Ever since the Six-Party Talks to denuclearize North Korea began in 2003, Russia has relentlessly searched for a way to prove its importance to all the other players, which also include South Korea, Japan, the United States and China. Indeed, a major driver of Russian... MORE

During the September 12 meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), in Vladivostok, Russia and Mongolia, together with China, Japan, and South Korea, signed a number of hydrocarbon production and supply agreements designed to accelerate development of regional energy supply infrastructure in Northeast Asia. Mongolian... MORE

In the last issue of China Brief, this column examined the case of Huarong Asset Management, a major PRC financial firm, whose fortunes nose-dived after its chairman Lai Xiaomin (赖小民) was detained in a corruption probe. Most media coverage of Lai’s downfall speculated that he... MORE

As the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and the People’s Liberation Army Naval Aviation (PLAN Aviation) prepare for more challenging missions and continue to integrate more advanced aviation platforms into their inventory, their need for talented and experienced pilots and aviators is increasing. To... MORE

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long claimed that only it can lead the Chinese people to prosperity. This claim underlies Deng Xiaoping’s famous saying that China must “grab with both hands, grasping firmly with both” (两手抓, 两手都要硬). Implied in Deng’s message is that the... MORE

A new agreement between the PRC and the Vatican on the joint appointment of bishops demonstrates that the administration of CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping appears to have won a modicum of international approval for its domestic religious policy. The deal went forward despite substantial... MORE

An August 31 hearing of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) marked the first appearance of Hu Lianhe (胡联合; literally, “Hu the Uniter”) on the global stage. Until recently Hu, one of the leading figures of a new generation of... MORE

After the week-long Vostok 2018 large-scale Russian strategic maneuvers ended on September 17 and the initial hot takes went to press, the Russian blog Naspravdi rebutted Western observations, declaring, “[I]f we consider that America, from time immemorial has only understood the language of power, I... MORE

Russia holds a major operational-strategic military exercise annually. And this year’s Vostok 2018 war game, which ran from September 11 to 17, received considerable foreign attention due both to its reported size, cast as the largest since Zapad 1981, and the inclusion of forces from... MORE

Contrary to popular perception, the Chinese Communist Party’s control over online discourse is not absolute; complete control would be impractical in a country as large, diverse, and dynamic as the PRC. In reality, China’s internet is a battlefield, upon which aggrieved socioeconomic groups renegotiate social... MORE