In a Fortnight
NPC Meeting Touts New Silk Road as New Driver for Economic Growth
China’s parliamentary showcase, the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), collectively known as the “two sessions,” took place in Beijing earlier this month and set the country’s governing agenda for the... MORE
The New Silk Road and Latin America: Will They Ever Meet?
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s New Silk Road stretches over 8,000 miles from China to Europe, traversing the Eurasian land mass and even touching Africa, but notably excludes one continent on the other side of the world—Latin America. President Xi’s landmark initiative, also known as “one... MORE
Dispatch from Beijing: PLA Writings on the New Silk Road
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “New Silk Road” has become a signature policy initiative, with over 50 countries participating and a new $40 billion Silk Road Fund to ensure its success (see China Brief, December 19, 2014; Xinhua, February 5). First espoused in 2013 by President... MORE
U.S. Suggestion For Japanese Patrols in South China Sea Prompts ADIZ Threat
A recent U.S. suggestion for Japanese patrols in the South China Sea has elicited a sharp rebuttal by the Chinese government and reignited Chinese media discussion of a South China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). In a strongly worded editorial the next day, the... MORE
Obama’s State of the Union “A Mix of Love and Hate” Toward China
On January 20, U.S. President Barack Obama gave his second to last State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress, striking out a bold vision for his last two years in office. While the speech mainly focused on domestic issues, especially the economy and... MORE
Chinese Public Opinion and North Korea: Will Anger Lead to Policy Change?
North Korea’s suspected role in the November 2014 cyber attack on Sony Pictures, a Japanese-owned film studio in Hollywood, has once again dragged China into a discussion of its role in and responsibility for preventing or limiting North Korea’s provocations. Recent revelations of desperate North... MORE
China’s Foreign Policy in 2014: A Year to Harvest Partnerships and the Silk Road
On December 11, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave his annual speech encapsulating China’s foreign policy successes over the last year (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, December 11). He highlighted China’s growing role in the global economy, its economic outreach through new multilateral institutions, peripheral diplomacy... MORE
Taiwan’s “Vote of No Confidence” For KMT (and China Too)
Taiwan’s largest election ever, on November 29, led to a rousing, if not expected, defeat of Taiwan’s governing and pro-status quo party, the Kuomintang (KMT), by the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), dealing a crushing blow to Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou’s administration. Moreover, the election... MORE
Special Issue on China’s Fourth Plenum
As Editor, I have the distinct pleasure of introducing a special issue of China Brief, focused on the Chinese Communist Party’s Fourth Plenum and its theme of yifazhiguo, often translated as the “rule of law,” though, as one contributor notes, the term is better translated... MORE
China Cynical over U.S. Midterm Elections, But Expects Policy Continuity
On Tuesday, November 4, the United States held its 2014 midterm elections and voted the Republican Party into the majority in the U.S. Senate, giving them control of both houses in Congress and, as Chinese analysts noted, a major political victory. The overall Chinese response... MORE