Both Taiwan (ROC) and China (PRC) legally claim sovereign rights over the Spratly archipelago composed of islets and reefs in the form of a U-shaped line based on the same assertion that they are historically Chinese waters—made up by eight or nine disconnected dots in... MORE

The January 2007 test of an anti-satellite missile was a watershed event in China’s modernization program, because it demonstrated a key military capability of China and a major vulnerability of the United States. There is another element of China’s military transformation that tends to receive... MORE

On February 26, Admiral Takashi Saito, chief of the Joint Staff Office of Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF), started a four-day visit to China at the invitation of Chen Binde, chief of general staff of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Saito's trip marks the highest-ranking visit... MORE

With the veils closed on February 27, the three-day session of the Second Plenum for the 17th National Congress that started on February 25 confirms for China watchers three things: Xi Jinping will replace Zeng Qinhong to become vice-president; Li Keqiang, a one-time favorite to... MORE

The Chinese stock market continues to intrigue and perplex international spectators [1]. While Beijing is experimenting with some corrective measures at a macro level to avoid overheating and bubbles, now seems to be a good time to revisit the fundamentals and study the structure and... MORE

China is currently engaged in a determined effort to transform its military from an army based on Mao Zedong’s principles of mass-oriented, infantry-heavy “People’s War,” to what many foreign observers perceive to be an agile, high-technology force capable of projecting power throughout the Asia-Pacific. A... MORE

In recent years, senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders and high-ranking military officers have repeatedly emphasized the importance of naval modernization. Most prominently, CCP General Secretary, President and Central Military Commission (CMC) Chairman Hu Jintao in a December 2006 speech to People’s Liberation Army Navy... MORE

World leaders, including PRC President Hu Jintao, offered congratulations to Lee Myung-bak following his election as South Korea’s next president on December 19, 2007. Hu’s message stressed his desire to expand “good neighborly and friendly relations” with South Korea and his hope that “strengthen[ed] coordination... MORE

On January 21, the Taiwan-based newspaper United Daily News reported that a C-130 transport aircraft in the Taiwan (ROC) Air Force conducted a one-day mission to the Spratly Islets, whose sovereignty is contested by Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, China, Malaysia and the Philippines (United Daily News... MORE

Since dumping former Shanghai party secretary Chen Liangyu in late 2006, President Hu Jintao has tightened his control over the East China metropolis—as well as the so-called Shanghai Faction in the tangled politics within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). At stake is more than the... MORE