In The News

China Hits Out at New US Textile Quota

Richard McGregor May 16, 2005
The expiration of textile quotas on January 1, 2005, saw a slight shift in global garment trade. Though not as drastic a change as many had feared – some of the smaller producers have managed to keep pace with the quota-free market – China's exports increased significantly. Responding to the spike in Chinese exports, the European Union and United States both launched separate...

Burying China's Complicity in the Killing Fields

Jehangir S. Pocha May 5, 2005
Only weeks ago, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao uttered the now famous words, "Japan needs to face up to history squarely." China has adamantly demanded that Japan come clean about its past war indiscretions, an issue that has provoked lively public debate. At the same time, Beijing has remained mum regarding its support for Cambodia's Khmer Rouge in the mid- to late-1970s. Today,...

China and the Power Game

Nayan Chanda May 2, 2005
Thirty years ago, when US troops withdrew from Vietnam, the war-torn country was totally left on its own, without support from either its supposedly Communist allies (China) or former colonial powers (France). In this article, Nayan Chanda, who covered Saigon at the time, discusses the changes in power relations amongst the various players surrounding Vietnam since 1975. To be sure, Vietnam...

Not Your Average Chinese Worker

Edward Cody April 29, 2005
NBA player Yao Ming can add a new award to his collection: the title of "vanguard worker." The honor, bestowed every five years upon people whom the Chinese Communist Party believes to be exemplary, selfless workers, has ignited debate over what it means to be a Chinese worker. For many in China, the 7-foot-6-inch (2.28 meter) millionaire does not fit the tradition of blue-collar...

Nationalism Pits Shanghai Against its Global Ambition

James Farrer April 29, 2005
As China's center for foreign investment and cosmopolitan culture, Shanghai provides an intriguing case study on the intersection of globalism and nationalism, writes James Farrer. During the recent wave of anti-Japanese protests, demonstrators' voices alternated between an intensely nationalist rhetoric and a more subdued, moderate internationalism. And as for government reaction to...

A Hundred Cellphones Bloom, and Chinese Take to the Streets

Jim Yardley April 26, 2005
Cellphone text messaging may be the next big thing for China’s grassroots organizers. A swift and convenient method of mass communication, cellphones have already spread among the general population like wildfire. Users proved in the recent anti-Japanese protests that cellphones could also be a powerful tool in organizing marches, boycotts, and public demonstrations. Although the recent protests...

Rising Dragon and the American Eagle – Part II

Robert Sutter April 22, 2005
Recent developments – including the high-profile visit by China's premier Wen Jiabao to South Asia – showing the rising profile of China have intensified a long-running debate in Washington. How does the growing power and influence of China affect the dominance that the United States has so far enjoyed in Asia? In the second of our two-part series, Georgetown University's China...