Most people in China still fail to understand what Mao Zedong did right, and what he did wrong, argues author Zhang Lijia in the South China Morning Post. Especially now current president Xi Jinping is lending some of his legacy, an open debate is urgently due, although it is unlikely to happen.Read More →
The Turkish preference for a Chinese air defense system rocked the Western defense industry, and now US firms are hitting back, writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News.Read More →
China’s announcement to set up a defense identification zone over disputed waters in the East China Sea caught the US off guard, both was sino-US military relations had improved greatly, and it was the weekend before Thanksgiving. A known tactic, tells defense analyst Wendell Minnick in the VOA.Read More →
The reforms announced after the Third Plenum might not offer a enough to guarantee financial stability in China, writes financial specialist Sara Hsu in Triple Crisis. China’s financial authorities should focus on shadow banking, in stead of monetary tightening that could slow down economic growth.Read More →
The reform plans from president Xi Jinping asks for a notable reshuffle of power relations in China, notably from the powerful local governments to the central government. It takes “brute force”, says economist Arthur Kroeber in Bloomberg to reorganize local finances.Read More →
One of the reasons corruption in China is hard to eradicate is because everybody is guilty. Author Zhang Lijia describes for CNN how her family ended up bribing corrupt officials in Nanjing.Read More →
China’s recent history had a fair share of man-made disasters, including the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution. The few years after the 1949 revolution have always been considered to be a golden period. Wrong, says Frank Dikotter in a recent book, The Tragedy of Liberation. Author Zhang Lijia disagrees with him at the BBC.Read More →
Author Zhang Lijia looked for the BBC World Service back at the Bo Xilai thriller, an event that kept many Chinese glued to their computer screens, mobiles and sometimes even TV-screens. Some of the motives behind an unprecedented open political trial.Read More →
Japan is quietly trying to repair its relationship with China, as it is not longer sure in the cause of a conflict, it will be backed by the United States, writes the Japan Times. Author Howard French analyses how Japan deals with this new uncertainty in international relations.Read More →
When Chinese dissidents moved in the past to the US, whatever influence they had in their home country would fade away. But the blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng is different, discovered author and friend Zhang Lijia in visits to his home town and in calls to the US, she writes in the New York Times. Read More →
As the conflict about the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands heats up yet another time, it is useful to recognized the meaning of the signals Beijing is sending out. Military analyst Wendell Minnick picked up for Defense News some reading tips from Taiwanese Defense experts.Read More →
Military analyst Wendell Minnick discusses in Defense Newsthe emerging US “AirSea Battle doctrine and the so-called Asia Pivot, many in the Asia-Pacific are asking for clarification on a subject that could involve them in an unnecessary war with China.” A review of a paper by Benjamin Schreer, a senior analyst for Defence Strategy at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.Read More →