
In a Fortnight

The Beidou Satellite Network and the “Space Silk Road” in Eurasia
Author’s note: This article was informed by research and analysis on the PRC’s Beidou satellite program conducted by Pointe Bello, a strategic intelligence and advisory firm. Introduction On June 23, a Long March-3B carrier rocket was successfully launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in... MORE

The CCP Politburo Holds Its First Collective Study Session for 2020
Introduction On May 29, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo held its first “collective study” (集体学习, jiti xuexi) session for the year 2020. It is unusual that the first of these events took place only near the mid-point of the year: in recent years, these... MORE

Themes from the CPPCC Signal the End of Hong Kong Autonomy—and the Effective End of the “One Country, Two Systems” Framework
Introduction The annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), known collectively as the “Two Sessions” (两会, Liang Hui), are the biggest official events on the annual political calendar of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Usually... MORE

China’s Long March Rocket Program Sees Both Dramatic Successes and Failures in Spring 2020
Introduction The early months of 2020 have seen a number of significant launches for the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s Long March series of rockets (长征系列运载火箭, Chang Zheng xilie yunzai huojian). The venerable—but steadily evolving—Long March series dates its active history back to China’s first... MORE

Beijing Promotes “National Security” Measures to Seek Tighter Control Over Hong Kong
Introduction: Beijing’s Personnel Appointments and Advocacy of “Patriotic Education” Luo Huining (骆惠宁) was appointed in January 2020 as Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (中央人民政府驻香港特别行政区联络办公室, Zhongyang Renmin Zhengfu Zhu Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu Lianluo Bangongshi)... MORE

Epidemic-Related Unrest and the CCP’s Reinforced Political Loyalty Indoctrination for China’s Police
Introduction: A Riot on the Border of Epidemic-Wracked Hubei Province The central Chinese city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province, was the original epicenter from which the COVID-19 viral outbreak first emerged in November-December 2019. Hubei Province was placed under a strict lockdown in mid-January that... MORE

Military Activity and Political Signaling in the Taiwan Strait in Early 2020
Introduction On March 16, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force aircraft conducted a set of unusual nighttime sorties over the sea to the southwest of Taiwan. At least one KJ-500 airborne early warning and control (AEWC) aircraft and an undisclosed number of J-11 FLANKER-L jet... MORE

China’s Other Viral Crisis: African Swine Fever and the State Effort to Stabilize Pork Prices
Introduction Since January, much of the international news coverage surrounding the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been dominated by the story of the COVID-19 outbreak—a previously unknown coronavirus that first manifested in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in early December, and which has... MORE

Beijing Purges Wuhan: The CCP Central Authorities Tighten Political Control Over Hubei Province
Introduction: The CCP Center Presses a Positive Narrative About Its Response to COVID-19 Following a slow reaction to the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, since late January the zhongyang (中央), or central authorities, of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have conducted a concerted public... MORE

The CCP’s New Leading Small Group for Countering the Coronavirus Epidemic—and the Mysterious Absence of Xi Jinping
Editor’s Note: Recent issues of China Brief have presented two articles that analyzed aspects of the Chinese government’s response to the outbreak of a previously unknown coronavirus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan (The State Response to a Mystery Viral Outbreak in Central China,... MORE