The China Project

Taipei Pride celebrates queer diversity despite its challenges

Dorine Booij — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 18:50:52 +0000

Asia’s LGBT capital ended its pride week with a hugely successful parade. The movement faces its challenges though.

American innkeeper in rural China keeps a light on for guests

Douglas Barry — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 03:22:34 +0000

Brian Linden and his wife Jeanee invested their life savings in building a business in rural China decades ago. The legacy and future of their work are uncertain amid shaky U.S.-China relations.

Some sad news

Jeremy Goldkorn — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 23:15:26 +0000

We have to shut down. This is why.

With mines, ports, and factories, China is set to dominate Latin America’s electric vehicle industry

Matheus Andrade — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 22:39:05 +0000

The region has some of the largest mineral reserves for this industry, including copper and lithium. Chinese companies also see opportunities in the local vehicle market.

Xi and Albanese meet in Beijing

Nadya Yeh — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 18:09:53 +0000

Xi Jinping and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met for the second time in Beijing today. It’s the strongest signal to date that ties between their two countries are improving after years of tensions.

The China Agenda for November 6–12: APEC Summit and Anthony Blinken in the Indo-Pacific

Arran Hope — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 16:19:56 +0000

This is what’s on the diplomatic, political, and business agenda for the week of November 6–12.

China-owned companies reckon with U.S. state, national land purchase bans

Eduardo Jaramillo — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 13:55:02 +0000

Arkansas recently ordered ChemChina-owned Syngenta to sell its land in the state. Other states are also putting up walls for Chinese buyers.

China’s cognitive dissonance in the Israel-Hamas war

Dale Aluf — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 16:11:38 +0000

The underlying premises driving China's approach in the Middle East seem increasingly out of sync with the shifting realities. Perhaps most ironically, Hamas (and its supporters in Iran, etc.) embrace a strand of radical Islam that China fears most.

‘Lived in frustration, and died in vain’ — Phrase of the Week

Andrew Methven — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 11:19:21 +0000

A new phrase describes the sentiment in China toward the sudden death of Li Keqiang.

Lao She’s greatest work, ‘Rickshaw Boy’

Paul French — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 03:59:28 +0000

Vivid descriptions of Republican-era Beijing meld with a timeless story about the vicissitudes of a worker's life.

The Party takes firm control of China’s financial sector

Barry van Wyk — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 18:16:50 +0000

The Central Financial Work Conference signaled a willingness for the central government to inject more money into the economy and inhibit local government debt, while emphasizing increased government regulation of the financial sector.

The triumphs and travails of China’s first American citizen

James Carter — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 15:21:06 +0000

He earned a degree from Yale, tried to fight in the American Civil War, and donated the books that became the core of Yale’s East Asian library. In the end, though, Yung Wing was still never American enough.

China’s crackdown on data ensnares ‘foreign-related’ weather stations

Nadya Yeh — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:52:13 +0000

China’s Ministry of State Security investigated 3,000 meteorological stations for sending weather data abroad, as the country tightens up on cross-border data flows and beefs up its anti-espionage efforts.

The Age of Not Obvious: Going back to China in September 2023

Kevin Xu — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:40:49 +0000

Like many visitors who have returned to China for the first time after the pandemic, Kevin Xu found a changed, more isolated country. But is it going backward or barreling into the future?

Why does Zelenskyy accept China’s ‘neutrality’?

Vita Golod — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 16:48:26 +0000

Writing from Kyiv, Ukrainian Sinologist Vita Golod explains why her country’s president has not criticized China for its moral support of Russia after Putin invaded last year.

Chinese military leaders talk tough on U.S. and Taiwan but offer small olive branch

Eduardo Jaramillo — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 17:32:49 +0000

The annual Xiangshan security and military conference in Beijing runs from October 29 to October 31. China’s military representatives are talking tough on Taiwan but signaling willingness to resume exchanges with their American counterparts.

China in limbo over importing Middle East oil overland through Pakistan

Syed Fazl-e-Haider — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 16:13:21 +0000

Ongoing violence in Balochistan and Xi Jinping’s shifting Belt and Road priorities may end Pakistan and China’s pipeline dreams.

The Chinese diaspora ‘needs to rise up’ about atrocities against Uyghurs — Q&A with human rights lawyer Rayhan Asat

Jonathan Landreth — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 15:34:35 +0000

Rayhan Asat comments on China’s stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Muslim world’s silence on ongoing rights abuses against Uyghurs in China, and the responsibility of the Chinese diaspora in advocating for human rights.

The China Agenda for October 30–November 5: Xiangshan Forum

Arran Hope — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 22:14:26 +0000

This is what’s on the diplomatic, political, and business agenda for the week of October 30–November 5.

Island elegy: Coming to terms with Taiwan’s potential demise

William Han — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 17:50:51 +0000

An unwinnable war and unification by force may be coming to Taiwan. How are its people to process the prospect of national demise? Chinese history may offer some lessons.

Chinese ex-premier Li Keqiang dies of a heart attack at 68

Jenny Feng — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 17:01:58 +0000

The former senior official was well liked at home and abroad, but in the New Era of Xi Jinping, Li was never more than China’s No. 2.

Deepfake Mandarin-speaking Taylor Swift goes viral in China, prompting mixed reactions

Jenny Feng — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 14:56:53 +0000

Taylor Swift can do everything, including speak Chinese. Except she can’t: The Mandarin-language video is a product of artificial intelligence technology from HeyGen, a company founded in Shenzhen but now based in Los Angeles.

‘Crispy college students’ — Phrase of the Week

Andrew Methven — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 13:14:30 +0000

A new phrase describes the high-pressure and unhealthy lifestyles of university students in China.

This week on TikTok: China on Israel and Palestine, young astronauts, and new conservation

Susan St.Denis — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 13:12:10 +0000

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.

‘Only the River Flows’: China’s brightest up-and-coming director gets a mainstream release

Maja Korbecka — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 05:51:53 +0000

Remember the name: Wei Shujun.

When ‘poverty alleviation’ means forced labor for Uyghurs

Ruth Ingram — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 22:14:34 +0000

Outside of the well-documented internment camp system, the Poverty Alleviation through Labor Transfer program is normalizing forced labor for Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in China, according to a new report.

China launches its youngest-ever astronauts into space

Nadya Yeh — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 15:40:00 +0000

Three new astronauts are heading to China’s Tiangong space station, which is about to get even bigger in the coming years.

The latest U.S. chip export controls: Q&A with Rhodium’s Reva Goujon

Eduardo Jaramillo — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 14:32:21 +0000

Newly announced controls close some loopholes, and align U.S. efforts with restrictions published by the Netherlands and Japan in the past year.

The rising and falling fortunes of golf in China

Paul French — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 05:24:58 +0000

In the early 2000s, golf’s popularity soared in China, embraced by even the country’s highest leaders. During this boom, Dan Washburn wrote "The Forbidden Game," which is as much about the momentous changes happening in China at that time as it is about the sport.

Lying flat in the West — Sang Ye’s interview with a hooker in search of a golden heart

Geremie R. Barmé — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 15:03:17 +0000

How to get out of China is a question occupying the minds of the wealthy, the rebellious, and everyone in China who doesn’t like living in Xi Jinping’s New Era. But the desire to escape is not new, as we see in this oral history from the late 1980s by Sang Ye, translated and introduced by eminent Sinologist Geremie Barmé.

Rooftop solar is a rational and important step in China’s path to peak coal use: A rebuttal

David Fishman — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 14:50:51 +0000

The focus on China’s growth in coal-fired plants is misguided as its growth in renewable energy ensures they’ll see less use. And solar power in Shandong Province — although it is only moderately sunny — actually makes a lot of sense.

High-level firings, Patriotic Education Law, and economic measures announced by China’s legislature

Barry van Wyk — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 14:34:53 +0000

Former defense and foreign ministers Li Shangfu and Qin Gang have finally been officially cashiered, a new law is on the books to root out “historical nihilism,” and Beijing seems set to release new stimulus funding.

Toddler mauling in China prompts crackdown on dogs, rekindles debate over pet etiquette

Jenny Feng — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 09:04:26 +0000

In the aftermath of an off-leash Rottweiler’s attack of a two-year-old in China last week, officials in several counties have enacted sweeping measures against stray dogs.

Los Angeles Chinatown, 1871: One of America’s largest mass lynchings

James Carter — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 05:10:32 +0000

In October 1871, 10% of the Chinese population in Los Angeles was wiped out in a senseless spasm of violence.

Angela Zhang on why the West should pay more attention to Chinese antitrust law

Christopher Marquis — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 16:31:56 +0000

In this installment of China Book Chats, Christopher Marquis talks to Angela Zhang, author of ‘Chinese Antitrust Exceptionalism,’ a book that delves into one of China's underappreciated tools for countering Western sanctions: antitrust law.

China hosts separate phone calls with Israel and Palestine

Nadya Yeh — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 16:25:29 +0000

Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterated China’s calls for a cease-fire and a “two-state solution” during separate talks with his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts.

China releases green aviation plan but no net-zero emissions target date

Barry van Wyk — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 14:12:24 +0000

China’s new plan to reduce carbon emissions from air transportation calls for the adoption of new technologies including electric planes and Sustainable Aviation Fuel.

Apple contractor Foxconn hit with tax and land-use probe in China

Anthony Tao — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 14:02:58 +0000

The Taiwanese government came to the defense of Foxconn, the company that makes most of the world’s iPhones, with some saying the move from Beijing constitutes election interference.

The China Agenda for October 22–29: Newsom to China and NPC legislative meeting

Arran Hope — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 11:32:33 +0000

This is what’s on the diplomatic, political, and business agenda for the week of October 23–29.

The American dentist who turned Sun Yat-sen off Marxism

Harry Saunders — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 10:59:41 +0000

Sun Yat-sen's interpretation of "The Social Interpretation of History" — a self-published book with only 2,000 copies printed at the time — had crucial implications for the young Republic of China.

China curbs graphite exports on national security grounds

Jenny Feng — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 15:44:56 +0000

Although China insists that the new export controls are not aimed at any specific country, they appear to be another result of U.S.-China trade tensions.

Empires of lies

Phil Cunningham — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 14:56:57 +0000

How Chinese and Russian state media appropriated an apocryphal Orwell quote to criticize the West.

We need to talk about Country Garden

William Sandlund — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 14:27:20 +0000

Real estate giant Country Garden is on the brink of default and is fighting off rumors its executives fled China. Here’s how the property giant fell, and why it matters.

How China is attempting to change nature conservation

Kyle Obermann — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 13:01:13 +0000

China is undergoing a great experiment — tightly controlled and driven by big data — that it hopes will offer an alternative way of protecting the planet. For all our sakes, let’s hope it works.

For queer people in China, pets provide a sense of home

Nathan Wei — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 12:46:27 +0000

“My girlfriend’s presence and our four cats are what make our home truly feel complete,” said a 30-year-old Chinese lesbian.

‘A Waterloo moment’ — Phrase of the Week

Andrew Methven — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 10:14:05 +0000

Chinese electric vehicle brand XPeng has been hit by a corruption scandal — an aftershock of a major setback last year.

Israel-China relationship in danger as state media blames Israel, U.S., and Jews for conflict

Jordyn Haime — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 21:22:52 +0000

China’s Foreign Ministry and media have not criticized Hamas for the October 7 attack and have blamed Israel for the conflict. And there has been a dramatic spike in online antisemitism.

Uyghurs in Afghanistan fear Taliban buying Huawei surveillance tech

Ruth Ingram — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 14:49:56 +0000

Facial-recognition analytics that China uses to oppress the marginalized peoples of Xinjiang could soon spread through Central Asia.

Surprise attendees, notable absences, and Vladimir Putin at the Belt and Road Forum

Jacob Mardell — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 11:57:23 +0000

The third Belt and Road Forum concluded on Wednesday. During the two-day forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping sought to frame the Belt and Road Initiative as part of a greater struggle against colonialism and developmental injustice.

When Yao Ming was the most famous Chinese person on Earth

Paul French — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 05:43:38 +0000

In the early 2000s, the 7-foot-6 Houston Rockets center was an NBA All-Star and multimillionaire, and the face of China in the U.S. But where did he come from? How did he rise to such prominence, emerging from the dying days of the Maoist sports program?

China urges nationals in Israel to book commercial flights back home

Jenny Feng — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 05:15:52 +0000

Meanwhile, Chinese embassies around the world have cautioned citizens in their areas to avoid participating in protests and to stay safe.

Xi and Putin give a show of unity in Beijing

Barry van Wyk — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 14:26:54 +0000

In speeches and a three-hour meeting at the Belt and Road Forum, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping did not mention the “no limits” partnership they announced just before Russia invaded Ukraine, but they thumbed their noses at the U.S. and showed the world they have each other’s back.

A young Deng Xiaoping in France

James Carter — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 04:45:37 +0000

In the early years of the Chinese republic, progressives looked west for political inspiration. This was how Deng Xiaoping — who would eventually lead China — came to be in France in the 1920s. He and his peers did indeed find inspiration abroad — just not the kind that his bourgeois sponsors anticipated.

Kidnappings in China, 100 years ago and now — Q&A with James Zimmerman

Jeremy Goldkorn — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 16:07:55 +0000

It’s becoming more and more difficult for investors, journalists, and scholars to get information about China. How does this affect doing business there? And what can we learn from the story of a hijacked train in Shandong in 1923?

China’s Belt and Road Forum begins in Beijing

Nadya Yeh — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 15:31:16 +0000

Xi Jinping has so far met the leaders of Ethiopia, Serbia, Chile, and Kazakhstan, among others, in what Chinese state media has described as “the most important diplomatic event hosted by China this year.” But all eyes are on the arrival of a Taliban minister and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The China-Palestine relationship, explained

Alex Colville — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 13:23:03 +0000

In trying to stay neutral in the Israel-Hamas war, China may have angered Israel and scuppered its chances of mediating peace in the region.

China’s three-child policy isn’t leading to a surge in births, data shows

Jenny Feng — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 04:51:30 +0000

There's a new sense of urgency to China's looming demographic crisis.

Israeli embassy staffer stabbed in Beijing

Jeremy Goldkorn — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 13:33:22 +0000

A member of the Israeli embassy staff in Beijing was stabbed by an unknown assailant. The victim is reported to be in a hospital in stable condition.

BRI at 10: China’s Maritime Silk Road

Jacob Mardell — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 12:53:33 +0000

Beijing aspires to a leading position on the high seas. This has made multiple countries uncomfortable, for different reasons.

The China Agenda for October 16–22 — BRI Summit, more U.S. chip export curbs, and a new defense minister for China?

Arran Hope — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 20:22:43 +0000

This is what’s on the diplomatic, political, and business agenda for the week of October 16–22.

U.S. restriction on Chinese use of open-source microchip tech would be hard to enforce

Eduardo Jaramillo — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 15:11:49 +0000

RISC-V architecture that connects hardware and software could boost China’s chips sector and shrink the market for American-made chips.

‘Zero-yuan shopping’ — Phrase of the Week

Andrew Methven — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 09:05:26 +0000

Large-scale looting went down at China's largest rock festival.

Move over, limos: Chinese newlyweds use public buses as wedding vehicles

Jenny Feng — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 08:43:26 +0000

Public bus companies in multiple Chinese cities are now allowing customers to rent their vehicles as wedding cars in order to increase revenue.

What the U.S. must learn from Taiwan to rebuild a computer chip business

Margaret Siu — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 15:35:27 +0000

The U.S. needs more than an advanced chip factory. It’s going to need a whole ecosystem.

The morality of U.S.-China policy

Kaiser Kuo — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 13:03:59 +0000

This week on the Sinica Podcast: a lecture by Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute, delivered last year to D.C.-based Faith & Law at its Friday Forum. The lecture, titled “Is Our Foreign Policy Good? American Moral Absolutism and the China Challenge,” is a powerful and thought-provoking talk.

What’s the problem with Chinese soccer? Rowan Simons knows.

Paul French — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 10:37:59 +0000

Rowan Simons became a household name among Chinese soccer fans for his TV commentary on English football. His efforts to promote grassroots soccer within China proved much more difficult.

Gold mined by Uyghurs forced to work for Chinese firms ends up in Western investments and products, report shows

Ruth Ingram — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 21:26:37 +0000

Blackstone, State Street, and Vanguard; Dell, Google, J&J, and Sony among global firms linked to mining conditions akin to slavery.

End tax on menstrual products, Chinese women say

Jenny Feng — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 13:56:09 +0000

Nearly 20 countries have scrapped or lowered taxes on feminine hygiene products, but China is not one of them. Chinese women are calling for change.

China releases Australian journalist Cheng Lei from prison

Barry van Wyk — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 13:54:03 +0000

After more than three years behind bars, during which Australia-China relations deteriorated significantly, Cheng’s release points to a thaw. But another Australian citizen, Yang Hengjun, is still behind bars in China on vague espionage charges after a closed-door trial.

Double 10: The Wuchang Uprising and the end of the Qing

James Carter — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 06:27:29 +0000

Had an earlier uprising — one of many — against the Qing achieved its goals, 1911 would be just another year. But the 1911 Revolution succeeded, and catalyzed an entire series of events that led to fundamental change in China’s political system.

Andrew Cainey on ‘Xiconomics’ and strategies for foreign businesses

Christopher Marquis — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 15:38:03 +0000

In a newly published book, Andrew Cainey, the founding director of the U.K. National Committee on China and a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, delves into the complexities of China's domestic economy and its implications for multinational corporations that seek to do business with China.

Man crashes car into Chinese consulate in San Francisco

Nadya Yeh — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 14:38:21 +0000

Police shot and killed the driver, but no other injuries were reported, and official details of the investigation are sparse. But a man present at the scene said that the driver emerged from the crash yelling, “Where is the CCP?”

The Maldives faces a tricky balancing act between China and India

Alex Colville — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 05:58:50 +0000

Some observers believe Mohamed Muizzu's recent election win will cause the Maldives to shun its traditional ally, India, in favor of China. The reality is a little more complicated.

China tourists swarmed attractions during Golden Week holiday

Jenny Feng — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 03:15:44 +0000

But they spent less than expected.

China calls for ‘two-state solution’ after Hamas attacks Israel

Anthony Tao — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 13:52:26 +0000

China has expressed “sadness” at the “civilian casualties caused by the conflict,” but stopped short of condemning Hamas for its attack on Israel.

BRI at 10: Checking in on the ‘green silk road’

Jacob Mardell — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 07:17:33 +0000

The “green silk road” is a sustainability-flavored subtheme to the Belt and Road Initiative, designed to burnish Beijing’s green credentials and advance its claims to global leadership on environmental topics. It is also contributing to a wealth of renewable energy projects in Central Asia.

The China Agenda for October 9–15 — U.S. senators in China and Taiwan’s National Day

Arran Hope — Sun, 08 Oct 2023 22:38:25 +0000

This is what’s on the diplomatic, political, and business agenda for the week of October 9–15.

This week on TikTok: A week for space and music diplomacy

Susan St.Denis — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 13:12:10 +0000

‘The higher they fly, the harder they fall’ — Phrase of the Week

Andrew Methven — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 09:30:10 +0000

The founder and chairman of Evergrande has been placed under investigation by Chinese authorities.

‘The Breaking Ice’: A portrait of angst and ennui among Chinese youth

Amarsanaa Battulga — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 04:17:35 +0000

Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen relies heavily on symbolism in his first China-set feature.

Chinese gaming giant miHoYo wants to avoid Apple’s 30% revenue cut. Can it succeed?

Jenny Feng — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 16:59:37 +0000

The Chinese developer behind juggernaut mobile game Genshin Impact has tried — and failed — twice to create its own micropayment system for iPhone users. But this might also herald future China trouble for Apple.

How censorship changed the landscape of China’s queer audio dramas

Forrest Song — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 16:52:48 +0000

Censorship poses significant challenges for ‘boy’s love’ audio drama in China, but the subculture has proved to be resilient and adaptive.

China to double the size of Tiangong space station

Jenny Feng — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 16:48:42 +0000

China just offered international partners the chance to participate in its lunar programs. And yesterday, it announced plans to expand Tiangong, its space station that was completed in 2022 and is currently home to three astronauts.

Long prison sentence for book-loving Uyghur who tried to preserve history and culture for kids

Ruth Ingram — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 16:48:15 +0000

In January 2018, China sentenced writer, critic, and educator Yalqun Rozi to 15 years in prison for "splittism" and "extremist ideas."

How China’s tobacco monopoly also has ensured that China keeps smoking

Kaiser Kuo — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 13:03:59 +0000

This week on Sinica, Kaiser is joined by journalists Jason McLure and Jude Chan, who worked on a fascinating expose of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration — and how it has managed to be both the biggest seller of tobacco in the world and also the effective regulator of tobacco laws in China.

The lessons to be learned from Edgar Snow’s ‘Red Star Over China’

Paul French — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 04:00:49 +0000

"Red Star Over China" was a massive coup for the young American journalist Edgar Snow. The book is still a gripping read, but it is also an abject lesson in the pitfalls of access in China.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lit a fire under China’s transition to green energy

Yunis Sharifli — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 15:56:45 +0000

While Beijing returned to coal to mitigate short term tight supplies and fluctuating energy prices, the conflict in Europe drove China toward a long-term commitment to self-sustaining renewables.

Go player Zhan Ying wins ‘Goddess’ beauty competition

Lu Zhao — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 14:10:14 +0000

From Go player to internet sensation, Zhan Ying has risen to livestreaming stardom in China.

Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway opens in Indonesia after cost overruns and delays

Randy Mulyanto — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 18:38:18 +0000

Mostly funded by Beijing and built by Chinese engineers, Indonesia's first high-speed railway line opened on October 2. The first passengers were delighted, but there have also been controversies, and the project was completed several years late, and at a cost of $7.2 billion, more than a billion over budget.

China invites the world to join its mission to explore the Moon

Nadya Yeh — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 17:09:23 +0000

China is now accepting bids to join Chang’e-8 (CE-8), the country’s lunar exploration mission. It’s both space diplomacy and China’s latest push to become a leading space power at a time when countries are racing to land on the Moon.

Lessons from the black box of Chinese politics

Geremie R. Barmé — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 16:55:00 +0000

We know almost nothing about how the senior leadership of the Communist Party makes decisions, but that does not stop wild speculation in the media about factional fighting and even attempts to overthrow Xi Jinping. Scholar Wu Guoguang lays out how we should think about the information vacuum, translated and introduced by the eminent Sinologist Geremie R. Barmé.

China brings Syria back on to the world stage with a red carpet welcome

Alex Colville — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 16:33:34 +0000

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad just returned from a visit to China, where Xi Jinping pledged to assist in rebuilding Syria’s economy and called on the West to lift sanctions on Syria while Assad defended Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang.

U.S. aims to end reliance on China for minerals, but environmentalists block mining on American soil

Eduardo Jaramillo — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 13:23:19 +0000

America’s transition to green energy needs materials such as copper, lithium, and nickel. But mining them pollutes the environment. Senators heard Biden administration officials and mining industry representatives hash out the ways forward in testimony in Congress.

The China Agenda for October 1–8 — Golden Week and China-Germany Finance Dialogue

Arran Hope — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 17:25:00 +0000

The key events this week are the China-Germany Finance Dialogue and the ongoing Asian Games.

‘Ill-gotten gains’ — Phrase of the Week

Andrew Methven — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 13:18:27 +0000

China's latest food safety scandal is about companies profiting from unhealthy ready-made meals in schools. And there's a phrase for that.

‘The Chinese want to make sure Taiwan’s pilots are stressed out’

Jordyn Haime — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 13:14:54 +0000

The latest military exercises and gray-zone warfare around Taiwan come at a time of high political importance for China, the U.S., and Taiwan, and Beijing is not messing around.

Outrage at China’s life sentence for Uyghur folklore scholar Rahile Dawut

Ruth Ingram — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 20:32:05 +0000

The renowned Uyghur anthropologist Rahile Dawut disappeared in 2017 and was convicted of "splittism." Confirmation that her appeal was rejected means she’ll likely spend the rest of her life in a Chinese prison.

The eclectic, anti-mainstream, surprisingly popular music of Dao Lang

Charles A. Laughlin — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 16:09:41 +0000

Dao Lang’s latest studio album, "There Are Few Folk Songs," with its incorporation of multiethnic instruments and strange rhythms, has touched a nerve among the Chinese public. Listen very carefully and you just might hear the cracks forming in China’s pop culture edifice.

The Philadelphia Orchestra commemorates the 50th anniversary of its groundbreaking China tour

Kaiser Kuo — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 15:03:59 +0000

This week on Sinica, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 1950 concert tour of China by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1973, Kaiser chats with Matías Tarnopolsky, Alison Friedman, and Wu Fei about the legacy of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s China tour, their continuing connection with China, and their concert performances in Chapel Hill, performed to the day on the two closing nights of that historic tour 50 years ago.

Chinese YouTube star Li Ziqi is back. But can she beat her copycats?

Jenny Feng — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 13:50:31 +0000

After a two-year absence that left fans jonesing for her fairy-tale portrayal of rural life, China’s global social media star is once again the talk of the Chinese internet. Can she reclaim her crown as the world’s leading Chinese influencer?

Violence in Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan might sabotage China’s plans to move Middle Eastern oil to Xinjiang

Akbar Notezai — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 13:41:28 +0000

Baloch nationalists and the Taliban are among the militants making China’s Belt and Road rocky.

A Chinese foreign correspondent in Europe during World War II

Paul French — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 09:27:53 +0000

From war in London to persecution in China, Xiao Qian experienced it all — and wrote about it in his classic memoir, Traveller Without a Map.

Understanding Beijing’s data lockdown: Q&A with Mu Chen of Baiguan

Jonathan Landreth — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 16:05:11 +0000

Mu Chen is the chairman, founder, and co-editor of BigOne Lab, a.k.a. Baiguan, a data provider that aims ”to power investment research on Chinese companies” at a time when Beijing has made it tough for outsiders to access official data of all kinds.

Azerbaijan and China have many mutual interests, but Baku isn’t completely aligned with Beijing

Alex Colville — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 15:45:58 +0000

Azerbaijan, located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and West Asia, has growing trade and political ties to China but the Transcaucasian nation isn’t going all-in on the Belt and Road.

Evergrande’s billionaire chairman is now under police surveillance

Nadya Yeh — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 15:37:47 +0000

It’s the latest setback for China’s embattled property giant, and the latest sign that the Chinese government is sharpening its regulatory ax.

Niche brands are on the rise as young Chinese consumers seek their own style

Capucine Cogné — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 11:15:21 +0000

The rise of Chinese niche luxury brands.

‘One of the most troubling social policies of modern times’

James Carter — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 10:32:41 +0000

China enacted its one-child policy in 1980. It was met with wildly divergent opinions, and resulted in suffering and trauma on a scale that family planners never anticipated.

Nepal and China ink 12 deals, despite tensions over maps and infrastructure projects

Eduardo Jaramillo — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 16:36:08 +0000

The visit of Nepal's prime minister to Beijing saw a flurry of bilateral cooperation agreements signed. But no one mentioned China's controversial new map, and questions remain over the details of China’s infrastructure investment in the landlocked nation.

Taiwan’s opposition candidate outlines tougher new strategy against China

Ray Wang — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 15:17:32 +0000

Hou Yu-ih, the Kuomintang candidate for president of the Republic of China, visited the U.S., where he signaled a tougher line on China than his party has previously taken with his 3D Strategy: The first "D" stands for “deterrence.”

Zoe Liu on sovereign funds and how the Chinese government makes strategic investments

Christopher Marquis — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 13:17:45 +0000

Deploying sovereign wealth on behalf of state power has been one of the keys to China’s global rise. Zongyuan Zoe Liu’s comprehensive analysis of the evolution of China’s sovereign funds shows how China has doubled down on financial statecraft and become a global financier of surprising ambition.

Cyberbullying trial tests China’s determination to fight online abuse

Jenny Feng — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 13:02:08 +0000

Is China serious about reining in cyberbullying? A court case may tell.

China kicks off the Asian Games with no fireworks and a parade of global leaders

Nadya Yeh — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 16:17:32 +0000

Asia’s version of the Olympics kicked off with dazzling light shows, an esports debut, and a slew of top dignitaries in attendance. Xi courted top Syrian and South Korean officials amid the fanfare, but his government also raised fresh tensions in its border dispute with India.

The China Agenda for September 25–October 1 — Asian Games and EU-China talks

Arran Hope — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 22:44:07 +0000

This is what’s on the diplomatic, political, and business agenda for the week of September 25–October 1.

Open-Source Intelligence in Crisis: Navigating China’s Restrictions

The China Project Events — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 19:55:27 +0000

D.J. Bobbs from C4ADS and Skip Schiphorst from I-Intelligence delve into the ins and outs of China's growing restrictions on data.

Leading Chinese university nixes English requirement, igniting nationalistic fervor

Jenny Feng — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 14:21:05 +0000

Today, many young Chinese are caught between a belief in the importance of cultural confidence and the need to exist in a globalized world in which English carries economic privileges and professional opportunities.

Huawei’s made-in-China smartphone has Washington scratching its head

Eduardo Jaramillo — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:41:49 +0000

The Mate 60 Pro launched to great fanfare in August. Its seven-nanometer processor and other homegrown parts show that some Chinese investments in domestic technology firms have paid off.

This week on TikTok: Hong Kong’s crypto dreams and Syria’s turn to China

Susan St.Denis — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:12:10 +0000

‘Austin Li is out of touch’ — Phrase of the Week

Andrew Methven — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 12:49:36 +0000

China's Lipstick King is out of touch. And there's a new meme about it.

Asymmetrical warfare in the battle over China’s past

Jeremiah Jenne — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 06:10:25 +0000

Chinese history — very distant and very near — is filled with people who did not, and do not, abide by the government's "official" version of events. Ian Johnson gives them a voice in his latest book, Sparks.

Assad arrives in China and Putin is coming soon

Barry van Wyk — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 15:58:14 +0000

China’s top diplomat is in Russia to prepare the way for Putin’s visit to China in October while Syrian President Assad touched down in Hangzhou for a rare foreign visit.

Uyghur crisis discussion on sidelines of UN General Assembly goes ahead despite intimidation from Beijing

Jonathan Landreth — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 15:40:03 +0000

China’s Mission to the UN circulated a letter to diplomats in New York discouraging attendance at an event marking the first anniversary of a UN report saying China’s treatment of the Uyghurs may constitute “crimes against humanity.”

China is going to use less coal, despite reports to the contrary

David Fishman — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 14:31:00 +0000

Hydro, wind, and solar power are stabilizing, and burning the dirtiest of fossil fuels is near the plateau it must reach before coal is dethroned.

Ian Johnson on “Sparks,” his new book on China’s underground historians

Kaiser Kuo — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 13:03:59 +0000

This week on Sinica, Pulitzer Prize–winning veteran journalist Ian Johnson, now a senior China fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins Kaiser to discuss his new book, "Sparks: China's Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future."

‘Thunder Out of China’: One of the most popular WWII books of all time

Paul French — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 04:00:05 +0000

Annalee Jacoby and Teddy White were in their early twenties — yet already accomplished war correspondents — when they arrived in Chongqing. Their reportage from China's wartime capital was immediately popular with the reading public, and has largely withstood the test of time.

This is the state of generative AI in China

Paul Triolo — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 13:20:54 +0000

Chinese tech companies are racing to create and monetize the type of artificial intelligence known as “generative AI,” which ChatGPT recently made famous.

Queer cinema in Hong Kong, before and after 1997: Q&A with Helen Hok-Sze Leung

Nathan Wei — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 12:34:38 +0000

The Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival has returned after three years of pandemic-enforced restrictions and virtual programs. On this occasion, we recently spoke to Helen Hok-Sze Leung, an expert on queer cinema and Hong Kong culture.

The origins of World War II in Asia

James Carter — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 08:43:59 +0000

The Mukden Incident — when explosives detonated along the route of the South Manchurian Railway near Shenyang — was a pretext for Japanese aggression in Asia. The events of that Friday night are underwhelming, almost ridiculous, in the context of what they sparked.

My bosses made a bet that I would quit. I haven’t…yet.

Li Yijuan — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 06:45:16 +0000

China’s youth unemployment rate is soaring, and competition for good jobs is fiercer than ever. At the same time, young people are choosing to exit the rat race, jump between jobs, or quit working altogether. What gives?

The present battle to shape China’s future by controlling its past: Q&A with Ian Johnson

Jonathan Landreth — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 16:39:20 +0000

Ian Johnson’s journalism gives voice to ordinary Chinese people from all walks of life — the outcasts, the faithful, and, in the case of his latest book, the public intellectuals and storytellers recording the history that Beijing’s official censors are trying to erase.

China sends a record 103 warplanes to Taiwan

Nadya Yeh — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 15:34:19 +0000

Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense reported a “recent new high” of over 100 Chinese aircraft around the island. It’s the second record-breaking military drill that China has conducted near Taiwan in the past week.

The many business projects between China and Trinidad and Tobago

Alex Colville — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 13:42:50 +0000

Seeing its oil draining away, Trinidad is seeking to become a logistics hub for international trade, capitalizing on its position between Latin America and the Panama Canal. So, naturally, China was one of its go-tos.

Chinese parents rally against school meals over food security concerns

Jenny Feng — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 10:11:50 +0000

After years of unchecked growth, the Chinese industry of pre-cooked, ready-to-eat food is now trying to create a new market in schools. The move, however, was immediately opposed by parents.

General Li Shangfu, China’s defense minister, has disappeared. Corruption?

Anthony Tao — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 13:41:46 +0000

“I don’t think it calls into question Xi Jinping’s control of the military, but it should be a reminder about how much corruption exists in the system,” says one China observer.

BRI at 10: China builds roads to combat its image problem in Central Asia

Jacob Mardell — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 10:53:34 +0000

China wants to "tell its story well," but is that possible in a region where Sinophobia runs deep?

The China Agenda for September 18–24 — UNGA, Hou You-yi in the U.S.

Arran Hope — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 02:55:05 +0000

This is what’s on the diplomatic, political, and business agenda for the week of September 18–24.

Bruce Dickson on ‘the Party and the People’ and the key questions to understand China

Christopher Marquis — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 15:56:54 +0000

In this recent book targeted to a non-scholarly audience, political scientist Bruce Dickson draws on recent China studies research to shed light on how the Chinese Communist Party deals with leadership succession, civil society, the business sector, religion, nationalism and more.

Advanced packaging is the frontier of semiconductor technology, and TSMC is in the lead

Margaret Siu — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:53:49 +0000

It’s becoming difficult to make microchips smaller, so the encasing around them is where advanced tech is going. TSMC's advanced packaging technology has emerged as a game-changer, with repercussions extending far beyond circuitry for U.S.-Taiwan relations.

Why Indonesia did not join BRICS

Randy Mulyanto — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:50:19 +0000

Indonesia has a tricky balancing act to pull off right now. Like many countries, it’s stuck between a Chinese rock and an American hard place. This is what’s at stake.

In a retro mood: The ethical dilemmas of cutting a deal with Xi Jinping’s China

Geremie R. Barmé — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:45:48 +0000

How can scholars, journalists, and others engage with China ethically? The eminent Sinologist Geremie Barmé offers 10 watchwords.

‘Pocket crime’ — Phrase of the Week

Andrew Methven — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 10:03:48 +0000

A new draft law in China may dole out punishments for “harming the feelings of the Chinese people.” It has sparked criticism in China.

Letting Taiwanese cuisine speak for itself

Jordyn Haime — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 05:48:47 +0000

In a new cookbook, journalist Clarissa Wei seeks to retell the story of Taiwan’s distinct cuisine for a world that often misinterprets it.

Apple’s 2023 product launch event receives tepid response in China

Jenny Feng — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 05:19:50 +0000

Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign ministry has denied rumors that government employees would be banned from owning Apple smartphones.

China leads the world in green energy, but it just can’t stop emitting greenhouse gasses

Joe Webster — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 16:11:42 +0000

China is the world’s largest renewables generator and has cleaned the air in many cities, but it remains the world’s largest polluter, is addicted to coal, and is wasting solar panels on a massive scale.

Why is Hong Kong pushing crypto and web3?

William Sandlund — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 16:02:09 +0000

Sam Bankman-Fried is behind bars, and the zeitgeist has moved on from cryptocurrencies and web3. But the Hong Kong government is charging ahead with blockchain technologies.

The world’s solar panel industry is still powered by Uyghur forced labor

Ruth Ingram — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 15:44:49 +0000

“Clean” and “dirty” supply chains perpetuate modern slavery among Turkic minorities, a report from researchers at Sheffield Hallam University shows.

How can the U.S. more effectively compete with China?

Kaiser Kuo — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 13:03:59 +0000

This week on the Sinica Podcast, host Kaiser Kuo speaks with Representative Rick Larsen of the Washington 2nd District, the co-founder and continuously serving Democratic co-chair of the bipartisan U.S.-China Working Group about his white paper outlining on how the U.S. can more effectively compete with China.

Every Ultimate China Bookshelf needs Peter Hessler’s ‘River Town’

Paul French — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 08:08:44 +0000

"River Town," since its publication in 2001, has been much imitated but rarely bettered. It is a classic in the memoir genre, about life in a rural town that was changing, inalterably, for better or for worse.

China issues economic integration plan for Taiwan while displaying military might

Barry van Wyk — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 13:37:53 +0000

Beijing is brandishing the stick of naval and air power in the South China Sea, and has now unveiled a new carrot: a plan for closely integrating Taiwan’s economy with that of Fujian Province. So far, the Taiwanese are unimpressed.

A brief guide to China’s complicated green hydrogen industry

Huiling Zhou — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 12:15:48 +0000

Made without any carbon emissions, green hydrogen can play an important role in cleaning up dirty industries like coal and steel. Beijing’s hands-off approach has motivated local governments, SOEs, and the private sector to take the reins, but results so far are mixed.

Photographers clash with conservationists as birding takes off in China

Heather Mowbray — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 10:20:51 +0000

The hobby of birdwatching is growing in China. But with the increased interest has come increased risks to the feathered wildlife.