With austerity the reigning buzzword in Beijing, it’s tempting to assume that China is finally joining the West’s ongoing debate about macroeconomics. In reality, China’s leaders are drawing on a vastly different intellectual history. Read Here – Foreign Affairs
If Chinese leaders hope that the trial will put an end to the most sordid political scandal since the death of Mao Zedong, however, they are wrong. They will no longer speak of Bo after he is dispatched to the infamous Qincheng Prison outside Beijing, where the Communist Party imprisons disgraced senior officials. The questions raised […]
In recent years, China has developed a much more assertive maritime policy. But it would be a dangerous mistake for its neighbors to see an arms race where none currently exists. Read Here – Foreign Affairs
As NATO forces continue the process of withdrawing from Afghanistan, the People’s Republic of China finds itself in a conundrum. With tensions flaring throughout the Asia-Pacific, in part because of a more aggressive Chinese foreign policy, the last thing Beijing wants is to face a security risk along its western border. Read Here – The DIplomat
The reality is China’s official urban unemployment rate has long been a near-worthless measure. Even during the global financial crisis in 2009, when tens of millions of workers in China’s export factories lost their jobs, the official rate barely stirred, and it has been moving between just under 4 percent and 4.3 percent for most […]
To be sure, Chinese leaders would prefer balanced high growth to low growth. However, the current leadership is aware of the enormous risks of allowing highly distorted growth to continue. Since 2008, Beijing has maintained growth with a massive injection of credit, much of it invested in speculative real estate, excessive industrial capacity, and infrastructure […]
Chinese state-run media is reporting that the People’s Liberation Army Air Force has modified one of its planes — what appears to be a Y-8 airlifter (basically, Beijing‘s version of the U.S.-made C-130 Hercules) — to carry the kind of broadcast equipment capable of taking over a country’s radio and TV channels. It’s another sign that […]
China‘s reform-minded leaders are more willing than ever to raise the pain threshold for the economy to push through long-term reforms, despite a protracted slowdown that has sparked calls for looser monetary policy. Read Here – Reuters
Instead of joining the race to commercially exploit this pristine region, New Delhi must use its position in the regional council to push for a global mechanism to prevent an unseemly gold rush. Read Here – The Hindu
In a season of odd news from China—remember the floating pigs?—this was just another bizarre story: A U.S. businessman was held captive by his Chinese workers after they discovered his plan to shift production to India. Charles Starnes, chief executive officer of Coral Springs (Fla.)-based Specialty Medical Supplies, is a free man again, leaving the grounds of his […]
looking beyond borders 