The most pertinent message of the just-ended 18th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress has perhaps come from Premier Wen Jiabao. This is despite the fact outgoing General Secretary Hu Jintao’s 101-minute Political Report to the 18th Party Congress (hereafter Report) has dominated Chinese and international... MORE

Central Committee Roundup The end of the 18th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) saw the announcement of a new Central Committee, including 205 full members and 171 alternate members (Xinhua, November 15). Although many of the selections can hardly be considered surprising... MORE

On November 15, China announced the seven members of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the 18th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee. These seven members, led by CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, will form China’s supreme ruling council for the next five years. The... MORE

It has become clear that China intends to wage a prolonged war of psychological attrition against Japan with regard to the disputed Senkaku Islands, a crisis with profound international repercussions. Russia’s position in this struggle, therefore, provides a revealing picture of its foreign policy goals... MORE

Earlier this month, a delegation from the Chinese National Defense University made an official visit to Kazakhstan, marking yet another high-profile exchange between the two countries’ defense establishments. According to Major General Yedil Urazov, the head of the military education and science department in Kazakhstan’s... MORE

On October 22, about 450 villagers threatened to destroy the offices of the Chinese company Zijin Mining Group in the village of Orlovka in northern Chui province in Kyrgyzstan. The attack occurred after a villager’s horse was killed by a staff member of the company.... MORE

In a clear but still gradual shift over the past year, Chinese policymakers have changed their stance on Afghanistan from cultivated disinterest to growing engagement. As the potential security vacuum left by Western withdrawal in 2014 comes into sharper relief, Beijing has come to realize... MORE

When Chinese President Hu Jintao met Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting this September in Russia, both leaders said they were pleased with the development of bilateral ties in recent years (Xinhua, September 8). Though relations between... MORE

China watchers in the United States have devoted the better part of this year to understanding the dynamics and vagaries of the once-a-decade power transition that will take place in China later this month. Questions surrounding whether or not the fifth generation leaders will usher... MORE

The Beijing leadership has reshuffled the high command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as the military goes through its own leadership transition separate from but linked to the 18th Party Congress beginning later this week. The move, which was announced last week, has also... MORE