On May 11, 2009, the People's Republic of China (PRC) submitted the preliminary survey findings on the outer limits of its continental shelf to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). The submission makes a claim to an extended continental shelf... MORE

China is now, on average, the world’s fifth largest arms exporter, after the traditional leading suppliers: the United States, Russia, France, and the United Kingdom.  In fact, in 2007 it was fourth in terms of global arms transfer agreements, ahead of France, Germany and Spain... MORE

For the past few years, the Western world has been abuzz with talk of China’s rise. Most statesmen, pundits and academics have concluded that China’s rise is inevitable, but as of yet there has been no consensus on the implications of China’s rise for the... MORE

Celebrations that Beijing has bowed to global pressure and scrapped an order to use filtering software in all personal computers have turned out to be premature. On July 1, a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) spokesman said that while Beijing had, on June... MORE

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 a commercial aircraft with China Commercial Aircraft Company (COMAC), a Chinese state-owned behemoth under the... MORE

Chinese President Hu Jintao elevated the concept of “harmonious ocean” (hexie haiyang) in an unprecedented maritime parade during the 60th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) at Qingdao on April 23. In Hu’s speech, the Chinese leader proclaimed that “for now and in... MORE

Robert Kaplan proclaims that “the Chinese are the Mahanians now,” enamored with the fin de siècle American sea captain who exhorted seafaring nations to amass international commerce, merchant and naval fleets, and forward bases (The Atlantic, November 2007). By those measures, China is progressing swiftly... MORE

China wants to achieve the ability, or at minimum the appearance of the ability, to prevent a U.S. carrier strike group (CSG) from intervening in the event of a future Taiwan Strait crisis. China may be closer than ever to achieving this capability with land-based... MORE

While the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must have heaved a sigh of relief over the relatively uneventful 20th anniversary of the June 4, 1989 crackdown, central party authorities are adopting extra measures to defuse tension between local officials and the masses. Widespread anger at the... MORE

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 of the general plenary that is taking place in Beijing from June 22 to 27.... MORE