Latest China Brief Articles
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 in mid-2008. The article was reportedly approved by the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department... MORE
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 Xiaotian signed the first bilateral agreement for defense exchanges and security cooperation between the countries.... MORE
Beijing Unveils Plan for Super Ministries
While Western-style political reforms remain illusory, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership has pledged that it will improve governmental efficiency, boost central authority and eradicate corruption and other ills associated with maladministration. Major structural reforms within the State Council (or central government) are being worked... MORE
China-Japan Rapprochement in Perspective
Last week, Chinese leaders presented Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda with a warm welcome during his first visit to China since he assumed office last September. The visit, which took place from December 27 to 30, followed Fukuda’s first visit to the United States as... MORE
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 Environment in the U.S. House of Representatives, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian asserted that China was... MORE
Labor Contract Law Strengthens Chinese Union
On January 1, 2008, the Chinese government added another major component, the Labor Contract Law, to its already substantial canon of labor legislation. Since the promulgation of the Trade Union Law in 1992 and Labor Law in 1994, the government has regularly introduced new legislation... MORE
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 that China has plans to develop three-carrier battle groups (CBVG) over the next decade. News... MORE
Taiwan Elections: Stability at the Expense of Democratization
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) stunning defeat in Taiwan’s parliamentary polls last weekend is expected to lower tension in the Taiwan Straits and speed up economic integration between the mainland and the self-ruled island. The DPP’s Waterloo may help convince President Chen Shui-bian and... MORE
The Kuomintang’s Security Policy and Taiwan’s 2008 Legislative and Presidential Elections
With Taiwan’s 2008 Legislative Yuan (LY) election in January and the presidential elections following in March, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) has unveiled a security policy platform that reveals a notable degree of convergence with the policy preferences of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The... MORE
The Kuomintang’s Security Policy and Taiwan’s 2008 Legislative and Presidential Elections
With Taiwan’s 2008 Legislative Yuan (LY) election in January and the presidential elections following in March, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) has unveiled a security policy platform that reveals a notable degree of convergence with the policy preferences of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The... MORE