In The News

North Korea Crisis Tests China’s New Global Role

Gordon Fairclough July 17, 2006
North Korea’s missile tests present a diplomatic challenge to many countries, but China is a special case. As North Korea’s largest trading partner, China may have economic leverage that could steer Pyongyang back to Six Party talks over its nuclear weapons program. Yet China’s reluctance to take action that could be viewed as punitive could stem from deep-rooted ties between the two countries...

Communist Party at Crossroads

Chua Chin Hon July 11, 2006
The Chinese Communist Party has maintained its grip on power in China for 85 years, and by many estimates, is still going strong. Abroad, China’s influence continues to grow, while at home, membership in the party and its local organizations has also increased. Observers point out, however, a myriad of domestic problems facing the CCP that could erode its power: environmental problems, ongoing...

Japan’s Succession Battle

Daniel Sneider July 6, 2006
The succession struggle for Japan’s next prime minister has brought the two opposing schools of Japan’s foreign policy into sharper focus. Foreign affairs analyst Daniel Sneider writes that the result of the current debate between the ruling party’s Realist school and the Nationalist school could point to the future direction of Japan’s foreign policy toward its Asian neighbors. The “Assertive...

Last Stop, Lhasa: Rail Link Ties Remote Tibet to China

Joseph Kahn July 6, 2006
In terms of engineering, there is no doubt that the completed railway connecting Beijing to Lhasa, the remote capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, is a great feat. It traverses a total of 710 miles, much of it over unstable permafrost at astonishing altitudes. Chinese officials hailed the $4.1 billion project, expecting it to increase the flow of tourism, information and development to the...

Defiant North Korea Fires Seventh Test Missile

Justin McCurry July 5, 2006
North Korea has test-fired several missiles, asserting sovereignty over its weapons program, and the UK, France, NATO, China, Russia Japan, the US and South Korea have united in speaking out against the tests. The UN Security Council discusses the issue today. One of the tests was a long-range missile that either failed or was aborted by North Korea. Some speculate that, despite North Korea’s...

China's Brutal Crackdown on Dissidents

Andreas Lorenz July 5, 2006
In the name of economic development, many Chinese citizens find themselves forced from their land and homes for construction of dams, roads or other projects. Added to the displacement are paltry offers of compensation and corruption, funneling the gains of China’s “economic miracle” away from its poorest people. The conflicts invite protest, but, as many of the country’s “difficult citizens”...

Lost in Translation

Gregory Kulacki June 30, 2006
Pundits and politicians often raise China as a possible military threat for the US and other neighbors– but the characterization could be inaccurate. The US intelligence community must revise its techniques for gathering reliable information about the Chinese military apparatus, argues security analyst Gregory Kulacki. US strategy vis-à-vis China could be culled from scattered and unofficial...