With the 17th Party Congress less than one month away, an increasing number of Chinese scholars have come out in support of political liberalization in China. Most recently, in an interview with the PRC-owned Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao, Wang Guixiu, a professor at... MORE

Chinese preparations for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) "Peace Mission 2007" joint military exercises have now been completed. Some 1,600 Chinese military personnel have been transported across Russia to the military base in Chebarkul in the Chelyabinsk region (Jiefangjun Bao, August 2; ITAR-TASS, August 4).... MORE

The July 10 execution of Zheng Xiaoyu, the former director of China's State Food and Drug Administration, has catalyzed a debate in China regarding its use of the death penalty. While there is a general public consensus that Zheng deserved to be executed for accepting... MORE

Seeking to assure his Chinese hosts that Australia's increasing military cooperation with the United States and Japan was not aimed at containing China, Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson stated that "Australia stands ready to work more closely with China" (China Daily, July 10). In a... MORE

Seeking to assure his Chinese hosts that Australia's increasing military cooperation with the United States and Japan was not aimed at containing China, Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson stated that "Australia stands ready to work more closely with China" (China Daily, July 10). In a... MORE

According to unidentified officials from Chinese oil majors, China's remaining two of four strategic oil reserve bases will begin to be filled with oil sometime within the next year. One based in Huangdao, Shandong province will start to be filled by the end of 2007,... MORE