
Latest China Brief Articles
CHINA RISING, AMERICA SLEEPING
The recent release of two U.S. government studies on China--the Pentagon's annual report of Chinese military strength, and the findings of the Congressional U.S.-China Security Review Commission--should come as a wake-up call to those who craft U.S. China policy. Many of those who are engaged... MORE
NEW PENTAGON REPORT: A CHANGE IN U.S. ATTITUDE
A new Department of Defense report, issued on July 12, on the growing power of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) signals a key shift in Washington's willingness to identify China as a future threat to the United States and its security interests. Russia's arms sales... MORE
CLASS WARFARE IN THE OFFING?
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam One of the biggest contradictions of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politics is that while the Jiang Zemin leadership is trying to phase out class struggle, antagonism among different sectors of society is getting more strident by the day. A highlight of... MORE
TECHNOLOGY AND TOTALITARIANISM
For technology enthusiasts who believe, or wish to believe, that information technology can help bring about the fall of totalitarianism, China is a serious disenchantment. Its economic boom began in 1992, just in time to be caught up in the crest of the Internet revolution... MORE
ANOTHER LARGE BLACK HOLE, PART II
By Gordon G. Chang How much are China's pension and other social welfare obligations? Some say they approach a trillion U.S. dollars. Give or take a couple hundred billion dollars and you define the range of what Beijing will have to pay out to its... MORE
U.S. CHINA STRATEGY: REDEFINING ENGAGEMENT
By Michael E. Marti China is seeking to become the major power in Asia by 2050. Under the rationale of its so-called New Security Concept (NSC), it is intent on replacing the United States as the preeminent military power in the region and achieving economic... MORE
ECONOMIC RECOVERY, AT A PRICE
President Jiang Zemin and his aides have given unmistakable indications that Beijing is taking a harder line on Hong Kong. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership, however, has also dangled what could be an economic lifeline for the recession-riddled Special Administrative Region (SAR). Jiang and... MORE
ANOTHER LARGE BLACK HOLE: PART I
How much do China's unfunded pension and other social security obligations amount to? Nobody knows, not even the technocrats in Beijing. There is, however, one thing that's clear: The nonpayment of pension and other welfare benefits is an explosive social issue. Tens of thousands of... MORE
TO TAKE TAIWAN, FIRST KILL A CARRIER
China's communist leadership has long anticipated that to militarily subdue democratic Taiwan it will first need to win a battle against the United States. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is now preparing for one specific, and key, battle. It is developing methods to disable or... MORE
CHINA IN THE EYE OF THE OSTRICH
What is China's magic? How does the Communist Party get away with it? Beijing exports weapons of mass destruction to dangerous states, oppresses its minorities, locks up political and religious dissidents, menaces Taiwan, looks the other way as human organs and blood are illegally secured... MORE