By Jonathan Mirsky Recent accounts of Chinese tourists in Tibet revive one of my clearest memories: the coarse behaviour of the Chinese during my six visits to the region between 1982 and 1990. It is as traditionally pious for Tibetans to walk clockwise in sacred... MORE

At the most important defense show in the Middle East, a major American company was demonstrating its missile defense plans and achievements using a VCR and a large TV monitor. Waiting until the lunch hour, when the American exhibit was down to one person, a... MORE

By Willy Wo-Lap Lam Hawkish officers in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have cited Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's remarks on the island's statehood and its readiness for a referendum on the issue to urge an early "liberation" of Taiwan. Chen's statements could also buttress the... MORE

"To them we are like bubbles," says Xie Yan, referring to officials in her village. "They know if they turn away and ignore us, we will soon pop and be gone." The mother of three lost her husband recently. Suffering from severe headaches and nausea... MORE

By Mark Simon Three problems with non-elected leaders are how they get in, how they stay in and how they go out. In this world, Jiang Zemin was actually a bit ahead of par in how he came in and how he has stayed. Yet... MORE

By Willy Wo-Lap Lam That Jiang Zemin's apparent refusal to retire has wrought havoc on an already rickety political system is clear from the reactions of the two persons deemed closest to the president: Vice President Hu Jintao and Jiang's wife, Wang Yeping. Hu, still... MORE

The end of the Cold War seemingly liberated business from geopolitical constraints. The "global factory" disintegrated industrial complexes from their former national homes and scattered facilities across the planet in the pursuit of low-cost labor and efficient subcontractors. Many small states from the Caribbean to... MORE

The recent release of two U.S. government studies on China--the Pentagon's annual report of Chinese military strength, and the findings of the Congressional U.S.-China Security Review Commission--should come as a wake-up call to those who craft U.S. China policy. Many of those who are engaged... MORE

A new Department of Defense report, issued on July 12, on the growing power of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) signals a key shift in Washington's willingness to identify China as a future threat to the United States and its security interests. Russia's arms sales... MORE

By Willy Wo-Lap Lam One of the biggest contradictions of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politics is that while the Jiang Zemin leadership is trying to phase out class struggle, antagonism among different sectors of society is getting more strident by the day. A highlight of... MORE