
Latest Articles about China and the Asia-Pacific

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

China’s Espionage Against Taiwan (Part I): Analysis of Recent Operations
The last few weeks put Chinese espionage against Taiwan back into the headlines with a series of arrests and sentencing pronouncements. In the first week of October, a Taiwanese court sentenced Vice Admiral Ko Cheng-sheng, a former deputy commander of the Navy, to 14 months... MORE

Regional Maneuvering Precedes Obama-Xi Meeting at APEC Summit
As we approach this month’s 22nd Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Beijing, relations between China and the United States stand at a tipping point. On the one hand, Beijing and Washington still cooperate on certain issues related to renewable energy, Islamist terrorism, global... MORE

A Family Divided: The CCP’s Central Ethnic Work Conference
For over a decade, academics and policymakers have been engaged in an unusually public and at times ad hominem debate over the future direction of China’s ethnic policies. [1] A group of maverick Chinese thinkers claim current policies engender disunity and could cause China to... MORE

Sino-Indian Joint Military Exercises: Out of Step
The Indian and Chinese militaries will participate in joint counter-terrorism exercises on November 16–27, in the western Indian city of Pune. The exercises will quickly follow Chinese President Xi Jinping’s three-day visit to India in September, which was intended as an economic summit with Indian... MORE

Beijing Prepares for APEC Summit Amid Possible Sino-Japanese Thaw
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s meetings with Chinese Minster of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi in Boston on October 17–18 marked the end of preparations by senior-level officials for the 22nd Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and turned the attention to the leaders’ meetings... MORE

China’s ‘Eternal Prosperity’: Is Island Expansion a Precursor to South China Sea ADIZ?
The expansion of a military airstrip and high-level visit from China’s naval chief this month have put a small island in the middle of the South China Sea back in the international media limelight (Xinhua, October 7; Global Times, October 16). Woody Island, known in... MORE

Hong Kong After the Revolution
The ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong—known as the “Occupy Central Movement” or the “Umbrella Revolution”—have fundamentally changed the relationship between the central government in Beijing and the Special Administrative Region (SAR). For the first time since Hong Kong’s sovereignty reverted to China in 1997,... MORE

China’s Railway Diplomacy in the Balkans
In November 2013, China, Serbia and Hungary signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of the Hungaro-Serbian High-Speed Railway (HSR), connecting Belgrade and Budapest by rail to facilitate transporting Chinese exports from Greek ports to European markets. First proposed by Beijing in February... MORE

The End of the Road for Xi’s Mass Line Campaign: An Assessment
The end of the mass line campaign’s second phase this month provides an opportunity to understand more clearly what has been happening politically at the grassroots level in China over the last year. The Chinese press has reported at length on the crackdown against Chinese... MORE