Introduction Two new pieces of draft authority on China’s social credit system, directories of data inputs and punitive outputs from the General Office of the State Council, provide further clarity into the system’s ultimate form and purposes.[1] These official guidance documents present a picture of... MORE

Last month, China commemorated the 90th anniversary of the September 18 incident— the false flag railway explosion that sparked Imperial Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931. In China’s official historical narrative, the incident, which is colloquially known simply as "9-18” (九一八, jiu yiba), marks the... MORE

Introduction A controversy is raging among the upper echelons of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over General Secretary Xi Jinping’s advocacy of “common prosperity,” which has included forcing giant private enterprises to share their wealth with less privileged sectors (China Brief, August 26). At the... MORE

Introduction The vast majority of intercontinental internet traffic traverses submarine cables laid across the ocean floor. Private and state-owned firms have long invested in these submarine cables to carry internet traffic and other data, often in cooperation with one another due to the high costs... MORE

Introduction Last fall, the Tibetan community in New York City was scandalized by news that a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer named Baimadajie Angwang, allegedly of Tibetan ethnicity, had been arrested and charged with spying on the local Tibetan community for the Chinese Communist... MORE

Introduction Documents leaked to the New York Times (also known as the Xinjiang Papers) in November 2019 revealed how Chinese President Xi Jinping laid the groundwork for the Chinese government’s draconian campaign of internment in the northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). In April 2014,... MORE

On July 5, ten central government departments led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the “5G Application ‘Set Sail’ Action Plan (2021-2023)” ([5G应用 ‘扬帆’ 行动计划 (2021-2023年)], 5G yingyong ‘yangfan’ xingdong jihua) to promote industrial and social applications of 5G+ “in order... MORE

Introduction The 14th Five-Year Plan adopted this past March has reaffirmed the significance of Renminbi (RMB) internationalization in China’s geopolitical ambitions (Gov.cn, March 13). Global RMB proliferation in cross-border trade would enhance China’s domestic financial security, which also makes it a key element of China’s... MORE

Introduction From late June to early July 2021, it was reported that the Western Theater Air Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force (PLAAF) had “recently” conducted a combat support exercise in northwestern China.[1] Although much of the exercise resembled other combat... MORE

Introduction On July 23, the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) published the “Notification on the ‘Children Speak in Unison’ Plan” ( [关于实施儿童普通话教育 ‘童语同音’ 计划的通知], Guanyu shishi ertong Putonghua jiaoyu ‘tongyu tongying’ jihua de tongzhi, hereafter ‘Plan’) to implement Mandarin Chinese... MORE