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

The Chinese government is now locking down Tibet while attempting to placate the outside world by meeting with the Dalai Lama’s representatives. Beijing’s harsh policing of Tibet is consistent with the tough line the government has taken in previous crackdowns in both 1959 and in... MORE

The resurgence of great powers' interests in Central Asia in recent years is reminiscent of the “Great Game” that ensued in the region in the 19th century between Czarist Russia and Imperial Great Britain. Afghanistan’s geographic location has made it a much coveted strategic pivot... MORE

On April 21, commercial satellite images on DigitalGlobe confirmed reports that China is building a major underground nuclear submarine base near Sanya, the southernmost city of Hainan Island, which is located on China’s southeastern coast (DigitalGlobe). Digital images taken of the base in December 2007... MORE