In addition to hurting Beijing's global image and its foreign-exchange earnings, China's raging pneumonia epidemic could also deal a big blow to the administration of Hu Jintao, and particularly to the credibility of the new president's reform efforts. On the surface, the 60-year-old Fourth Generation... MORE

Chinese strategic and military experts are scrutinizing the U.S. war in Iraq, and for several reasons. First, if American and British forces become bogged down in their effort to liquidate the regime of Saddam Hussein, then it is much less likely that Washington will soon... MORE

By Richard D. Fisher, Jr. On March 20, Taiwan's Ministry of Defense disclosed in a Legislative Yuan hearing that it had sent a "special military team" to the Middle East at the invitation of the United States. Its goal: To observe U.S. strategies and tactics... MORE

By Gordon G. Chang Memo to the Pentagon: Don't worry about defending Taiwan. Send the Seventh Fleet home because hostility across the Taiwan Strait will soon become a thing of the past. China will absorb the island republic in a couple years with the consent... MORE

On January 26, 2003, in Sichuan province, China executed Lobsang Dondrup, a Tibetan political prisoner, on allegations of having been involved in bombings aimed at supporting Tibetan independence. The execution, together with the suspended death sentence received by alleged coconspirator Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, is an... MORE

by Willy Lam   Newly elected President Hu Jintao and his allies should take heart from the results of the recently concluded First Session of the Tenth National People's Congress (NPC).   Although the Congress is considered a rubberstamp body, the nearly 3,000 deputies did... MORE

By Gordon G. Chang "It only takes a small group, and we are that small group," says Peng Ming, the revolutionary. "We don't need the general population, and we don't need the overseas dissidents. All we need is a few hundred determined people." And, in... MORE

by M. D. Nalapat Despite the hype about nuclear weapons being created in high school laboratories, the reality is that the fabrication of a usable bomb requires a mix of both talent and infrastructure that is available to few states. In terms of purchasing power... MORE

HONG KONG An ugly new strain of atypical pneumonia has medical scientists worldwide working overtime. They are trying to discover why a small but growing number of patients in many countries are now suffering and dying. To date, according to the World Health Organizataion (WHO),... MORE

Beijing often downplays the size of its Xinjiang problem for fear of exposing the difficulties it faces containing the "cancer of terrorism." Since September 11, 2001, Beijing has been forced to reverse this policy due to repeated terrorist attacks. The most recent of these took... MORE