For an authoritarian state to recognize in its own councils that social confrontation and protest is on the rise is not something to quibble over, even when the statistical basis of the assertion is cloudy. This is the case in the PRC, where the figure... MORE

Unrest, instability, and state-sanctioned repression is on the upsurge in rural China. On January 19, the government announced revised figures that China had 87,000 incidents of internal unrest during the last year. This instability is rising against the background of efforts by the Hu-Wen administration... MORE

Call it the “Theory of the Three Harmonies.” Three years after assuming power, President Hu Jintao has concocted the one slogan that his publicists hope will best sum up the statecraft of the Fourth Generation leadership: he-ping, he-jie and he-xie. This “triple he [harmony]” can... MORE

One of the basic components of post-Mao China’s policy, domestic and international, is opposition to separatism. This policy reflects China’s uncompromising adherence to the maintenance of territorial integrity at all costs—primarily with regard to Taiwan, but also to Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. Similarly, the... MORE

As it became evident that the World Trade Organization ministerial conference, which occurred in Hong Kong on December 13-18, was on the brink of failure, U.S. officials called on China to take a more active role to further liberalize global commerce. U.S. Trade Representative Rob... MORE

After months of frenetic diplomatic forays—which have included trips made by President Hu Jintao and other top cadres to places as far away as Africa and Latin America—Beijing’s top leaders are at year-end giving top priority to cementing ties with the Middle Kingdom’s immediate neighbors.... MORE

In a rare disclosure of the enormous hidden cost of China’s rapid economic development, the Chinese government acknowledged last week that “sudden public incidents” such as industrial accidents, social safety accidents, and natural disasters are responsible for over one million casualties and the loss of... MORE

China Brief reported on November 8 that Chinese President Hu Jintao met Kim Jong-chol, the second son of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, during a state visit to Pyongyang in late October. This report generated intense speculation that Kim Jong-il had decided upon a successor.... MORE

As the poor cousin of combat arms, logistics has suffered from chronic resource shortages since the inception of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). With the PLA reorganizing their forces into brigades with more firepower and mobility, logistics needed to be updated. To enable this, the... MORE

No breakthroughs were achieved from the much-anticipated summit between Presidents George W. Bush and Hu Jintao last Sunday, raising doubts as to whether the two “strategic competitors” can put their common interests ahead of deep-seated differences. This is despite both leaders’ characterization of the hour-long... MORE