The value of the Chinese yuan, or RMB, has been a sore spot in U.S.-China relations in recent years. Faced with a massive $256.3 billion trade deficit with China for 2007 that has increased over three times since 2000 ($83.8 billion) and continues to increase... MORE

On May 17 Zimbabwean Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga confirmed that a shipment of arms aboard the Chinese vessel An Yuejiang had arrived in Harare (The Weekender, May 17). Some sources claimed the cargo was offloaded in the Democratic Republic of Congo and some Angola,... MORE

Ten years of official diplomatic relations between the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa have been marked by a multitude of milestones in both countries. From a period of no official ties to limited interaction between the South African and Chinese... MORE

A wave of hi-level leadership shuffles in 10 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) provincial and city committees occurred at the level of deputy provincial party secretary, provincial party standing committee, deputy provincial governor and other upper echelons of the party, many young officials were also promoted... MORE

Following the crackdown on Tibetan protesters in March, President Hu Jintao issued a call for “greater security guarantees” against protesters and other disruptive forces in the run up to the August Olympic games. At the same time, the official news bulletin of the People’s Armed... MORE

Apart from the Olympics, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership’s biggest challenge this year is to lay out a road map for “the next stage of reform.” The CCP will this December be marking with much fanfare the 30th anniversary of the start of the... MORE

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping arrived in Pyongyang on June 17 for a three-day visit. North Korea is the first destination of Xi’s foreign trip since being made vice president in March, slating Xi at the front of becoming President Hu Jintao’s likely successor when... MORE

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s first foreign trip—only half a month after his inauguration in early May—will include a visit to China from May 23 to 24. Medvedev’s choice of visiting Kazakhstan then China on his first international trip explicates the orientation of Russia’s foreign policy... MORE

On May 20, Ma Ying-jeou was sworn in as the president of Taiwan (Republic of China), in an election that marks the first successive transfer of power in Taiwan’s fledgling democracy since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the 2000 presidential election. President Ma’s much... MORE

Since 2004, Asian natural disasters have become an opportunity for regional militaries to deploy in a disaster relief role, demonstrating their value as more than a deterrent to war or transnational threats. By employing their instruments of hard power to deliver aid to the victims... MORE