Latest China Brief Articles

SINO-AMERICAN RELATIONS: A MATTER OF DEBATE

By Willy Wo-Lap Lam Was September 11 good for Sino-American relations? It's still a matter of hot debate among Chinese cadres and intellectuals. The so-called Mainstream Faction in Beijing thinks that the terrorist attacks on the United States and the global antiterrorist campaign could spell... MORE

NO TIME TO TAKE OUR EYES OFF TAIWAN STRAIT

While combat in Afghanistan could be the first phase in a protracted war in that region, America should not ignore other potential conflicts that could engage U.S. forces. One such conflict could be between Communist China and democratic Taiwan. Thus, as we train our sights... MORE

CHINA’S LEADERSHIP TRANSITION: IMPLICATIONS FOR AMERICA

By Michael E. Marti China is entering into a transition period as the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) prepares to hold its 16th Party Congress in the fall of 2002. At that time, most members of the current Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), the third-generation leaders--Mao... MORE

THE QDR AND CHINA

By Richard D. Fisher, Jr. On September 30 the U.S. Department of Defense released its long-awaited Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), a document that been used by successive administrations to convey its strategic military intentions. Early expectations that this QDR would be Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's blueprint... MORE

CHINA NOT YET AN ALLY

By Richard D. Fisher, Jr. While the United States is correct to seek China's assistance in what will be a long war against terrorism, it should harbor no illusions that China will share all of America's goals in this fight, or that China will cease... MORE

CHINA’S ISLAMIC CHALLENGE

By June Teufel Dreyer Reports that Chinese responded with laughter to pictures of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center are bewildering. More Chinese nationals perished in these attacks than when the United States accidentally bombed the PRC's embassy in Belgrade in 1999. Moreover, available... MORE

POST BEDAIHE: NO CONSENSUS ON PRC LEADERSHIP

By Willy Wo-Lap Lam They are never reported in the official New China News Agency. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or government spokesmen would not even confirm that the so-called Beidaihe conferences had ever been held. Yet every summer since the 1980s, senior leaders from Beijing... MORE

THE CENTRAL MILITARY COMMISSION AND NEW TRENDS IN MILITARY POLICY

By Nan Li Unless an acute CCP leadership crisis occurs in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on the scale of the Cultural Revolution or the 1989 Tiananmen Square Incident, it is not very likely that the leadership of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will play... MORE