The expectation that China would amicably integrate into a global order defined by the West, and radically transform itself in the process, was always wishful thinking. Writing about Britain’s handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wondered if China was inheriting “a colossal Trojan horse” that over time would bring down the Beijing […]
When Muammar al-Qaddafi came in from the cold in the mid-2000s, the “mad dog” of the Middle East embarked upon top-down reforms that were friendly to international markets, investors, the United States, and Europe. Although he became the subject of sympathetic profiles in major Western media outlets, those articles almost never emphasised the fact that […]
One thing seems certain about Xi Jinping’s move to establish himself as China’s dictator for life: The bolder and more openly assertive foreign policy he has pursued since taking power five years ago is here to stay. The conventional wisdom is that the U.S., its Asian allies, and the broader international order are thus in […]
Fortunately for America and contrary to Washington conventional wisdom, the mighty-looking Chinese state is, in reality, particularly vulnerable at this moment. For one thing, its slowing economy is on the verge of a debt crisis. At the same time, Beijing, largely because of the expansive vision of its ruler, Xi Jinping, is overstretched. Read Here […]
Confidence in globalisation saw massive amounts of Western capital and intellectual property flow to emerging markets, above all to China. But few in the West registered the geopolitical significance of this at the time. Instead, they praised the economic growth story. And not without good reason: the integration of China into global markets lifted a […]
China will remove the constitutional restriction on the maximum number of terms the president and vice-president can serve, Xinhua reported, paving the way for President Xi Jinping to stay on beyond 2023. Read Here – South China Morning Post
Perhaps the clearest indication that the CCP is troubled by a confrontational United States is the imminent appointment of a veteran troubleshooter to a new post. Wang Qishan, the top ally of Chinese President Xi Jinping and former anti-corruption chief, looks set to become China’s next vice president and the point person for Sino-U.S. relations. […]
It looks like being a particularly grim Lunar New Year in the “tigers’ cage” this week. The notorious Qincheng maximum security prison houses many disgraced senior Communist Party officials – including fallen security chief Zhou Yongkang, former Chongqing boss Bo Xilai, ex-presidential aide Ling Jihua and Guo Boxiong, who was once a top general. Read […]
Members of China’s top anti-corruption agency gathered in Beijing on Thursday to set the agenda for the year ahead, with the final preparations for the creation of a “super” graft watchdog expected to be top of the agenda. The three-day closed-door meeting of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) is the first since its new […]
China’s economy begins 2018 facing what its own leaders call three years of “critical battles.” Those fights to tackle domestic debt, poverty and pollution pose a hat-trick of risks to the world’s No. 2 economy even before higher interest rates and trade war threats from the U.S. are taken into account. While the nation is starting […]
looking beyond borders 