In one of the most dramatic announcements of the Cold War, President Jimmy Carter states that as of January 1, 1979, the United States will formally recognize the communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) and sever relations with Taiwan. Following… Read More ›

Deng Xiaoping
China planned Tianamen Square massacre weeks in advance, and the UK knew about it
“Two hundred dead could bring 20 years of peace to China,” former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was quoted as saying in recently declassified documents. His words were spoken weeks ahead of the bloody military crackdown on student protesters in Beijing’s… Read More ›
China to ban foreign companies from online media business
The ruling Chinese Communist Party has announced new regulations that will ban foreign companies from publishing online media, games and other “creative” content within China’s borders from next month. The “Regulations for the management of online publishing services” also ban… Read More ›
China has a $1.2 trillion Ponzi finance problem
Chinese borrowers are taking on record amounts of debt to repay interest on their existing obligations, raising the risk of defaults and adding pressure on policy makers to keep financing costs low. The amount of loans, bonds and shadow finance… Read More ›
Japan-China relations boosted by Abe’s WWII statement and self-defence bill
By reiterating Japan’s “unshakable” apology for World War II and legalising the necessary enhancements to operate its Self-Defence Forces like a normal national armed force of a state, Shinzo Abe (Prime Minister 2006-7, 2012-present) has done a meritorious job to… Read More ›
Former Chinese president Jiang Zemin placed ‘under control’ by having his movements restricted in power struggle with current president Xi Jinping
According to a source in Beijing close to China’s top leadership, Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has made his first significant move against the former Party boss, and his chief rival, Jiang Zemin. The source said that Jiang and… Read More ›
Xi Jinping’s China is the greatest political experiment on Earth
Can Xi do it? This is the biggest political question in the world today. “Yes, Xi can,” some tell me in Beijing. “No, he can’t,” say others. The wise know that nobody knows. There is a great debate going on… Read More ›
June 4, 1989 is not just the date of the Tiananmen massacre but of many other bloody crackdowns across China
In 1989, pro-democracy protests took place not just in Beijing but in cities across China, and they too were savagely suppressed On June 4, 1989, China’s Communist Party unleashed the People’s Liberation Army on protesters camped in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen… Read More ›
China used threats of invasion to stop United Kingdom giving Hong Kong independence and democracy since 1950s
By September 29 2014, peaceful protesters had been clogging Hong Kong’s downtown for less than a day, but to the Chinese Communist Party this already smacked of ingratitude. Here’s an excerpt from an editorial that ran that day (link in… Read More ›
China’s Xi Jinping comes up with a new political doctrine, the ‘Four Comprehensives’ – a strategic blueprint for China’s future
The following is partly a translation from Chinese media, with commentary: Jiang Zemin put forth his Three Represents, and Hu Jintao put forth his Scientific Outlook on Development. Both are regarded as the legacy guidelines they left for the Chinese… Read More ›
After long struggle for freedom, Tibetans still seeking justice for Tibet
Over 1.2 million Tibetans died between 1949 and 1979. China still claims that what occurred during this period was the “peaceful liberation” of Tibet. But the whole world must know that there are so many unanswered questions about how these… Read More ›
China’s boom is over, and here’s what you can do about it
The powerhouse that seemed ready to propel the global economy for decades is now stuck in a period of slowing growth. Here’s what that means for your portfolio Every so often an investment theme comes along that seems so big… Read More ›
China ‘voids’ Hong Kong rights
Before Deng Xiaoping opened China to the world, a popular way to glimpse the sealed-off mainland was by peering across the border from Hong Kong. Decades later, that remains a great vantage point. The 75 days of Hong Kong’s Umbrella… Read More ›
Xi Jinping’s rise in China threatens human rights and worries neighbours
The Chinese president Xi Jinping’s swift ascent to power raises human rights concerns and has caused anxiety among China’s neighbours, President Barack Obama warned on Wednesday. Obama told members of the Business Roundtable that Xi “taps into nationalism that worries… Read More ›
New China urges increased hostility towards the west
Even as his government was making red-carpet plans to host President Obama this week, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, praised a young blogger whose writing is best known here for its anti-American vitriol. In one widely circulated essay published by… Read More ›
China: Conservatives ideological attack to bring down President Xi Jinping
Ideology is always important in Chinese politics, especially in a power struggle. Now, Xi Jinping has offended many powerful officials with his anti-corruption and mass-line campaigns, and his mentor Jiang Zeming is 88 years old. Conservatives believe that they now… Read More ›
China’s annoying habit of insulting western leaders
When Deng Xiaoping arrived at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington in January 1979, his country was just emerging from a long revolutionary deep freeze. No one knew much about this five-foot-tall Chinese leader. He had suddenly reappeared on the… Read More ›
China’s Xi Jinping unable to rule if unaware of conservative faction’s strength
Some analysts are nervous when they hear Chinese President Xi Jinping upholding Mao Zedong Thought. Will Xi resume Mao’s policies of class struggle and constant revolution, they wonder. Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao tried to omit Mao Zedong Thought, but enabled… Read More ›
China asserts paternal rights over Hong Kong in democracy clash; tells Hong Kong it must obey
Just days before China was set to deliver its edict on electoral reform in Hong Kong, Beijing’s most senior official in the city held a rare meeting with several local lawmakers whose determined push for full democracy had incensed Beijing’s… Read More ›
China’s young military leaders are destroying China
China is on the verge of destroying a geopolitical miracle. In 1980, its economy was less than one-tenth that of the United States. In 30 years, China rose to become No. 2 in the world, without disrupting the world order…. Read More ›
Huge discounts on Kindle version of Tiananmen’s Tremendous Achievements is extended internationally
China Daily Mail contributor Chan Kai Yee has announced that 70% discounts on the Kindle version of his book are now in place until the end of June 2014. The discounts are now available in the countries listed below, using… Read More ›
Book Review: “Tiananmen’s Tremendous Achievements” by Chan Kai Yee
Acclaimed author Chan Kai Yee has released an expanded second edition of his book “Tiananmen’s Tremendous Achievements,” released June 4 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. Throughout the month of June, the price of the printed version… Read More ›
China: Can 20 plus years of prosperity after suppression at Tiananmen justify the massacre?
On every anniversary of the Tiananmen Protests, one of the most infamous events in Chinese history, a government spokesman is asked by reporters about the Tiananmen Massacre, despite that they clearly know the forever repeated answer. No exception this year…. Read More ›
US interference in sea disputes strengthens power of China’s reformists
In my book “Tiananmen’s Tremendous Achievements” (its expanded second edition will soon be released with heavy discount for two weeks in memory of the Tiananmen Protests), I said that when the major reformist Zhao Ziyang fell into disgrace due to… Read More ›
Chinese military’s unlimited budget
On March 7, Isaac Stone Fish, a well experienced journalist on China, expressed his frustration about the mysteries of Chinese military in his article “The Black Box of China’s Military”. Such frustration is common among people, not only outside, but… Read More ›
Twenty-five years later, Tiananmen Square no less taboo for China’s censors
Twenty-five years ago today, Chinese college students in Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an began gathering to publicly mourn the death of a purged high-level official, Hu Yaobang. A week later, thousands of students marched into Tiananmen Square for Hu’s funeral. The… Read More ›
The end of China’s soft power?
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and not necessarily those of China Daily Mail: “Will China invade its neighbours?” This is a question I tend to be bombarded with whenever I present lectures or attend talks… Read More ›
Obama seeks to avoid “clash of civilisations” between China and the West
The following are the views of the author, and not necessarily those of China Daily Mail. On the next day after President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union (SotU) 2014, which did not mention anything about the tension… Read More ›
China gets tougher on foreign companies; foreign companies leave
Life is getting tougher for foreign companies. Those that want to stay will have to adjust. According to the late Roberto Goizueta, a former boss of The Coca-Cola Company, April 15th 1981 was “one of the most important days…in the… Read More ›
Beijing sets sights on a new China
China has pledged to make the most sweeping changes to the economy and the country’s social fabric in nearly three decades with a 60-point reform plan that may start showing results within weeks. Some financial and fiscal reforms are likely… Read More ›
China to unveil 10-year reform plan, expectations toned down
China‘s leaders will unveil a reform agenda for the next decade on Tuesday, seeking to balance the need to overhaul the world’s second-largest economy as it loses steam with preserving stability and to reinforce the Communist Party’s power. The blueprint,… Read More ›
China’s anti-corruption storm sweeps Chinese military
Mao’s saying “Political power comes out of gun barrels” is regarded by some as a talented invention due to ignorance of Chinese history. I explained in my book Tiananmen’s Tremendous Achievements: “For over two thousand years, since the fall of… Read More ›
Authors accept censors’ rules to sell in China
Chinese readers of Ezra F. Vogel’s sprawling biography of China’s reformist leader Deng Xiaoping may have missed a few details that appeared in the original English edition. The Chinese version did not mention that Chinese newspapers had been ordered to ignore the… Read More ›
China launches full-scale internet propaganda war
President Xi Jinping has issued a call to arms against the country’s unruly internet, ordering the Communist Party’s propaganda machine to build “a strong army” to “seize the ground of new media”. Xi’s remarks, made during a national meeting of… Read More ›
China’s rotational political succession system
The only system that can be described as similar to the Chinese “once-in-a-decade transition of power” practice in the 21st century is Plato’s rotational ruler model proposed in The Republic— “those who have come through all our practical and intellectual… Read More ›
Is China too big to fail?
My recent post about the financial problems of shipbuilder Rongsheng was renamed from it’s original title to become China believes shipbuilder is ‘too big to fail’ – does China share the same belief about itself?” This posed a very interesting question:… Read More ›
June 24 1989: China ousts Zhao Ziyang
On June 24 1989, a Saturday, Zhao Ziyang was formally ousted as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party weeks after voicing sympathy for student demonstrators at Tiananmen Square. Jiang Zemin replaced him, and Zhao spent the rest of his… Read More ›
June 4 1989 China’s Tiananmen Square massacre; the day that changed everything
Purged officials and intellectuals recall devastating effect the crackdown of 24 years ago had on their own lives and their country’s political future. They were once passionate in wanting to steer their country onto a path of liberalisation, rule of… Read More ›
China’s President ‘lacks wisdom and courage’ says state owned magazine
A Beijing-based business magazine raised eyebrows this week by running a full-page editorial urging the country’s leaders to pursue further political reforms to ensure future economic prosperity. In what many consider a rare and bold move, an editorial entitled “Let’s… Read More ›
China says constitutional rule is an empty dream of “misguided intellectuals”
Chinese conservatives have come out to argue against the adoption of “constitutional rule”, a term increasingly used by liberals to demand the realisation of basic human rights guaranteed in the Chinese constitution. The nationalistic Global Times in an editorial on… Read More ›
Chinese tourists’ bad manners harming country’s reputation
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang has criticized the “uncivilized behavior” of his countrymen when they travel abroad, which he says has harmed the nation’s image. He blamed the “poor quality and breeding” of the Chinese tourists. According to Shangaiist, Wang made… Read More ›
China has feudal answers for modern problems
After Mao Zedong announced the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the Communist Party began to get rid of all the vestiges of the “feudal” society that had preceded it. This process culminated during the Cultural Revolution… Read More ›
China’s city of the future may include the “farmscraper”
Architects are often pushing the boundaries of the possible, often in response to challenges posed by the ongoing problems of urban sprawl, pollution, and overpopulation. And in China, where one-fifth of the world’s total population lives and urban population density… Read More ›
China: Lighting three fires or the dead hand of Deng?
As the months have progressed since Xi Jinping became General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, there has been intense public scrutiny into his current and potential actions. One day you can read an article saying he is not a… Read More ›
Will China ever be number one?
If you want to know the answer, ask Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew. Will China continue to grow three times faster than the United States to become the No. 1 economy in the world in the decade ahead? Does China aspire… Read More ›
Chinese navy buildup no threat to US, but a possible threat to Japan
SCMP’s report entitled “As China’s navy grows, end of Deng’s dictum of keeping a low profile?” says, “Obama’s re-election means he can continue the strategic shift towards the Asia-Pacific region that started during his first term, which will see 60… Read More ›
China faces bumpy road in push for economic growth
The mainland economy faces a year of transition as a new younger leadership has vowed to unleash growth through various economic reforms coupled with a push towards more urbanisation. However, the path ahead is likely to be bumpy and any… Read More ›
The ABC of China politics in 2012
It was supposed to be a momentous year – a major leadership change on the centenary of the last emperor’s abdication. But 2012 turned out to be a mess for China. It squabbled with neighbours on a seemingly unceasing series… Read More ›
China: Xi learns from Castro and Putin in graft fight
Cuban president Raul Castro and Russian president Vladimir Putin may not have much in common, but Xi Jinping seems to take inspiration from them both. This can be seen in the president-in-waiting’s effective measures to curb extravagance and over-the-top protocol… Read More ›
China: Can transformation of economic development mode be achieved?
Spells on the Xi Jinping Administration – A Japanese Analysis In the aftermath of the anti-Japanese riots, the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held to set up the Xi Jinping administration. Before discussing its economic policy,… Read More ›