China builds up its space power in Antarctica
China plans to build two ground stations in an Antarctic research base to help track its growing number of satellites, but the move will likely raise concerns about spying and other military activities.
Other news this week
- U.S. and China curry favor in the Indo-Pacific, and the Czech Republic won’t bury its head in the sand on China
- Will Xiaomi be the world’s first smartphone company to launch an electric car?
- China drafts new export controls to shore up solar dominance
- China is losing Europe’s east to Taiwan
- Travel restrictions to Hong Kong lifted, Hisense leads the world, service sector into expansion zone
Business and technology
The Beijing Stock Exchange is struggling, despite policymakers’ best efforts
The Beijing Stock Exchange, marketed as a place for high-tech SMEs to thrive, has seen lackluster daily trading and fundraising numbers so far in 2023, and this doesn’t bode well for China’s tech competitiveness.
Washington want to completely cut Huawei off from U.S. suppliers
The U.S. is cracking down even harder on Huawei, and is heading towards a total ban on allowing American suppliers to sell to the embattled Chinese telecom giant.
Chinese consumers spent big over Spring Festival but can it last?
After three barren years, tourist sites and restaurants were packed over the Chinese New Year holiday. But now that the Year of the Rabbit has begun, consumption-led growth will depend on getting people to part with their savings and live a little.
Japan and the Netherlands join U.S. chip curbs to China
The trilateral agreement will deal yet another blow to China’s ability to access and produce advanced semiconductors. But Beijing is already up and running in the race to make chips at home.
The China Project 2023 Red Paper
2022 was an annus horribilis for China, its people, and its reputation abroad: We look back on a year of lockdowns and slowdowns and make predictions for 2023, Year of the Water Rabbit.
Featured articles
Li Wenliang: The man who was wrong to have been right
Dr. Lǐ Wénliàng 李文亮 is the doctor who tried to warn his colleagues about the spread of COVID-19 in Wuhan in early 2020, was silenced by the authorities, and forced to write a self-criticism. This is a translation of that document by renowned Sinologist Geremie Barmé to mark Li’s death three years ago this week.
Why China’s gay academics don’t come out — Q&A with Cui Le
Faced with official scrutiny and potential complaints from student informants, most of China’s gay teachers and researchers choose to stay in the closet. But that doesn't mean they aren’t fighting for a queer-friendly environment in Chinese academia, Cui Le told The China Project.
How a 14th-century purge consolidated imperial power in the Ming dynasty
Beyond the suffering inflicted on tens of thousands of people, the Hu Weiyong purge fundamentally reshaped Ming government, concentrating power in the person of the emperor.
The world according to Lu Xinghua, China’s renegade philosopher
Lu Xinghua is the sort of individual who complicates the outside world’s vision of China. He is a man of contradictions, an intellectual with brazen ideas who is disconnected from both mainstream politics and popular dissent.
Video from The China Project
The significance behind China’s population decline | Live with Lizzi Lee
China has rolled out a slew of policies to boost its shrinking population. Yun Zhou, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan's Department of Sociology, talks about the issues behind the demographic crisis, but also warns of the policies’ impacts on gender inequality and what might come next.
Society and culture
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Best China books of 2022
From reform-era history and present-day policy to wartime history and protest fiction, we round up our top picks from the China bookshelf of 2022.
The best music to come out of China in 2022
While live music endured a tumultuous year in China, artists from the Chinese music scene pushed through and kept listeners comforted, thrilled, and empowered in a time of uncertainty and anxiety.
How brands are ushering in the Year of the Rabbit
For the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese people are allowed to celebrate without restrictions on the Lunar New Year, the country’s most important holiday. Brands are gearing up for a blockbuster bunny bonanza.
Editors' Picks
Peking University’s first Yiddish class
At one of China’s most prestigious universities, students from a variety of majors are learning the Ashkenazi Jewish language.
Why do China books all look the same?
The color red, dragons, cropped Asian faces…when it comes to presenting China, book publishers often rely on a set of familiar tropes — to the detriment of the authors and the genre.
In search of spirit in China’s wild west
Through history, culture, and contemporary China: A motorbike trip from Xi'an to Dunhuang.
China looks to the Western classics
As American universities reevaluate the role of Western classical education, Latin and Greek courses are proliferating in China, where students see the Classics as a wellspring of wisdom that remains relevant regardless of hemisphere.