Japan’s military is considering joining the United States in maritime air patrols in the South China Sea in response to China’s increasingly assertive pursuit of territorial claims, a Japanese and a U.S. source familiar with the discussions said. News of… Read More ›
Admit it: the American question on “Contain China” has been changed from “Should?” to “How?” in view of the brewing consensus that the ‘constructive engagement’ policy since President Nixon was a mistake [Note 1]. In an originally titled “Wake up… Read More ›
China’s ‘internet plus’ strategy, announced in early March, promised to integrate mobile Internet, cloud computing and big data for manufacturing and promote the development of e-commerce, industrial networks and internet banking. But how would this ambitious plan to transform the… Read More ›
Perched atop the Himalayas, and wedged between the world’s most populous nations, Nepal has always been of strategic importance that belies its small size. Home to one-third of the Himalayan mountains, also known as Asia’s water tower thanks to the… Read More ›
The following is based on a translation from Chinese media: CCTV says in its report today that there has been renewed effort by the Chinese government to restart the 10-year idle Pan-Asia Railway Network Agreement, thanks to China’s One Belt,… Read More ›
For decades, regardless of weaknesses or inefficiencies, an overriding certainty of state-backed capitalism in China has been that the government looks after its own. That may be changing. On Tuesday, a little-known power equipment manufacturer became the first state-owned company… Read More ›
Nepal needed immediate help after an earthquake, but Nepal turned away Taiwan’s aid from fear of Beijing; India, China, and Pakistan were invited to the party. Russia agrees to sell missiles to China, setting off alarms, some too loud, others… Read More ›
The following is based on a translation of a report in Chinese media: Pakistan is regarded as a violent, lawless and run-down place with great risk of infiltration by Islamic extremists. It is in economic difficulties as few are willing… Read More ›
Asia has a China problem. Beijing has just initiated its biggest cut in bank reserve requirements since 2008, a move that underscores just how worried it is about its economy. But the cut is also a stark wake-up call for neighbours that have gotten… Read More ›
The secretary-general of Southeast Asia’s 10-member trade and security bloc Sunday said the group can’t agree to China’s use of its so-called nine-dash line to claim the contested waters of the South China Sea as Beijing continues its land-reclamation efforts… Read More ›
In the 1979 movie The China Syndrome, Jack Lemmon plays Jack Godell, a supervisor at a nuclear power plant. The facility experienced “unusual vibrations” and Jack was concerned about a potential meltdown. Today, many believe that China – a country… Read More ›
The following is based on a translation from Chinese media: China has completely mastered the technology of its fourth-generation high temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactor, and is now able to make more than 95% of it. It built a 10-mW experimental… Read More ›
The gear shift of Asia’s growth in the decades to come is in the hand of Tokyo as Japan is in control of the formation of the emerging India-China-Japan (I+C+J) power structure in Asia. In its “World 2050” research report,… Read More ›
Around a quarter of China’s remarkable economic growth over the past three decades or so was delivered by the dividend from its demographic structure, with a young population augmenting the workforce and lifting output in new jobs. A large proportion… Read More ›
In China, friends and family of the deceased may have to do without a special form of funereal entertainment: strippers. According to a statement from the Ministry of Culture on Thursday, the government plans to work closely with the police… Read More ›
The following is based on a translation from Chinese media: China reported some time ago that it was developing large ground effect vehicles as a means of transport between China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea. In this way,… Read More ›
China’s exports for the month of March fell by 15% from a year ago (in dollar terms), the General Administration of Customs said today. It was a big surprise to markets and investors, who were expecting a rise of as much as 12%…. Read More ›
The following is based on a translation from Chinese media: Mil.huanqiu.com carries news.cn’s report on cooperation between military and civilian enterprises in weapon development. The report reveals that the No. 2 Research Institute of China’s Aerospace Science & Industry Corp…. Read More ›
China’s economy is getting “worserer and worserer”. Their progress seems to have been hyped. Then again, that could be said of everyone. Banking is all over the news—all over. But the real reasons for such economic conflict and shuffling between… Read More ›
More than 11,000 soldiers from the Philippines, U.S. and Australia began joint drills in the South China Sea, as the Philippines’ military chief called China’s building work on disputed reefs “worrisome” and a source of friction with its neighbours. The… Read More ›
When a market gets on a roll, nothing seems to stop it. We have just learnt that China’s exports fell by an alarming 15% last month, while its imports fell by the biggest amount since the financial crash of 2008… Read More ›
The following is based on a translation from Chinese media: Russia’s sputniknews.cn website reported that China tried to develop vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) fighters in the 1960s and 1970s, but failed. Now China is again considering building such fighters…. Read More ›
By making things and selling them to foreigners, China has transformed itself—and the world economy with it. In 1990 it produced less than 3% of global manufacturing output by value; its share now is nearly a quarter. China produces about… Read More ›
The following is based on translations from Chinese media: Nuclear fusion is at the forefront of high technology. It will enable the human race to generate more than enough energy without using fossil fuel However, it is very difficult to… Read More ›
China’s steel and metals markets, a barometer of the world’s second-biggest economy, are “a lot worse than you think,” according to a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst who just completed a tour of the country. What he saw: idle cranes, empty construction… Read More ›
Tony Abbott has admitted at the highest international level that Australia’s policies towards China are driven by two emotions: “fear and greed”. The Prime Minister’s candid appraisal of Australia’s primordial motivations, given with a grin in private conversation with Germany’s Angela Merkel… Read More ›
China’s government has threatened to shut down Sina, one of the country’s most popular news websites unless it “improves censorship”, state media reported, in a rare public glimpse into controls over the press. The online portal “distorted news facts, violated morality and… Read More ›
The following is based on a translation from Chinese media: China’s official media mil.huanqiu.com has provided information about the J-20 from well-known Chinese military experts who are also Chinese military insiders. Regarding a Russian media report that China’s J-20 stealth… Read More ›
China has expanded its internet censorship efforts beyond its borders with a new strategy that attacks websites across the globe, researchers said.The new strategy, dubbed “Great Cannon,” seeked to shut down websites and services aimed at helping the Chinese circumvent… Read More ›
The following is based on a translation from Chinese media: China‘s qianzhan.com quotes unspecified “foreign media” reports as saying that China’s newest 052D Aegis destroyer is equipped with China’s newest YJ-18 supersonic anti-ship missiles. The missile’s high speed and terminal… Read More ›
Any failure to tackle China’s huge pollution problems in the coming years could stoke public discontent and create “social conflicts,” government researchers warned, underlining political concerns driving Beijing’s war on smog. With pollution identified as a major source of unrest,… Read More ›
China’s new bank (AIIB, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank) dominated headlines this week. AIIB’s history suggests China wants infrastructure money without being told to clean up the environment, respect human rights, or play nice with their hope-to-be soon-to-be-annexed neighbors. The US could have… Read More ›
US National Interest magazine’s website carries navy expert Dave Majumdar’s article “Nuclear Submarines: America’s New Aircraft Carriers?”, predicting, “Nuclear-powered guided missile submarines could be the key to maintaining America’s future naval supremacy.” The article also states that US aircraft carriers… Read More ›
China’s extensive crackdown on government corruption, which has already ensnared hundreds of thousands of officials in the People’s Republic, is now spilling over the country’s borders. The State Department recently confirmed that China’s legal authorities had provided a list of… Read More ›
When Hillary Clinton joined Barack Obama’s “Team of Rivals” in 2009 she announced her foreign policy priorities by flying straight to Tokyo, Jakarta, Seoul and Beijing. This realignment from George W. Bush’s adventures in Iraq grew into her “pivot” to… Read More ›
China wants to recruit 10 million young people, mostly university students belonging to the Communist Party’s youth wing, to “spread positive energy” on the Internet — in other words, to use social media to praise and defend the government. Web users… Read More ›
The following is based on a translation from Chinese media: Hong Kong’s Singtao Daily reports that China’s official TV media CCTV’s anchor Bi Fujian, well-known for his humour, has been denounced by Maoists across the Chinese nation for mentioning the… Read More ›
Google’s search-ad revenues are eroding on a global scale in large part because China, one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for information services, has banned the U.S. company’s offerings. Meanwhile, Baidu, which is based in China, is reaping the benefits,… Read More ›
A Chinese naval frigate has evacuated 225 foreign citizens from strife-torn Yemen, its foreign ministry said, marking the first time that China’s military has helped other countries evacuate their people during an international crisis. Ten different nationalities were among the… Read More ›
Few economies in the world are more closely watched than China’s. It is the second largest and fastest growing economy, so there’s a lot of attention being paid to who’s running things. Chinese President Xi Jinping is the most authoritarian… Read More ›
The brutal narcotics turf wars that consumed Mexico for the past decade have left more than 100,000 people dead or missing. Bodies are frequently dismembered. Victims are often hanged from bridges. Decapitation is common. Behind the violence and barbarity are… Read More ›
European fears of being forced to lower tariff defences against cheap Chinese imports have grown following a confidential warning from the EU’s own lawyers, who say the bloc should not ignore changes to global trade rules set to favour Beijing…. Read More ›
U.S. Secretary of Defence Ash Carter said the U.S. was concerned by China’s land reclamation efforts in the South China Sea and by the possibility that construction there has a military dimension. Speaking to reporters after meeting Japanese Defence Minister… Read More ›
Search giant Google will no longer recognise security certificates issued by the official China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) following what experts called a “major breach of public trust and confidence”. CNNIC, which is responsible for internet affairs under the… Read More ›
When viewing China as a corporate conglomerate attempting a hostile takeover, with the goal of complete market monopoly in every sector, Asia’s conflict only starts to make sense. But the problem goes deeper. According to credible, anonymous reports, there are… Read More ›
The following is based on reports in Chinese media: Hong Kong’s Singtao Daily and SCMP both carry a report on petitioning taxi drivers conducting a mass suicide attempt last Friday, in a busy street in Beijing, in protest of local… Read More ›
The New York Times’ English and Chinese-language websites have been blocked since an October 2012 article about the wealthy family of prime minister Wen Jiabao. But according to employees in the company, outside observers, and mainland Chinese readers, the Times is quietly pursuing… Read More ›
The following is based on translations from Chinese media: China’s qianzhan.com says in its report today that recently, a documentary entitled “The Road of Crimea’s Return” was shown in Russia. It revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was prepared to… Read More ›
China recently announced its military budget this year would increase by 10 per cent, to about $US141 billion ($180bn), marking the 21st consecutive year in which its military spending has grown by a double-digit increment. It is now the second… Read More ›
A fairly new entrant in the titanium space in Chile is looking to expand its business through joint-ventures with companies in Asia. The company, White Mountain Titanium Corporation (OTCQB:WMTM), has announced in a recent statement that it is currently scouting… Read More ›
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