The explosive growth of China’s links to Latin America in recent years are but the latest developments in a history that reaches back to the Spanish colonial empire in the early-16th century. In some ways the perceived benefits and liabilities have not changed much over... MORE

In recent years, oil product shortages in China have frequently caught the attention of the world. In August 2005, China’s southern manufacturing heartland of Guandong was plagued by closed service stations, fuel rationing and hours-long gas queues, and authorities were forced to send thousands of... MORE

Less than a week prior to the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province on May 12, Chinese President Hu Jintao was in Japan for his first state visit as agreed to during Japanese Prime Minister Yasuko Fukuda’s visit to China last December (China Brief, January... MORE

Beijing’s quick response to the Sichuan earthquake, including allowing foreign experts to take part in the rescue effort, has earned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership relatively high marks for openness—and for its apparent readiness to live up to the “putting people first” credo. Yet... MORE

Nearly a month after the devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12 left Sichuan in ruins—with massive relief operations still on-going—Beijing is beginning to grapple with the arduous task of post-quake reconstruction and assessing its costs to the Chinese economy. The State Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction Planning... MORE

The primary outcome of Hu Jintao’s recent visit to Japan was a joint statement between the Chinese president and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, issued on May 7. According to this statement the leaders agreed to make the East China Sea a sea of “peace,... MORE

The well-coordinated, massive relief and propaganda efforts organized by the central government are called by some international observers the most pronounced phenomenon emerging from China's recent natural devastations (People's Daily Online, May 22). But the government in Beijing has always been keen on organizing massive... MORE

One of the tragic ironies of the recent earthquake in China is that it has created numerous new, extremely dangerous dams in a country that already is the most dam populated country on earth. At more than 85,000 dams and counting, Chinese leaders already boast... MORE

China is leading the new wave of regional cooperation in Southeast Asia, and China-driven mechanisms for regional cooperation look set to overwhelm all possible areas of economic and political cooperation. For economic, security, diplomatic and military reasons, China has been developing stronger relationships with Association... MORE

Since March 10, unrest in the Tibet Autonomous Region—in spite of the Chinese government efforts at keeping it secret—punctured China’s Great Wall as news, pictures and videos flooded the internet, and each day there appears to be news about protests that emerge not only in... MORE