Latest Articles about China and the Asia-Pacific

China-Taiwan: An Intelligence Detente?

The ruling party in Taiwan, the Kuomintang (KMT), is engulfed in another intelligence-related gaffe. A string of domino-like events that began with a report in the United Daily News, one of Taiwan's major newspapers with close ties to the ruling party, which reported that a... MORE

China’s 2008 Defense White Paper: The View from Taiwan

Beijing published the 2008 edition of "China’s National Defense" (hereafter White Paper) on the cusp of U.S. President Barack Obama's historic inauguration on January 20th. The past three editions (2002, 2004, and 2006) of the White Paper were all published in the final month of... MORE

Beijing’s Responses to Falling Oil Prices

Oil and other commodity prices have been declining as major economies of the world go into a recession, but the Chinese are now more convinced than ever that their country had very little to do with the sharp climb and subsequent nose dive of oil... MORE

Personnel Changes in PLA Ranks: Chen Xiaogong

The top-brass of the Chinese leadership started the Lunar New Year on a sprint. The year of the ox, which began on January 26 in the Gregorian calendar, was marked by fervent planning for Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s trip to the World Economic Forum in... MORE

New Advances in PLA Battlefield Aerospace and ISR

A profound transformation is taking place in Chinese battlefield aerospace, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLAs) xinxihua zhanchang (informationalized battlefield) program is assisting its armed forces in attaining information domination on the battlefield.   As part of this program, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems are undergoing... MORE

Recent Trends in Russo-Chinese Military Relations

The Russo-Chinese relationship is a multi-dimensional one.  Thus progress in each aspect of those ties is uneven.  For instance, Russia has consistently failed to satisfy China’s demands for energy, which Russia regards as being excessively one-sided insofar as the apportionment of benefits is concerned.  China... MORE

Commodity Flux and China’s Africa Strategy

The commodity price decline has revealed to the Africans something of the nature of their friends.  During the commodity price boom, China invested massively in Africa seeking to lock up as many raw materials as possible.  Some in academia spoke confidently of China having a... MORE