
Latest Articles about China and the Asia-Pacific

Moonshot vs. Long March: Contrasting the United States’s and China’s Space Programs
On the morning of November 2, 2023, the Gobi Desert's silence was shattered: From a remote launchpad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (中国酒泉卫 星发射中心), the Hyperbola-2 (双曲线二号), a slender rocket bearing the iSpace emblem (星际荣耀), surged upwards, before gracefully alighting back on Earth (iSpace... MORE

China’s “Important Data” Regime Challenges Global Norms
China has recently launched a series of provincial “data security escort” special action campaigns (数安护航”专项行动) to speed implementation of a new regulatory regime that focuses on the identification and protection of a specific subset of data known as “important data” (重要数据) (GDCENN, October 26; Anquan... MORE

Chinese PSCs: Achievements, Prospects, and Future Endeavors
Executive Summary Along with their clear internal (domestic) needs, Chinese private security companies (PSCs) have been spotted operating in virtually all major regions around the world. These entities currently play a marginal role in the promotion and protection of Chinese interests abroad, though they will... MORE

TPNPB Rebels Adopt New Tactics in Indonesia’s West Papua Province
On August 28, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) killed a Papuan social worker, Michelle Kurisi Doga (suara.com, August 31). The group alleged that she was collecting data on Papuan refugees and mapping out TPNPB camps for Indonesia’s security forces in the restive territory... MORE

Caspian Sea Drying Up, Forcing Coastal Countries to Respond
The Caspian Sea is in danger of drying up. On June 7, government officials in the coastal city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, released a statement declaring a natural state of emergency for the maritime industry due to the sea’s low water levels (Facebook.com/Aktau_Press, June 7; Eurasianet,... MORE

Russia and China Develop New Grain Corridor
During the most recent Belt and Road summit in Beijing, Russia agreed to supply China with 70 million tons of grain, legumes, and oilseeds worth 2.5 trillion rubles (about $25.7 billion) over the next 12 years (TASS, October 17). Head of the Russian company New... MORE

Russia Tries and Fails to Gain a Foothold in Asia-Pacific
Few prospects worry Moscow more than a potential reduction of tensions between the United States and China. Such a development, even if half-hearted and temporary, would threaten a curtailment of Beijing’s support for Russia in the international arena—at least from Moscow’s perspective. The Asia-Pacific Economic... MORE

The Cross-Strait Intelligence Contest Continues Without Quarter
Last week, the Taiwan High Court found retired air force Colonel Liu Sheng-shu (劉聖恕) and five serving military officers guilty of espionage for China. The court sentenced Colonel Liu and two of his co-conspirators to approximately 20 years in prison, marking some of the harshest... MORE

Issues of Centralization, From Financial Work To Personnel
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping called for tighter Party and state control of the financial sector in the quinquennial Central Financial Work Conference that ended in Beijing on October 31 (Xinhua, October 31). All seven Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) members as well... MORE

Challenges For Beijing’s Digital Renminbi Ambitions
Arriving in the midst of an intensifying great power competition between China and the United States, the digital Renminbi (RMB) has been the subject of intense speculation and hype since its launch in October 2020, mostly from observers outside of China who overstate its potential... MORE