Latest Articles about Domestic/Social
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China’s New Property Tax: Toward a Stable Financial Future for Local Government?
Just over a year ago, the Chinese government took the unprecedented step of launching a trial property tax in response to rising real estate prices. Since the mid-2000s in China, real estate prices have been going through the roof. In 2010, home prices in Shanghai... MORE
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The Dalai Lama Card Reappears in Sino-Mongolian Relations
The mid-November 2011 surprise four-day visit to Mongolia of the 14th Dalai Lama reignited simmering Chinese worries about how the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader is using and is being used by its northern neighbor and important mineral trade partner. From China’s perspective, the Dalai Lama’s... MORE
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Hu Jintao Draws Blood with the Wang Lijun Scandal
After apparently engineering the contretemps that have hit Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai, President Hu Jintao is putting additional pressure on other members of the Gang of Princelings—the political faction composed of senior cadres’ offspring. The political fortunes of Bo, the high-profile son of Chinese... MORE
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Another Lei Feng Revival: Making Maoism Safe for China
Chinese political culture contains a lot of dangerous ideas for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This may go a long ways toward explaining Beijing’s fickle relationship with Confucius as a symbol of Chinese culture and, now, with the trappings of Maoism. While criticism of Chongqing’s... MORE
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Insurgency Related Incidents Reported in Dagestan and Ingushetia
A police colonel was assassinated today (March 2) in Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala. The victim, identified as 51-year-old Magomed Musaev, the deputy head of the criminal investigation department in Makhachkala’s Sovietsky district, was shot by unidentified attackers as he drove to work. According to initial reports,... MORE
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Dagestan Rebel Movement Undergoes Leadership Changes as Radicalization Deepens
The death of yet another Dagestani rebel leader this month passed unnoticed against the backdrop of bloody fighting in the border area between Chechnya and Dagestan last week. Like the killings of previous Dagestani insurgent leaders, the latest killing will have little impact on the... MORE
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Massive Repression of the Prodemocracy Opposition May Begin Next Week
In the last days before his seemingly inevitable reelection for a third 6-year term as president on March 4, Vladimir Putin aggressively attacked internal and external enemies. In the last of a series of seven lengthy articles Putin described his future presidential foreign policy agenda... MORE
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“Georgian Dream” Attack Georgia’s NATO Mission in Afghanistan
On February 20-26, Georgia marked “Occupation Week,” commemorating the Red Army’s February 1921 occupation of the Georgian Democratic Republic and the latter’s annexation by Soviet Russia. Public events were held in memory of Georgia’s first democratic republic, the victims of the 1921 and 2008 Russian... MORE
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Russian Security Services Allege Chechen Rebels Plotted Assassination of Vladimir Putin
On February 27, Russian state television’s Channel One announced that the Russian and Ukrainian security services had thwarted a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The attack allegedly was supposed to take place soon after the March 4 Russian presidential election. Members of the... MORE
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Ukrainian President Yanukovych Continues to Reshuffle Government
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych continues reshuffling his government with an eye to the parliamentary election scheduled for October 28. Political lightweights are being replaced with heavyweights and individuals personally loyal to Yanukovych. At the same time, the transfer of the influential election campaign manager for... MORE