
Latest Articles about China and the Asia-Pacific
KMT’s Change of Guard: Ma’s Power Play in Taiwanese Politics
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in Taiwan will elect its next chairman on July 26. On that date, tens of thousands of KMT members will cast their votes for their former party chairman–turned-president, Ma Ying-jeou, who will be the only candidate on the ballot. Ma’s... MORE
The Xinjiang Crisis: A Test for Beijing’s Carrot-and-Stick Strategy
Calm has been superficially restored to the Xinjiang Autonomous Region (XAR), where an outbreak of ethnic violence on July 5 led to the death of more than 197 Han Chinese and Uighurs, according to an official count (Xinhua News Agency, July 18). Chinese Communist Party... MORE
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) Chairman and PRC President Hu Jintao conferred three senior military officers the rank of general... MORE
Jihadis Identify U.S. Plots against China in Xinjiang and Africa
In light of the ethnic violence in China’s Xinjiang province, various jihadi internet forums focused on the handling of the turmoil by China’s security forces. A vast region comprising nearly a sixth of China’s total land mass, Xinjiang is home to a number of Central... MORE
Ankara’s Reaction to Xinjiang Crisis Raises Bilateral Tension
Since the ethnic riots in Urumqi, the capital of China's northwestern Xinjiang region populated by ethnic Turkic Uighurs, which resulted in the deaths of at least 156 people, including many Uighurs, Sino-Turkish relations have entered a low-level crisis. In the aftermath of the riots, the... MORE
Medvedev Aims to Squeeze the Dollar in Partnership with China
Moscow and Beijing have hailed what they describe as a bilateral strategic partnership, but Russian and Chinese state-run energy companies struggle to agree to a compromise on energy prices. Both sides insisted that the visit by China's President Hu Juntao to Russia on June 16-18... MORE
China’s Claims to an Extended Continental Shelf in the East China Sea: Meaning and Implications
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’s Re-emergence as an Arms Dealer: The Return of the King?
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
Chinese Perceptions of U.S. Decline and Power
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
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 a commercial aircraft with China Commercial Aircraft Company (COMAC), a Chinese state-owned behemoth under the... MORE