Showing 1 - 10 of 25
Eyes and ears everywhere in China
Published on 25/05/2024
» BEIJING - The wall in the police station was covered in sheets of paper, one for every building in the sprawling Beijing apartment complex. Each sheet was further broken down by unit, with names, phone numbers and other information on the residents.
Why China's Hong Kong crackdown could backfire
Asia focus, Published on 22/03/2021
» The Year of the Ox began darkly for the people of Hong Kong. On Feb 16, nine pro-democracy activists, including 82-year-old Martin Lee, the revered long-time leader of the city's Democratic Party, went on trial facing charges of illegal assembly.
China's misplaced pandemic propaganda
Asia focus, Published on 13/04/2020
» Barely a month ago, China was in the grip of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. Thousands of new infections were being confirmed every day. Hospitals were overwhelmed. People were dying by the hundreds. People couldn't leave their homes.
China's risky endgame in Hong Kong
Asia focus, Published on 25/11/2019
» Although the rapid escalation of violence in Hong Kong seems terrifying enough, things may be about to get much worse.
A Tiananmen solution in Hong Kong?
Asia focus, Minxin Pei, Published on 02/09/2019
» The crisis in Hong Kong appears to be careening toward a devastating climax. With China's government now using rhetoric reminiscent of the warnings that preceded the Tiananmen Square massacre in June 1989, Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters -- and, indeed, its democracy -- could well be in grave danger.
The lasting tragedy of the Tiananmen massacre
News, Minxin Pei, Published on 03/06/2019
» China's progress toward an open society ended when the People's Liberation Army (PLA) slaughtered at least hundreds, if not thousands, of peaceful demonstrators in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 3-4, 1989. The crackdown left a lasting stain on the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), despite the regime's unrelenting efforts to whitewash history and suppress collective memory.
The risks of China's Taiwan policy
News, Minxin Pei, Published on 14/01/2019
» The unfolding geopolitical contest between China and the United States has been described by many as a new cold war. If it ever becomes a hot one, the flash point could be Taiwan, owing in large part to Chinese policy toward the island.
China is losing the new cold war
Asia focus, Published on 17/09/2018
» When the Soviet Union imploded in 1991, the Communist Party of China became obsessed with understanding why. Government think-tanks entrusted with the task heaped plenty of blame on Mikhail Gorbachev, the reformist leader who was simply not ruthless enough to hold the Soviet Union together. But Chinese policymakers also highlighted other important factors, not all of which the country's leaders seem to be heeding today.
China's Hong Kong dilemma
Asia focus, Minxin Pei, Published on 03/07/2017
» Amid the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to Chinese rule on July 1, Beijing has been declaring that, contrary to dire predictions, the former British colony has thrived, and that the "one country, two systems" model designed by Deng Xiaoping, China's late paramount leader, has been a resounding success.
TPP can still keep China on its toes
News, Minxin Pei, Published on 26/05/2017
» When US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in January, many observers saw that decision as a boon for China. If so, it may not last.