Latest China Brief Articles

NATIONAL PEOPLE’S CONGRESS: POPULARITY AND POWER

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

TERRORISTS FOR DEMOCRACY, PART II

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

NORTH KOREA: A “PROXY” NUCLEAR STATE?

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

OSAMA BIN LADEN IN CHINA

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

TERRORISTS FOR DEMOCRACY, PART I

Politics itself is immoral and dirty. We have to use immoral, dirty means to overthrow this regime. Then we can set up a moral and clean regime. --Peng Ming Peng Ming hopes to bring democracy to China, but he does not ask Beijing for the... MORE

NATIONAL PEOPLE’S CONGRESS MANEUVERS: JIANG ON TOP

Major personnel decisions to be made at the ongoing First Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) will have fateful consequences for the factional balance within the Chinese Communist Party. Outgoing President Jiang Zemin will have his staying power confirmed through gaining yet another... MORE

EVOLVING GROUND FORCE THREAT TO TAIWAN

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government of Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian has a number of sound strategic and political reasons for trying to shift its previous army-dominated defense priorities to a new emphasis on joint-forces approaches that stress missile, air and naval defenses. However, the... MORE

BEIJING: BLOCKADE BUSTER?

By Gordon G. Chang Will Kim Jong Il just slam down the phone on China's president, Jiang Zemin? That's what Beijing wants us to think. "If Kim tells Jiang he is going to test a nuclear weapon unless Jiang gives him more aid, what do... MORE

THE DRAGON IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

In the fall of 1950 the Chinese People's Liberation Army began its invasion and conquest of the Tibet Plateau. Since that time, outside attention has quite properly focused on the suffering of the Tibetan people. A million Tibetans, one person in six, died as a... MORE