A recent talk by Premier Wen Jiabao illustrates Beijing’s failure to undertake comprehensive reforms in perhaps the most critical area of Chinese life: education. While meeting with several university presidents, Wen recalled a discussion that he had with Qian Xuesen, the revered “Father of the... MORE

There are no simple answers when it comes to the questions of whether or how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will become a democracy. The democratic transition of the world’s most populous nation, if it occurs, will certainly be no easy task. At present,... MORE

The modernization and internationalization of China’s financial system is perhaps the last and in some ways, most difficult chapter in the country’s economic transition. Partly driven by China’s WTO commitments, the speed of the financial sector reforms has accelerated in recent years. Most state banks... MORE

Troubled by the widening disparities in socioeconomic conditions between urban and rural regions and among various demographics, China’s leaders have adopted what they believe will be a more equitable policy of development. During its Sixth Plenary Sessions in October, the 16th Central Committee issued a... MORE

--BEIJING SPONSORS HUMAN RIGHTS EXHIBITION China kicked off a 10-day human rights exhibition last Friday, November 17 in Beijing. The display of more than 700 pictures, 250 legal documents, 330 books and 24 diagrams on human rights was meant to exhibit “China’s efforts to promote... MORE

In October 1994, the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk was operating with its battle group in the Yellow Sea when it detected an underwater contact. Battle group aircraft began tracking the contact, which turned out to be a Chinese Han-class nuclear powered attack submarine (SSN)... MORE

On October 30, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) held a Commemorative Summit in the southern Chinese city of Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The summit, attended by all ten ASEAN leaders and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao,... MORE

There has been an upsurge of environmental movements in China over the past several years. During the spring of 2005, environmentalists staged a series of protests that eventually halted a construction project in Yuanmingyuan. Just one year earlier, Green Peace China prevented the Asian Pulp... MORE

In late 1997, China’s military planners raised, for the first time, the issue of “leapfrogging development” for its military modernization. At the time, the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had been largely focused on mechanization—the acquisition of more advanced operational platforms. The concept... MORE

BEIJING WRAPS UP FORUM ON CHINA-AFRICA COOPERATION WITH PLEDGES OF AID AND COOPERATION The two-day Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) concluded with additional pledges of support from China in the form of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, loans and lucrative contracts. Among... MORE