110 Mt in 2007 [1]. In comparison, the United States emitted 5,826... MORE
Chinese Inroads in DR Congo: A Chinese “Marshall Plan” or Business?
Since achieving independence five decades ago The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been ravaged by a dictatorship, war and political strife. Although large in territory and rich in mineral and other precious raw materials, the DRC is a failed state that has been seemingly... MORE
China’s Gulf of Aden Expedition and Maritime Cooperation in East Asia
The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has deployed two warships and a supply ship to the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the coast of Somalia on an "anti-piracy mission." To many observers of Chinese foreign policy, this decision appears to break from Beijing’s... MORE
China Flaunts Growing Naval Capabilities
The year 2009 is set to become a watershed in the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) development into a force capable of long-distance, multi-pronged power projection. This is despite the perception that owing to the global recession, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership under President Hu... MORE
Hu Jintao’s ‘Six-Points’ Proposition to Taiwan
On the eve of 2009, the President of the People’s Republic of China and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee, Hu Jintao, delivered a capstone speech commemorating the 30th anniversary of the "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan" (Xinhua News Agency, December... MORE
Chinese Land Attack Cruise Missile Developments and their Implications for the United States
Much scholarly attention has been devoted to China’s rapidly growing ballistic missile force in recent years, but relatively little has been written on China’s development of its land attack cruise missile (LACM) capabilities. Considering the rapid increase in the number and sophistication of Chinese short-range... MORE
Sino-Pakistani Relations Reach New Level After Zadari’s Visit
China and Pakistan have vowed to push their friendship to new heights (Daily Times, October 17) as the two nations are now exploring new summits in the economic partnership that they have forged since Asif Zardari moved into the Aiwan-i-Sadr (President's House). As a successful... MORE
The Ascent and Plateau of China’s Urban Centers
Urbanization in China has an obvious economic but also a profound social and political significance for the authorities in Beijing. It can not be simply understood as a concomitant output of China's industrialization, nor does it only refer to the changes in a population's geographic... MORE
Intellectuals Lobby for Political Change as Party Marks 30th Anniversary of the Reform Era
While expectations for policy changes are not high as Beijing marks the 30th anniversary of the reform era, a clutch of forward-looking cadres and intellectuals are taking advantage of the occasion to press for bolder measures particularly in political liberalization. This is despite the fact... MORE
China’s Poor, Young and Restless
The "Economic Blue Paper," a report published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on December 2 (China Brief, December 8), stated there will be 6.1 million college graduates entering the job market in 2009, among those graduates some 30 percent to 40 percent—approximately... MORE