Russell Hsiao
Russell Hsiao is the executive director of the Global Taiwan Institute, and is currently a visiting scholar the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Advanced Asian Studies. He is a Penn Kemble Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy and adjunct fellow at the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum.
Contact Russell Hsiao
Articles by Russell Hsiao
A Preliminary Survey of PRC United Front Activities in South Korea
Introduction The People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercises influence over South Korea in multiple ways. Chinese influence operations against Seoul have been characterized as not subtle and even blatant compared...
The DPP’s 2024 Presidential Candidate-in-Waiting: William Lai
Introduction Taiwan will hold closely watched presidential and legislative elections next January. While the major parties' presidential candidates have not been officially chosen, the nominee for the ruling Democratic Progressive...
A Preliminary Survey of CCP Influence Efforts in Hong Kong
Editor’s note: Our previous two issues contained articles by Russell Hsiao that profiled institutions and methods employed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to cultivate influence in Japan (A Preliminary...
A Preliminary Survey of CCP Influence Operations in Singapore
Editor’s note: Our previous issue contained an article by Russell Hsiao that profiled institutions and methods employed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to cultivate influence in Japan (A Preliminary...
A Preliminary Survey of CCP Influence Operations in Japan
Introduction The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency’s China Military Power Report, released in January 2019, revealed the agency’s official assessment that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is conducting “political warfare”...
China’s Intensifying Pressure Campaign against Taiwan
China has significantly ramped up pressure on Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen was democratically-elected as the country’s president in January 2016. As Beijing’s external pressure on Taiwan grows, pressure for action...
CCP Propaganda against Taiwan Enters the Social Age
At the height of the on-going controversial pension reforms debate in Taiwan, LINE—the most popular messaging application on the island—and internet users reportedly began seeing a flood of messages and...
Critical Node: Taiwan’s Cyber Defense and Chinese Cyber-Espionage
Cyberspace is emerging as a contentious frontier in cross-Strait relations. Overt military tension in the Taiwan Strait has ostensibly given way to a cold war in the cyber-domain. A surge...
Taiwan Work Leading Small Group under Xi Jinping
For Beijing, the status of Taiwan represents the last unresolved issue from the Chinese Civil War that ended with victory for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949. Taiwan-policy has,...
Taiwan Rebalances in the Near Seas
At a forum held in Taipei on August 5th commemorating the 60th anniversary of the peace treaty signed between the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) and Japan following the second...
Su Tseng-Chang and the Future of the DPP
After the loss of the January 2012 presidential election, the opposition-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan had been searching for a new chairperson to lead the party. Since its defeat,...
Taiwan Navy Sailing Ahead with Indigenous Submarine Program
The Republic of China (ROC) Navy appears to be moving forward with a long awaited program to build diesel submarines in Taiwan. A domestic submarine program—which was aborted under former...
Is Hungary Becoming China’s Hub in Central Europe?
On June 24-26, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao stopped in Budapest with great fanfare. The Hungarian government, then closing out its term as rotating presidency of the EU Council of Ministers,...
Who Will Command China’s Aircraft Carriers?
China has reportedly postponed the sea trial of its long-awaited aircraft carrier to an unspecified date in August. The Varyag, which was purchased from Ukraine and is under refurbishment at...
Taiwan Pivots in the South China Sea
The latest escalation of tensions in the South China Sea has introduced new dynamics in the increasingly complex cross-Strait equation. The newest row over the disputed Spratly islets stands apart...
China Intensifies Maritime Surveillance Missions
China is increasing its maritime surveillance missions and strengthening its capabilities to monitor vessels in areas that it considers Chinese waters. According to the 2010 China Marine Law Enforcement Bulletin...
PLA Navy Expands Recruitment Drive to Enhance Operational Capability
China's expanding maritime interests require a navy capable of executing a diverse range of missions at greater distances from Chinese territorial waters. While the PLA Navy (PLAN) has made significant...
PLA Steps Up Military Diplomacy in Asia
Against the backdrop of an uptick in confrontations over the past two years that punctured China's "charm offensive" in Asia, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has apparently been tasked to...
Is China’s Carrier Aviation Program Kicking into High Gear?
China will soon be one-step closer to its long-standing quest to operate an aircraft carrier. Various reports confirmed that the aircraft carrier Varyag, which China purchased from Ukraine and has...
Hu Signs New Regulations Safeguarding Military Secrets
Against the backdrop of an uptick in high-profile cases involving military secrets that include startling revelations by Taiwan’s intelligence chief of China’s growing arsenal of strategic weapons, Beijing is beefing...
Taiwan’s Intelligence Chief Warns about the PLA’s Growing Strategic Weapon Systems
The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) arsenal of strategic weapons systems is growing in spite of the cross-Strait détente. According to Tsai Der-Sheng, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) director-general, China has...
Military Delegates Call for National Maritime Strategy to Protect Expanding Interests
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, which serves as the country's top political advisory body, is meeting in Beijing at the Great Hall of the People. The...
Hu Emphasizes Stability during Lunar New Year Pilgrimage
On the eve of the Lunar New Year, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chief and President Hu Jintao visited the prefecture-level city of Baoding in Hebei province (Xinhua News Agency, February...
High-Level Personnel Changes Continue Professionalization of the Chinese Military
In the latest round of high-level personnel changes in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), more appointments of key posts appear to be going to younger and more professionally trained military...
Twelfth-Five Year Plan Accelerates Civil-Military Integration in China’s Defense Industry
China's defense-industrial complex is emerging from the shadows of its troubled past. While weaknesses and limitations in the Chinese defense industry remain, in recent years it has produced a wide...
China Expands Naval Presence through Jeddah Port Call
China’s naval presence on the global stage is expanding. While counter-piracy and escort operations in the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea have significantly contributed to the Chinese navy's growing...
China and Burma to Finalize High-Speed Rail Project
China and Burma (Myanmar) are reportedly finalizing a detailed plan that could start work on a high-speed railroad connecting the two countries in as quickly as two months, with some...
China Unveils Sea Defense System to Counter Aircraft Carrier
The modernization of China’s aerospace capabilities was prominently on display at the Eighth China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition (2010 Zhuhai Air Show). The biannual air show, which is taking...
“War without Gunfire”: China’s Intelligence War with Taiwan
In spite of an apparent thaw in overt cross-Strait tensions since Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou was elected into office in 2008, the shadow war between Chinese and Taiwanese intelligence agencies...
China’s New Submarines and Deployment Patterns: Aimed at South China Sea?
Images and media reports about new types of submarines appearing in recent months have generated a lot of interest in China's evolving submarine force. While the magnitude of such developments...
Strategic Implications of China’s Consolidation of Rare Earth Industries
The Chinese government is stepping up control over the country's rare earth supply, key elements needed to develop advanced military technology. In early September, Beijing released guidelines to help facilitate...
Advances in China’s UCAV Program
The acquisition of advanced foreign technologies coupled with sustained high rates of investment in its defense industries has helped accelerate the pace and scope of China’s military modernization in recent...
Taiwan’s Military Shores Up Indigenous Defense Capabilities
While Taiwan is stepping up calls for the United States to sell the island new F-16 jets and diesel submarines, there are signs that the Taiwanese military has been shoring...
PLA Expands Network of Military Reconnaissance Satellites
On August 9, China launched the remote sensing satellite Yaogan-10 (military designation: Jianbing) into orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. Situated in the northwest of Shanxi Province, the site...
PLA Posturing for Conflict in the South China Sea?
The recent revelation of a Second Artillery Corps (SAC) facility that is under development in China's southern coastal province, Guangdong, and the "unprecedented" maneuvers undertaken by the combined naval fleets...
China’s Cyber Command?
The development of China's cyber warfare program has captured worldwide attention in recent years. While evolving doctrines and incidents of cyber intrusions with alleged links to the Chinese government have...
Aims and Motives of China’s East China Sea Live Fire Drills
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced on June 24 that all vessels would be prohibited from entering areas located east of Zhoushan to Taizhou city in Zhejiang in the...
Major Reforms in the 12th Five-Year Plan?
As Western economies struggle to stave off contagion, Chinese leaders have been quietly working to chart the Middle Kingdom's triumphant return to the world's center stage. According to the most...
Taiwan-Japan Rift over ADIZ
Taipei has rejected a proposal from Tokyo that would allow Japan to expand its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) to include airspace above areas west of the island of Yonaguni...
Brazil and Argentina: China’s Growing Foothold in Latin America
On May 21, Norwegian oil company Statoil announced that it agreed to sell 40 percent stake ($3 billion) of the Peregrino field located in the Campos basin offshore of Brazil...
Hu Calls on Russia to Shape New International Political Order
At the invitation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Moscow from May 8 to May 9. The occasion marked the 65th anniversary of Russia’s Great Patriotic...
PLAN East Sea Fleet Moves Beyond First Island Chain
The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) recently carried out its annual exercises far from China's coastal waters. The flotillas of naval warships were reportedly deployed on an unprecedented scale, seemingly...
Implications of Kyrgyzstan Revolt on China’s Xinjiang Policy
As the political crisis in Kyrgyzstan reaches a turning point, after opposition forces seized the capital Bishkek in a bloody clash and ousted the president and his allies, Chinese leaders...
China-Taiwan Up Missile Ante
In spite of thawing ties along the Taiwan Strait, Beijing is reportedly deploying more sophisticated missile systems in the coastal province across Taiwan. The director of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau...
Strategic Implications of China’s Access to the Rajin Port
At the recently concluded National People's Congress (NPC), Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Deputy Secretary-General of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province, Li Longxi, announced that North Korean authorities...
China Assesses its Gold Reserve Strategy
As the U.S. economy dithers through a fragile global recovery, Chinese leaders are convening in Beijing for the annual plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC)—China's ceremonial legislature—that begins...
Hu’s New Year Charm Offensive toward Taiwan
At a meeting held in Fujian Province in southeastern China on the eve of the Lunar New Year, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chief and President Hu Jintao met with businessmen...
The Modernization of China’s Border and Coastal Defense Infrastructure
From January 29 to January 31, the National Committee on Border and Coastal Defense of the People's Republic of China (PRC) held its fourth meeting in Beijing. The meeting was...
Aims and Motives of China’s Recent Missile Defense Test
The U.S. government announced on January 6 that it awarded the defense manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, a contract to build the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles for Taiwan. The agreement is...
China Builds Closer Ties to Afghanistan through Wakhan Corridor
As NATO forces push forward toward stabilizing Afghanistan, backed by the commitment of an additional 30,000 U.S. troops, there has been a growing call by the United States for other...
China’s “Underground Great Wall” and Nuclear Deterrence
In early December, the People’s Liberation Army's (PLA) publication, China Defense Daily (Zhongguo Guofang Bao), published a report that provided a rare glimpse into an underground tunnel that is being...
Sixth-Generation Leaders Promoted to Top Party Positions
In the first major re-shuffle at the party provincial committee level following the 17th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress in 2007, several changes have caught the attention of Chinese leadership-watchers....
China’s Fifth-Generation Fighters and the Changing Strategic Balance
On November 9, General He Weirong, deputy commander of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), confirmed long-standing speculations that the PLAAF is developing fifth-generation fighters (fourth-generation in Chinese standard),...
China’s Demographic Imbalances Widen
Even as the Chinese economy under the Hu-Wen administration is set to wean through the global financial crisis with a remarkable eight percent growth rate this year, senior officials from...
Is Renminbi becoming Asia’s Currency and Decoupling from the West?
Since December 2008, China has signed $95 billion (650 billion RMB) in currency-swap agreements with Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Argentina and Belarus, in order to promote greater circulation...
Xi’s European Tour: China’s Central-Eastern European Strategy Reaches for New Heights
Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping departed for Europe on October 7 for a two-week long official visit spanning from Brussels in the West to Bucharest in the East. The five European...
Hu Sends Special Envoy to Pyongyang ahead of Whirldwind Summitry
As part of a three-day visit from September 16–18 that largely stayed below the fray of both domestic and international media, Chinese President Hu Jintao sent State Councilor and former...
PRC’s National Day to Showcase China’s Rise
The Hu Jintao administration appears to be pulling out all the stops for the October 1 celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China...
Economic Crisis Spurs Chinese Defense-Industrial Reforms
Following a dismal H1 performance (January – May) for China's shipbuilding industry (SIB)—new orders received by Chinese shipbuilders decreased by 96 percent year-on-year (yoy), with a net of 1.18 million...
Major Restructuring of PLA Military Regions?
A string of Chinese reports, which appeared in recent weeks leading to and following the People's Liberation Army (PLA) 82nd birthday on August 1, seems to indicate that a debate...
Hu Confers Hardliner Top Military Rank
Beijing instituted a new round of personnel changes among the top-ranking officers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and its general departments. According to official state-media, Central Military Commission (CMC)...
Taiwan’s State-Owned Aerospace Firm to Build Aircraft in China: Risks and Opportunities
Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (abbrev. AIDC; Chinese: Han Xiang), a state-owned aerospace enterprise credited with developing the country’s first indigenous defense fighter (IDF) is reportedly in negotiations to build...
PLA General Advises Building Bases in the South China Sea
The sixth meeting of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's (CPPCC) Standing Committee, the highest-level advisory body of the People's Republic of China, met ahead...
PLAN Officers to Train on Brazilian Aircraft Carrier
In a May 9 interview with Brazilian defense, strategy and intelligence news website Defasanet, Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim stated that Brazil and China had reached an agreement to train...
Chinese State-Owned Military Firm Reports Major Increase in Sales
Recent reports within the Chinese press revealed that sales of a Chinese state-owned military conglomerate that produces equipments and arms for both civilian and military applications have rose substantially in...
Kuayue-2009: Shifts in PLA Military Planning?
According to official Chinese media reports, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will hold a massive two-month long military drill that will involve 50,000 troops from four divisions across four of...
Changxing Shipbuilding Base: Home for China’s Future Indigenous Aircraft Carrier?
Recent reports circulating in the Chinese press indicate that Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Company Limited—one of China’s oldest state-owned shipbuilding company regarded as the “cradle of China’s national [shipbuilding] industry”—could be...
Taiwan’s Submarine Program: Pipe-Dream or Next Big Thing?
Several reports appeared in recent weeks in the Taiwanese media about the possibility that President Ma Ying-jeou’s administration has restarted a program to build indigenously designed diesel submarines. According to...
Project 048: China’s Secret Aircraft Carrier Command?
According to information circulated in the Chinese media, during the meeting between Chinese Defense Minister General Liang Guanglie and Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on March 20, wherein General Liang...
China Debates Forex Reserves; Boosts Strategic Petroleum Reserves
A string of recent pronouncements from Beijing leaders capped off with a strong statement by Premier Wen Jiabao over his concerns for the value of China's $681.9 billion investment in...
Towing the Party Line on Free Speech
In recent years, party officials in the People's Republic of China (PRC) have been uncharacteristically bold in speaking about freedom (ziyou) and democracy (minzhu), both long-standing taboos in the Chinese...
China-Taiwan: An Intelligence Detente?
The ruling party in Taiwan, the Kuomintang (KMT), is engulfed in another intelligence-related gaffe. A string of domino-like events that began with a report in the United Daily News, one...
Personnel Changes in PLA Ranks: Chen Xiaogong
The top-brass of the Chinese leadership started the Lunar New Year on a sprint. The year of the ox, which began on January 26 in the Gregorian calendar, was marked...
CCP Provincial Committees’ Reports Highlight Growing Wealth and Urban-Rural Inequality
According to the provincial Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) second plenary committees' work report collected by Guangdong-based newspaper Nanfang Daily, the gap between the rich and poor is growing wider in...
Hu Jintao’s ‘Six-Points’ Proposition to Taiwan
On the eve of 2009, the President of the People’s Republic of China and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee, Hu Jintao, delivered a capstone speech...
China’s Poor, Young and Restless
The "Economic Blue Paper," a report published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on December 2 (China Brief, December 8), stated there will be 6.1 million college graduates...
Competing Forecasts Cloud China’s Economic Conference
The annual Central Economic Work Conference organized by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will convene on December 8-10 in Beijing. Senior economic planners were in Beijing...
China’s Strategic Engagement with Latin America
Ten days before Chinese President Hu Jintao left Beijing to attend the G20 Summit hosted by President George W. Bush in Washington on November 15 (China Brief, November 7), Zhongnanhai...
China Cautious Toward G-20 Summit
According to Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Qin Gang, Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend the G20 Economic Summit to be held in Washington DC on November 15. At a press...
China’s African Inroads Shaken by Regional Political Uncertainties
Chinese state-owned enterprises and private companies doing business in Africa are increasingly finding their lucrative and unbridled trade and contracts mired in the pervasive domestic power struggles shaping African politics....
China En Route to Cap Antartica
The Chinese icebreaker and research vessel Xue Long (Snow Dragon) has left the port of Shanghai on October 20 for its 25th annual expedition to Antarctica for a six-month mission...
Global Crisis Presents Challenges and Opportunities for China’s Economic Reform
The massive bailout of Western financial institutions is remaking the international financial order, spurring debate in China about what adjustments and financial instruments need to be on the table for...
China and Pakistan Enhance Strategic Partnership
On September 26, 2008, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie met with Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan, in Beijing. The meeting, which called for the enhancement...
Beijing Tackles Lack of Transparency Amid Global Financial Crisis
The agency that serves as China's economic bellwether, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), has indicated that it will undertake new statistical reform and development. Ma Jiantang, the new NBS...
China-Taiwan Join Hands to Exploit East China Sea Resources
At the upcoming second meeting between Chen Yunlin, president of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARAT) in charge of handling cross-Strait negotiations, and Chiang Ping-kun, chairman of...
PLA’s “New Leap Forward” in Information-Centric Command
“Sharpening Sword 2008,” the code name for the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) month-long multi-service and multi-arm joint training counter-strike military exercise, is underway at the Zhurihe Joint Tactical Training Base...
China, Mongolia Quietly Enhance Military Ties
The Assistant Chief of the General Staff of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), Chen Xiaogong, was in Ulaanbaatar on a four-day visit to attend the third Sino-Mongolian Defense Security Consultation...
Amid Warming Ties Taiwan Scraps Plans for Developing Long Range Cruise Missiles
According to Taiwan’s Presidential Office Spokesperson Wang Yu-chi, the Ma Ying-jeou administration has decided that it will not develop missiles that have a range longer than 1,000 kilometers (580 miles),...
Chinese Soldiers and Arms Exports Embroiled in Zimbabwe’s Electoral Impasse
Chinese soldiers were spotted patrolling the streets of Mutare, Zimbabwe. The total number of PLA soldiers in Mutare is unconfirmed, but eyewitness accounts place 10 Chinese soldiers in full military...
Energy Security the Centerpiece of China’s Foreign Policy
The 2008 People's Republic of China (PRC) White Paper on Diplomacy placed energy security as a major centerpiece of the country's foreign policy. The White Paper represents "China's foreign policy...
Taiwan’s Parliament to Oversee Cross-Strait Negotiations
The speaker of Taiwan's Legislative Yuan (parliament), Wang Jin-pyng, arrived in Washington, D.C. on July 24 for a week-long visit, marking the highest level visit by a ruling Kuomintang (KMT)...
PLA Deploys S-300 PMU3/Dongfeng-15A Surface to Air Missiles
In spite of thawing cross-Strait ties, both militaries on each side of the Taiwan Strait remain on high alert. According to multiple Chinese news sources that cite an article first...
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry Mulls Plan to Downsize Military
Taiwanese Defense Minister Chen Chao-min is reportedly considering plans to cut the Republic of China (Taiwan) military force to about 200,000 to 250,000 in a six year time span, which...
Nepal Following China’s Economic Path
Two years following the peace agreement that brought an end to 11 years of Maoist insurgency against government forces in Nepal, Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepal’s interim prime minister, has resigned...
Leadership Shuffle in Chinese Provinces
A wave of hi-level leadership shuffles in 10 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) provincial and city committees occurred at the level of deputy provincial party secretary, provincial party standing committee, deputy...
Xi Jinping Follows Hu’s Footsteps to Pyongyang
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping arrived in Pyongyang on June 17 for a three-day visit. North Korea is the first destination of Xi’s foreign trip since being made vice president...
Medvedev’s First Visit to China as Russia’s President
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s first foreign trip—only half a month after his inauguration in early May—will include a visit to China from May 23 to 24. Medvedev’s choice of visiting...
Ma’s Inaugural Address as President of Taiwan
On May 20, Ma Ying-jeou was sworn in as the president of Taiwan (Republic of China), in an election that marks the first successive transfer of power in Taiwan’s fledgling...
Economy Weighs in on Sichuan Quake Reconstruction Planning
Nearly a month after the devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12 left Sichuan in ruins—with massive relief operations still on-going—Beijing is beginning to grapple with the arduous task of post-quake...
Sanya Nuclear Submarine Base Shakes Asian Neighbors
On April 21, commercial satellite images on DigitalGlobe confirmed reports that China is building a major underground nuclear submarine base near Sanya, the southernmost city of Hainan Island, which is...
Child Labor Ring Exposed in Guangdong
In a two-day operation completed on April 30, local police in Dongguan municipality, Guangdong Province, executed a high profile rescue operation that police reports claim rescued 167 children trafficked from...
Land Disputes Ignite Peasant Uprisings in Rural China
An altercation between police and villagers in Saixi—protesting against insufficient compensation for the appropriation of land in the village for mining—resulted in bloodshed that left two reported dead, more than...
Sino-Russian Strategic Partnership Matures
Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie met with Viktor Zavarzin, the visiting chairman of the State Duma's Defense Committee, on April 7 at the Chinese Pentagon (Bayi Dalou). During their meeting,...
China’s Generation Y Talks “Openly” About Taiwan and Tibetan Independence
In an article published in Taiwan-based newspaper China Times, a staff news reporter in Shanghai asked the views of China's Generation Y—those born between 1981 and 1995—in China's bustling metropolis,...
China’s Central Military Commissions After the NPC
The 11th National People’s Congress (NPC) stamped in the new leadership of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Membership of the state organ’s CMC...
Heixiazi Island to Return to PRC by End of 2008
Liu Guchang, the Chinese ambassador to Russia, announced that the demarcation of borders for the Heixiazi Island (Bol’shoi Ussuriiskiy Island) is complete and the island will be officially returned to...
China’s Military Budget Spurs Debate Over the Taiwan Strait
Taiwan's Ministry of Defense announced on March 11 that China's real defense budget is most likely to be two to three times more than the reported amount from the National...
Turning the Page on Sino-Australian Relations
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was in Australia on February 5 for the inaugural ministerial-level strategic dialogue between China and Australia (Xinhua, February 5). Foreign Minister Yang's visit marked the...
Who’s Hu’s Successor?
The Hong Kong based newspaper Ming Pao learned from sources in Beijing that Xi Jinping—who was only recently elevated by President Hu Jintao to become a member of the Standing...
“Honeymoon” for Sino-Japanese Defense Relations
On February 26, Admiral Takashi Saito, chief of the Joint Staff Office of Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF), started a four-day visit to China at the invitation of Chen Binde, chief...
Big Ministries System and Deputies Get Nod at Second Plenum
With the veils closed on February 27, the three-day session of the Second Plenum for the 17th National Congress that started on February 25 confirms for China watchers three things:...
Taiwan Lands on the Spratlys
On January 21, the Taiwan-based newspaper United Daily News reported that a C-130 transport aircraft in the Taiwan (ROC) Air Force conducted a one-day mission to the Spratly Islets, whose...
China’s Expanding Naval Presence Troubles Neighbors
In an interview with Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, Taiwan’s Vice-Minister for Defense Ko Chen-heng reportedly stated that Chinese warships have stepped up naval activities along the “first island chain” (diyidaolian)...
Hong Kong Newspaper Features Exclusive Preview of 2008 White Paper on China’s Foreign Policy
On January 12, the Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Pao carried an exclusive article covering a portion of the 2008 China White Paper on Foreign Policy, which will be released...
China and Singapore Sign First Defense and Security Agreement
On January 7, the Singaporean Ministry of Defense (MINDEF) announced that Permanent Secretary of Defense Chiang Chie Foo and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Deputy Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ma...
China Plans Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) Within Taiwan Straits
On December 4, 2007, during a meeting with a visiting U.S. delegation headed by U.S. Representative Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS), chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, The Pacific, and the Global...
Is the PLA Navy Making Plans for a Three Carrier Battle Group?
On December 31, the Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Pao cited a report that no one in the western media has detected concerning a Jane's Defence Weekly article which reported...
China Exerts Administrative Control Over Disputed South China Sea Islets
The China State Council’s decision to expand administrative control over two islets in the South China Sea has reignited a long-standing dispute with Vietnam over sovereignty in the South China...
China Exerts Administrative Control Over Disputed South China Sea Islets
The China State Council’s decision to expand administrative control over two islets in the South China Sea has reignited a long-standing dispute with Vietnam over sovereignty in the South China...
Tokyo-Beijing Advances “Strategically Reciprocal Relationship” through “Warship Diplomacy”
On November 27, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, when asked by Chinese reporters about the current state of Sino-Japanese relations, characterized the relationship in the following response: “I believe spring...
Tokyo-Beijing Advances “Strategically Reciprocal Relationship” through “Warship Diplomacy”
On November 27, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, when asked by Chinese reporters about the current state of Sino-Japanese relations, characterized the relationship in the following response: “I believe spring...
Editor’s Note
The 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CCP) concluded in Beijing with thunderous applause echoing from the Great Hall of the People. With the next National Congress...
Editor’s Note
The 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CCP) concluded in Beijing with thunderous applause echoing from the Great Hall of the People. With the next National Congress...