China Newsbase
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The China News Database was last updated at 02:49PM on May 26, 2023.
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1,060 articles matching the search query.
China sentences 78-year-old American citizen to life in prison for espionage
John Shing-Wan Leung, a U.S. citizen and Hong Kong permanent resident, was a member of at least two CCP United Front organizations. But now he faces life behind bars in China on charges of espionage.
China’s Xi holds first public phone call with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy
After months of speculation about a call between Xi Jinping and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the two leaders finally talked today. The conversation was moral support for Ukraine, but Xi gave no indication that China’s tacit support for Putin would change.
The men and policies determining China’s future
China’s biggest annual political gathering closed last month with announcements of significant restructuring and new policies. This is your go-to guide on the changes you need to know about.
Xi offers no help on Ukraine after meeting with Macron and von der Leyen
As expected, not much came out of the highly-anticipated meeting between the leaders of China, France, and the EU in Beijing today. But France did walk away with some lucrative business deals.
How safe is it, exactly, to do business with China?
Employees of an American due diligence firm were detained by Beijing police last week, but then Jack Ma made a visit home and Xi Jinping wrote a welcome message for visiting foreign executives.
The Russia-China joint statement: what has changed since last year
The war in Ukraine, criticism of World Trade Organization sanctions, support for Africa, and words such as “dialogue,” “peace,” and “cooperation”: Let’s take a closer look at the recent China-Russia joint statement.
Editor’s note for March 22, 2023
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
Editor’s note for March 21, 2023
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
Xi is in Russia for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war
The strongmen of China and Russia talked for over four hours in Moscow today.
Editor’s note for March 20, 2023
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
‘Tenacious like bamboo’ — Phrase of the Week
A 300-year old poem captures the essence of a new phrase used by Xi Jinping during the “Two Sessions.”
Editor’s note for March 17, 2023
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
This week on TikTok: China’s diplomacy in the Middle East and the arrest of Guo Wengui
Want more like this? Subscribe to The China Project’s official TikTok channel, The China Project, where Susan St.Denis explains complex topics about China clearly and simply in TikTok’s fast evolving visual and verbal language.
Editor’s note for March 16, 2023
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
Editor’s note for March 15, 2023
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
Editor’s note for March 14, 2023
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
China’s ‘Two Sessions’ ends with Xi in charge and Li in second
Xi Jinping was unanimously sworn into his third term as China’s president. Some are hoping that his second-in-command, the man in charge of leading the economy, might counterbalance some of Xi’s more extreme political tendencies.
The Iran-Saudi deal brokered by China
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
Editor’s note for March 10, 2023
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
This week on TikTok: Xinjiang’s basketball struggles and North Korea’s tumultuous relationship with China
Want more like this? Subscribe to The China Project’s official TikTok channel, ChinaVibe, where Susan St.Denis explains complex topics about China clearly and simply in TikTok’s fast evolving visual and verbal language.
President Xi Jinping Speaks with US President Joe Biden on the Phone
Xi warned Biden against meddling in China’s affairs with Taiwan during a highly anticipated phone call between the leaders of the two world powers yesterday, as tensions continue to build over plans for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan. “Those who play with fire will perish by it. It is hoped that the U.S. will be clear-eyed about this,” said the readout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated that Washington’s policy has not changed on Taiwan, and that the United States “strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” Both leaders floated a possible face-to-face meeting, according to U.S. officials per Reuters and Bloomberg, but no further details were given.
U.S. says Biden-Xi call expected to cover Taiwan tension, Ukraine
Biden and Xi will speak tomorrow: U.S. President Joe Biden and General Secretary Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 are expected to have their fifth call tomorrow to discuss key topics, including the invasion of Ukraine, managing their economic competition, and Taiwan — as China’s wolf warriors continue to issue blustery warnings against U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s mooted visit to the self-ruled island.
Biden still expects to speak with China's Xi this week
Biden still plans to call Xi: U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday that it is still his expectation that he will speak with his Chinese counterpart, Xí Jìnpíng 习近平, this week. The move comes as tensions between Beijing and Washington are ratcheting up in advance of a possible visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
China Says Xi, Leaders Got Local Shots in Rare Disclosure
Xi is vaccinated against COVID! Beijing announced that all Party and state leaders (党和国家领导) have received homegrown COVID-19 shots, the first time there has been such confirmation. China has the world’s strictest COVID restrictions, but no vaccine mandate.
China Sets Aside Push to Spread Wealth in Pivotal Year for Xi
China has put the “common prosperity” push on the backburner in this “pivotal year” for Xí Jìnpíng 习近平, whose “rhetoric about redistributing wealth was aimed partly at drumming up public support,” but which “unnerved entrepreneurs and posed a drag on growth,” says the New York Times.
China's Xi strongly backs Afghanistan at regional conference
Beijing gave stronger backing to the Taliban, after Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 pledged China’s support at a regional conference on Thursday and Foreign Minister Wáng Yì 王毅 called on the U.S. to end sanctions and unfreeze Afghan assets.
Provinces: The Ongoing Reshuffling of Provincial Party Committees
Communist Party leadership has seen a remarkably fast turnover rate in the year leading up to the 20th Party Congress, slated to take place this fall, Brookings scholar Cheng Li notes. Most of the current provincial chiefs “are Xi’s longtime trusted associates, and some will likely play even more prominent roles in Xi’s third term.”
What happened to common prosperity?
A relatively new Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 slogan, “common prosperity,” is almost completely missing in official government documents for 2022, suggesting a lack of clarity in Beijing over how the slogan should be implemented.
Opinion | Taking Dictators Literally and Seriously
“Take autocrats literally and seriously when they tell us what they intend to do,” writes the Wall Street Journal editorial board. Vladimir Putin warned of his attack on Ukraine as early as 2007, and even wrote about Russia’s sovereignty claim on the region in an essay last summer, yet the West was quick to dismiss his words as a fever dream.
“In Beijing, Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 speaks of Taiwan in much the same way Mr. Putin does Ukraine… Beijing’s strong-arm repression of Hong Kong demonstrates the Xi regime is ready to trample treaties and violate its economic self-interest in pursuit of a nationalist agenda that fulfills Mr. Xi’s ambition. China’s concentration camps in Xinjiang reveal a regime immune to global embarrassment. How convincing is the argument that Mr. Xi would never be so foolish as to invade Taiwan?”
A Succession Drama, Chinese Style, Starring Xi Jinping
Will Xi ever name a political heir? As a Party congress approaches, General Secretary Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 will likely serve another five-year term. However, nobody “except maybe a tight-lipped circle of senior officials” has any idea on how long he wants to stay in power, or if he ever plans to appoint a political successor. See also: The Reshuffling Report: “A series of articles — based on empirical research by Brookings scholar Cheng Li — anticipating and analyzing leadership changes at China’s 20th Party Congress.”
In Clash With U.S. Over Ukraine, Putin Has a Lifeline From China
President Biden could find his plans to punish Russia undermined by Xi Jinping, a longtime ally of Mr. Putin. But China moves cautiously during crises.
No reason for Ukraine war fears, China tells UN meeting
“No reason for concern” over Ukraine, Beijing says: At the UN Security Council on January 31, China’s envoy, Zhāng Jūn 张军, downplayed the risk of war over Ukraine, and accused “the United States of obstructing efforts to resolve the crisis through dialogue,” the South China Morning Post reports. Meanwhile, Russia and China continue to solidify ties, and when Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 meet in Beijing on February 4, they “could sign more than 15 agreements…with lots of new deals being prepared in relation to natural gas,” per Reuters.
See also:
In clash with U.S. over Ukraine, Putin has a lifeline from China / NYT (paywall) Beijing throws weight behind Moscow: China-Russia weekly update / SupChina
What’s Behind China’s Regulatory Storm
Scholar Barry Naughton comments on China’s “regulatory storm”: “The reality is that many of the Chinese actions have a reasonable regulatory rationale, and can be easily defended on an individual basis. But taking a broader view, there is no question that the latest government actions represent a substantial expansion of the power of the government and the Chinese Communist Party,” Naughton writes in the Wall Street Journal. “This new hyperpoliticized reality is likely to do long-term damage to the performance of the Chinese economy and certainly poses new risks to investors and business operators.”
Leaked papers link Xinjiang crackdown with China leadership
More excerpts from the Xinjiang Papers have been published. Two years ago, the New York Times published a story based on one of the most significant leaks of Chinese government documents in decades, which, among other revelations, showed Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 in 2014 demanding that comrades “show absolutely no mercy” in dealing with Xinjiang residents infected with “extremist religious thought.” The NYT only published small excerpts of the reported 400 pages of source material, which China did not deny the authenticity of but accused the newspaper of “taking out of context and hyping.”
Now, 300 pages of the Xinjiang Papers from 11 documents have been published at Uyghurtribunal.com. German academic Adrian Zenz wrote an introduction to the papers that was peer reviewed by Georgetown University scholar James Millward and University of Sheffield lecturer David Tobin. Zenz says an analysis of the full document cache, which almost certainly matches the original leak to the NYT, “shows that the linkages between statements and mandates made by Xi and other central government figures and policies that were implemented after 2016 are far more extensive, detailed and significant than previously understood.”
U.S. and China to Elevate Military Talks in Bid to Ease Tensions
U.S.-China arms talks could be held at a high level, Bloomberg reports, as during the virtual meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平, Xi “agreed to support such discussions between the U.S. military and top officials from the People’s Liberation Army, including the vice chairman of the country’s powerful Central Military Commission.” This would be an upgrade from a “Track II dialogue, among nongovernment defense analysts and academics,” which is what one Chinese source suggested to the Wall Street Journal, and potentially even a step up from semiofficial talks between 2004 and 2009.
Biden to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday
The Biden-Xi virtual meeting has been confirmed: On Monday, November 15, the two leaders will discuss “how to ‘responsibly manage the competition’ between the two nations, as well as avenues ‘to work together where our interests align,’” the White House said, per the Washington Post. “The meeting will be held in the evening, and a joint statement is not expected after it concludes.” See also, from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: At Biden and Xi’s virtual summit, what can be accomplished?
New Beijing Stock Exchange to Open on Nov. 15 With First 10 Stocks
The new Beijing Stock Exchange will open on November 15: Ten companies are slated to list just two months after Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 revealed the plan for the bourse.
China blamed for cancellation of events for German book on Xi Jinping
Publisher says situation is a ‘disquieting signal’ after presentations pulled at short notice
China's Xi calls for new progress in military equipment, weapons
China's President Xi Jinping called for efforts to "break new ground" in military equipment and weapons development for the People's Liberation Army, China's armed forces, according to a report from the official Xinhua media on Tuesday.
Xi’s ‘Common Prosperity’ in Theory and Practice
President Xi Jinping’s vision for a more equal China has spooked investors. The recent release of a fuller version of his August remarks contains important hints on what “common prosperity” really means.
