Russia has pledged to expand its trade with China but commercial ties between the two nations remains focused on energy. During his trip to China for the BRICS summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), on April 13, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged to... MORE

China released its latest national defense White Paper on March 31. The document, entitled China’s National Defense in 2010, is the seventh that the Chinese government has released since 1998 when it began publishing the biannual defense White Papers [1]. Like all of China’s defense... MORE

The third anniversary of Taiwan’s landmark 2008 presidential election, which brought the Kuomintang (KMT) back to power, is approaching. Since Ma Ying-Jeou’s inauguration in 2008, Taiwan has made significant progress in improving relations with China and in expanding cross-Strait economic interpenetration. A review of the... MORE

Japan has been dealt a number of blows over the past few years which have put the country’s high-tech production capacity at risk. Most recently the massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan in March has directly affected production efforts through rolling blackouts and... MORE

The appointment earlier this month of Su Shulin, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary and general manager of Sinopec, as acting governor of Fujian Province highlighted the growing clout of the Energy Faction in Chinese politics. Senior executives of the Big Three yangqi (or centrally-controlled firms)... MORE

China will soon be one-step closer to its long-standing quest to operate an aircraft carrier. Various reports confirmed that the aircraft carrier Varyag, which China purchased from Ukraine and has been under refurbishment at the port of Dalian, may be set for sea trials this... MORE

The sporadic confrontations that punctuated the past two years in the China seas subsided for a time. Senior U.S. military officials depicted the lull as a temporary, tactical retreat from the assertive stance Beijing assumed on such controversies as conflicting maritime territorial claims, foreign naval... MORE

The nuclear crises at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in neighboring Japan that began with the March 11 earthquake and tsunami has induced the Chinese government to pause and perhaps moderate its civilian nuclear buildup. Describing safety as its top priority, the State Council... MORE

China has the largest labor force in the world. In recent years, new strains have emerged in China’s labor supply that raise concerns about the country's economic growth mode. The shortage of migrant workers that gripped the Pearl River Delta region and the coastal areas... MORE

The protests and revolutions that are sweeping across North Africa since the beginning of 2011 pose a serious test for Chinese diplomacy. The circumstances forced Chinese diplomats to adapt quickly to the unfolding situation, a measure Beijing has been adept at doing elsewhere in Africa... MORE