Can China Save Afghanistan?

As Afghan President Ashraf Ghani wraps up his state visit to China this week, Beijing is preparing to host a bevy of international leaders for the fourth ministerial meeting of the Istanbul Process. With U.S. and NATO forces preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan, the future of the war-torn country may […]



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Chinese Combat Drones: Ready to Go Global?

In November of every other year, aviation experts descend on the Chinese city of Zhuhai for a rare look at the future of China's air power. Over the last ten years, the International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition have charted the progress of China's drone fleet from concept art to functioning […]



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The U.S. Should Not Fear Competing With China

On October 24, 21 Asian nations signed a memorandum to form a new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, to be drawn on considerable Chinese funds. Behind the scenes, Washington had been trying to discourage South Korea and Australia from accepting a Chinese invitation to be among the founders. The effort was […]



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Hong Kong protests lay minefield for business

Hong Kong’s protesters have laid a minefield for big business. The city’s democracy debate is a deeply divisive issue. For companies, keeping quiet is less risky than expressing an opinion guaranteed to irk customers and staff or strain relations with Beijing. It’s even harder for individual employees who must tread […]



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China’s Missing Babies

In one of the signature reform measures of his early presidency, Xi Jinping declared last November that China’s notorious “one-child” policy would become a “two-child” policy for couples where either husband or wife was an only child. While the change didn’t abolish the often brutally enforced population control measure, it […]



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Plenum Opens New Chapter for the Rule of Law in China

For the first time in history, the Communist Party of China made the rule of law the central focus of the Fourth Plenum of the 18th Central Committee. As Chen Qun explains, there are three reasons why this issue became the central theme of this year’s plenary session.



Chen Qun, Former VP, China Law Press via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/106kVpg

The Time Is Right for An APEC Community

The theme of this year’s APEC summit is “Shaping the Future Through an Asia-Pacific Partnership.” APEC leaders will chart the policies and principles for APEC integration, push for the creation of a free trade zone, and work to speed up connectivity and innovative cooperation.



Wang Yusheng, Executive Director, China Foundation for Int'l Studies via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1sO63Cv

Planet Earth Beware: China is Addicted to Cheap Coal

A recent paper in Nature says that “no other country is investing so much money or generating so much renewable energy” as China. “Its build-up of renewable energy systems at serious scale is driving cost reductions that will make them accessible to all.” The International Energy Agency reckons China accounts […]



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China’s Push for an Asia-Pacific Free Trade Agreement

China’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that he expects November’s APEC summit to take up the issue of creating an Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area (also known as a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, or FTAAP). FTAAP would mesh with China’s strategy of promoting regional integration – and would provide […]



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The Age-Old Sino-Indian Contest for South Asia

The new Indian government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pursued its foreign policy with exceptional vigor. One bout of “fast track” diplomacy came to an end with his euphoric visit to the U.S. and another has just begun with Modi hosting Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The […]



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What is China’s CPPCC and How to Get Kicked Out of It

The ouster of Hong Kong lawmaker James Tien from the Chinese government’s top advisory body leaves him out of one of China’s most prestigious clubs, where actors hobnob with billionaires, and everyone hopes to get close to the top politicians. Mr. Tien was dismissed on Wednesday by the Chinese People’s […]



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The Deepening Divide in U.S.-China Cyber Relations

Recent revelations by a group of security researchers of another China-based hacking group, reportedly more sophisticated than Unit 61398, is likely to set off the usual recriminations and denials, but have very little impact on the U.S.-China bilateral relationship. The Chinese embassy has already responded that “these kinds of reports […]



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Fine law for good governance

Top leader Xi Jinping has quoted from Francis Bacon's essay, Of Judicature, for the second time: "One foul sentence doth more hurt, than many foul examples. For these do but corrupt the stream, the other corrupteth the fountain." Like the last time, he quoted Bacon this time too to emphasize […]



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Squaring the Circle: Rule According to Law in A One-party State

In the Communist Party of China Central Committee’s 4th Plenum, reform of the legal system was the focus of the meeting. Minxin Pei analyzes the “Major Decisions” document and examines the challenges facing Xi Jinping as he puts forth a new concept of “rule according to law.”



Minxin Pei, Professor, Claremont McKenna College via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1rUTc1Z

China’s Best Play with the US and Its Asian Neighbors

How can Beijing manage relations with both the United States and its regional neighbors in the Asia-Pacific? Shi Yinhong examines China’s foreign policy and offers insight into both US-China relations and China’s relationship with other Asian nations.



Shi Yinhong, Professor, Renmin University via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1p545CU

Beijing, We Have a Problem

Call it a mark of maturity. Without much fanfare, China launched an unmanned, unnamed spacecraft on Oct. 24, possibly paving the way for a more sophisticated moon vehicle in 2017. But this milestone comes less than a month after India's celebrated Mars mission reached its destination. In the court of […]



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China Should Do More to Keep Peace in Middle East, Says Former US Envoy

A top U.S. specialist in Middle Eastern affairs has called on China to work with the United States in maintaining stability in the volatile region and helping calm global oil markets. Martin Indyk, a former American ambassador to Israel and now vice president at the Brookings Institution, said that China […]



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Taking Back Hong Kong’s Future

Tuesday night marked one month since the day Hong Kong’s police attacked peaceful pro-democracy protesters with tear gas and pepper spray, inadvertently inspiring thousands more people to occupy the streets for the right to freely elect Hong Kong’s leaders. I was being detained by the police on that day, Sept. […]



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Xi Jinping Turns the Screws on Taiwan

Not unlike other authoritarian and totalitarian regimes throughout history, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has always had a paranoid streak, whose stridency has ebbed and flowed according to the times. In periods of high instability, such as during the Cultural Revolution, the CCP leadership went to extraordinary lengths to eliminate […]



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Overcoming ‘Abnormal Normality’ in the US-China Relationship

The China-U.S. relationship is undoubtedly one of the most important and unique bilateral relationships in contemporary world politics. Hence, any change or even fine tuning of the Sino-U.S. relationship can result in substantial consequences for nearby countries or even the world. The importance of this relationship comes from the size […]



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The Changing Role of Chinese Women

Through the personal accounts of three generations of woman, Lijia Zhang recalls the immense women’s progress in the workplace, family, and society. However, Zhang stresses that there is a long way to go to achieve equality, and describes current actions young feminists are taking in China.



Lijia Zhang Writer, Journalist and Public Speaker via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/100p5hW

Restructuring the Relationship between the State, Market and Society in China

The Chinese Communist Party has decided that modernizing its state governance system will be the general goal of reform in the near future. This is of great theoretical and practical significance for China’s political development, writes Yu Keping.



Yu Keping, Deputy Director, CPCCC Compilation and Translation Bureau via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1zGSNcy

Hong Kong protests reach polite impasse

The most surprising thing about Hong Kong’s pro-democracy campaigners is that they are still there. A month after a small group of students stormed a space outside the government’s head office, the protests now known as the “umbrella movement” have confounded predictions of chaos, apathy or a violent crackdown by […]



Reuters via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/eZK6h2hB39o/

Xi Jinping Turns the Screws on Taiwan

Not unlike other authoritarian and totalitarian regimes throughout history, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has always had a paranoid streak, whose stridency has ebbed and flowed according to the times. In periods of high instability, such as during the Cultural Revolution, the CCP leadership went to extraordinary lengths to eliminate […]



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Chinese Water Management: Supply, Demand, and a Changing Climate

Like the United States, India, and other nations, the guarantee and distribution of fresh water to meet the needs of population growth, industrial agriculture, and changing climatological circumstance has relied on massive, centrally-planned water schemes — combinations of dams, reservoirs, pipelines, and canals — to accumulate water in areas where […]



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China’s APEC Challenge: Clearing the Air

In two weeks, leaders from both sides of the Pacific Ocean will converge in Beijing for the 22nd annual APEC Economic Leader’s Meeting. Beijing has made no secret of the importance it places on this summit; the successful hosting of this international event will be another symbol of China’s national […]



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A fight that has to be won

The signal from the Fourth Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party is clear: The Party has felt the acute need of highlighting the authority of law. Wang Qishan, chief of the Party's anti-corruption watchdog, however, issued a grim reminder of the difficulty to make officials heed […]



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Can US afford global military commitment?

The Cold War ended but there followed the interventions in Southeast Europe, continuing wars in Iraq, campaigns in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, interventions in Africa south of the Sahara. The "pivot" to Asia entailed the dispatch of new forces to the region. US presence in the Philippines continued and […]



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HK society loses most from Occupy Central

The student groups of Occupy Central such as the Hong Kong Federation of Students had planned to hold a "referendum" but suddenly canceled it yesterday. Wang Dan, an activist during the 1989 political incident, openly supported the protesters, while saying that he was not so positive that the campaign would […]



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Reevaluation of China emerging in West

British academic Martin Jacques wrote in a recent article in the Financial Times that "China's governance system has been remarkably successful for more than three decades." He also contended that it is a mistaken view to believe "democracy is the sole source of a regime's legitimacy." He pointed out the […]



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GDP Misleads On China and the US

Derek Scissors critiques the methods to measure the wealth of a nation, in particular the GDP PPP metric which led to World Bank and IMF projections of China’s economy surpassing the American economy next year.



Derek Scissors Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1rPIx8T

Time for Obama to Make a Peace Overture to China

Next month President Obama will be going to Beijing and he has the opportunity to make history and finally make good on the Nobel Peace Prize given to him rather prematurely at the beginning of his first term.



George Koo, Director, New America Media via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1rPzlBu

China strives incoherently for the ‘socialist rule of law’

China’s leaders are attempting to bring the country’s relationship with law into balance. The Chinese Communist party will remain supremely powerful, but the Chinese people are to have the right to seek redress through the courts. How is this balancing act to be accomplished? In truth, it is an impossible […]



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China Considers Dropping Death Penalty

The Chinese government is considering a reduction in the number of crimes eligible for capital punishment, part of a long-term trend that has seen a decline in executions, though China still leads the world in the number of people put to death annually. The proposal, which was put before the […]



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US-China Need a Missile Launch Notification Deal

In his July call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. President Barack Obama again called for an improved U.S.-China relationship defined by “increased practical cooperation and constructive management of differences.” But between territorial issues, cyber espionage, air-to-air standoffs, and countless other flare ups, there are few reasons to be optimistic […]



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China’s Submarines Add Nuclear-Strike Capability, Altering Strategic Balance

One Sunday morning last December, China’s defense ministry summoned military attachés from several embassies to its monolithic Beijing headquarters. To the foreigners’ surprise, the Chinese said that one of their nuclear-powered submarines would soon pass through the Strait of Malacca, a passage between Malaysia and Indonesia that carries much of […]



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Missed stock connection hurts China’s reform drive

China’s financial reform drive has suffered another setback. A flagship scheme to link the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges has been delayed after regulators failed to approve it ahead of an expected launch on Oct. 27. The setback puts another question mark over why foreign investors would want to […]



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New Concept on China-US Military Relations

Since the June 2013 Sunnylands Summit, the China-US military relationship has featured the following four characteristics: frequent high-level exchanges, practical institutional dialogues, expanded joint training and exercises, and frank and relatively mature “cross swords” on diplomatic occasions.



Zhao Weibin, Researcher, PLA Academy of Military Science via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1v1Y8Dg

Controlling CO2 Emissions Starts with China and Clean Coal

The US, China and India compose about half of all global CO2 emissions. Through “dirty coal” import bans and new technological advances, China hopes to decrease its 2020 carbon emissions by 45% from its 2005 levels. Geoff Hiscock stresses that without increased sustainable investment, CO2 emission levels will keep rising.



Geoff Hiscock, Former Asia Business Editor, CNN via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1tuMDbV

The Canary in China’s Central Bank

How quickly will China follow through on the ambitious package of economic reforms its government adopted last November? With quarterly growth in the country's output at a five-year low, at least according to official statistics, it's the trillion-dollar question. That's how much economic activity might be unleashed by breaking open […]



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China Wants More Military Co-op With Iran (Sorry, US and Pakistan)

This week, the commander of Iran’s navy made his first ever visit to China, Chinese media reported. Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari met with Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan as well as Admiral Wu Shengli, commander of the PLA Navy. Sayyari’s trip to China is the latest sign of increased cooperation […]



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China’s Missing Business Cycle

News that China’s GDP grew at 7.3% in the third quarter, its slowest rate since early 2009, is stirring renewed fears about the health of the world’s second-largest economy. As euro-zone economies flail and the U.S. recovery underwhelms, most analysts don’t want to think about China falling out of bed. […]



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Finding Light in China’s Dark

China’s efforts to promote socialism in the late 1950s and early 1960s resulted in what is euphemistically known as the three years of natural disasters, during which more than 30 million people starved to death. One evening when I was a young boy, not long after the catastrophe, I followed […]



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How to Shut Down a Country and Kill a Disease

With every passing day the absence of a powerful international response to West Africa's Ebola epidemic allows the horror to grow, pushing the nightmares in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea closer to the catastrophic worst-case scenario forecasted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: an estimated 1.4 million […]



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General Wesley Clark’s Fanciful China Analysis

In his “Getting Real About China” op-ed from the New York Times, General Wesley Clark describes China’s rise as a threat to the international system and U.S. hegemony. In contrast, Stephen Harner examines the assertions and explains why he hopes future administrations will not follow Gen. Clark’s advice.



Stephen Harner, Former US State Department Official via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1wofxt5

Freedom of Navigation: An Old Issue and New Approaches

When China and the US talk about freedom of navigation - a fundamental principle of international maritime law, both countries agree to the principle, but interpret it in different ways, writes Zhou Bo.



Zhou Bo, Honorary Fellow, PLA Academy of Military Science via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1wofxsZ

The Chinese Box of Box Office Sales

Hollywood coffers are boosted by Chinese box-office figures, but Beijing’s guidelines are the cultural price to pay. Yet, as Philip J. Cunningham explains, the logic of box-office success and how political shifts can affect Chinese cultural production is far more confounding.



Philip Cunningham, visiting research fellow, Cornell University, New York via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1tQ9Lm3

China’s Small Exercise with Iran Reflects Big Calculations

China’s small naval exercise with Iran last month was unremarkable in its military importance but helps illustrate the larger strategic calculations facing Beijing as China tries to manage its trilateral relationship with Tehran and Washington.



Richard Weitz, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1tQ9L5H

test topic

Editorial Board via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1D06v6C

China must chart own course to rule of law

The ongoing Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will deliberate and pass the decision on major issues concerning comprehensively advancing the rule of law. Global public opinion has paid much attention to the plenum, mirroring the extraordinary significance of it. But […]



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