While recent Pentagon and Congressional reports on Sino-American relations noted the military trends threatening war between China and Taiwan, too little attention is paid to the political underpinnings of China's policies towards Taiwan, which make war in the Taiwan Straits more likely, even inevitable. When... MORE

"Pigs, chickens, cows--there were corpses everywhere, including people," said Zhao Zhengwu, a soybean grower and resident of Guangming. Guangming, some 40 miles south of Wuhan, was inundated in the great floods of 1998 and has not fully recovered. "We used to be able to grow... MORE

The damage has already been done. Whether Jiang Zemin will give up all his positions at the 16th Communist Party Congress aside, his efforts at recycling dynastic politics over the past several months have turned the clock back on reform. Many of the questions surrounding... MORE

Beijing is fighting AIDS, but it prefers to fight AIDS activists. And shut down clinics to help the Chinese people afflicted by the disease, the worst in human history. This June the United Nations released its landmark report on AIDS in the People's Republic, "China's... MORE

By Thomas Woodrow China's announcement in late August of a regime of export controls for missiles, missile-related items and technologies is a victory of sorts for U.S. diplomacy but likely will do little to stem continuing Chinese sales of such technologies. It also does nothing... MORE

By Jonathan Mirsky Recent accounts of Chinese tourists in Tibet revive one of my clearest memories: the coarse behaviour of the Chinese during my six visits to the region between 1982 and 1990. It is as traditionally pious for Tibetans to walk clockwise in sacred... MORE

At the most important defense show in the Middle East, a major American company was demonstrating its missile defense plans and achievements using a VCR and a large TV monitor. Waiting until the lunch hour, when the American exhibit was down to one person, a... MORE

By Willy Wo-Lap Lam Hawkish officers in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have cited Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's remarks on the island's statehood and its readiness for a referendum on the issue to urge an early "liberation" of Taiwan. Chen's statements could also buttress the... MORE

"To them we are like bubbles," says Xie Yan, referring to officials in her village. "They know if they turn away and ignore us, we will soon pop and be gone." The mother of three lost her husband recently. Suffering from severe headaches and nausea... MORE

By Mark Simon Three problems with non-elected leaders are how they get in, how they stay in and how they go out. In this world, Jiang Zemin was actually a bit ahead of par in how he came in and how he has stayed. Yet... MORE