Monthly Archives: December 2011
China’s Moon Dreams
That a long-term ambition of Beijing’s space program is to put a Chinese on the Moon has been as badly a kept secret as the PLA-Navy’s wish to establish a carrier fleet. This Bystander noted in 2010, as China launched its second … Continue reading
Religious Extremism Said To Be Surging In Western China
More trouble on China’s western borders, this time inside them. Eight people have been killed in another clash between police and suspected Uighur separatists in Hotan, the prefecture containing the Xinjiang city of the same name close to the border … Continue reading
Filed under Politics & Society
China’s First Aircraft Carrier Sets Out On Third Sea Trials
China’s first aircraft carrier is conducting its third set of sea trials, the defense ministry says. The Varyag had set out on its second sea trials at the end of November, during which it was photographed at sea for the … Continue reading
Dai The Diplomat
China’s top diplomat, Dai Bingguo, has been busy in troublesome places for China’s foreign policy just beyond the country’s outer marches, first visiting Myanmar, now Pakistan: two outlets for China’s overland energy routes to the oil of the Middle East, … Continue reading
Filed under China-Central Asia, China-India
East Asia Free-Trade Area Comes Nearer
China, Japan and South Korea have been discussing creating a free-trade zone for some years. Every time their leaders meet, in pairs or collectively, the language used to describe progress is increasingly purposeful. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and his visiting … Continue reading
Filed under China-Japan, Trade
Social Management In Wukan And Beyond
In defusing the Wukan protest, the Party has taken the high ground of beneficent paternalism, just as it did after violent protests by migrant workers in Guangdong in July. This is becoming a standard method for containing and defusing social … Continue reading
Filed under Politics & Society
Chinese Lessons For North Korea’s New Leadership Generation
One way to look at the leadership transition in North Korea, and the prospects it holds, is to put a Chinese generational template over it. China’s new leadership that will be taking over from next year comprise the fifth generation … Continue reading
Filed under China-Koreas
China’s Property Bubble: Bursting or Deflating?
Talk of a Chinese property bubble bursting is becoming newly fashionable, at least in the Western press. Yet Beijing, as a matter of policy, has been driving down real estate prices since early 2010 through a mix of administrative controls … Continue reading
