Commentary China’s economy is in desperate straits. So desperate that officials in one county in Guangdong Province offered an illegal bribe to U.S. investors. Any U.S. corporate “decision maker” who brings investment, according to The Wall Street Journal, would get 10 percent of the deal’s total value. A $100 million investment by a U.S. company,…

Commentary In June 2022, Madrid-based Safeguard Defenders revealed the existence of secret Chinese police stations in various countries worldwide. This revelation prompted outrage by human rights advocates that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would dare to do such a thing. But to Chinese dissidents living abroad, it was no surprise at all. In fact, thousands…

Commentary There’s talk, and there’s productive talk. You would sometimes think U.S. officials are paid by the word and are content with the former sort of talk. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen have recently visited China. Climate Czar John Kerry is currently visiting. These visits and attendant dialogue are…

Commentary After decades of being China’s closest ally in the European Union, Germany finally appears to have second thoughts. On July 13, Germany issued its first “China strategy” document to guide its political and business establishment on their China engagement going forward in an effort to balance the economic relationship along with the risks of…

Commentary Can mass indoctrination save Xi Jinping? Times of turmoil and transition are always unstable and unpredictable; the mood of the “crowd” becomes critical and mercurial. The narrowness of the power base around a leader makes the ruler vulnerable and, of necessity, paranoid. Even trustworthy factions and supporters are not trusted. Neither is the loyalty…

Commentary China’s consumer prices are flat, while producers are hit with rising costs, and workers are facing lower wages and a tighter job market. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had hoped that removing COVID-19 restrictions would jump-start the economy. However, after a brief uptick during the first quarter of the year, demand for industrial and…

Commentary I finished writing “China Coup: The Great Leap to Freedom” in December 2019, except for a COVID-19 chapter, added later. What major changes would I make if I were writing the book now? In the book, I recalled a warning given by President Richard Nixon in 1967, “the world cannot be safe until China…

Commentary America’s climate guy, John Kerry, is on his way to China. His battered reputation is again on the line. This time, it’s not just for falling off his bike. Mr. Kerry has to prove to Democratic voters, who foresee global catastrophe from climate change, that he can close a deal at COP28, the upcoming…

Hot wars frequently happen where they are least expected, or while attention is diverted elsewhere. The North Korean invasion of South Korea in June 1950, the 1962 Sino-Indian War, the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the 1998–99 Kosovo conflict, and other armed hostilities surprised many by their eruption and intensity. The world has been fixated on Ukraine…

Commentary Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating has launched another extraordinary spray at the federal government’s foreign policies. In an apparently unsolicited written statement, Mr. Keating lambasted the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and its Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg while supporting President Emmanuel Macron’s opposition to the organisation expanding into Asia. Condemning the “militarism of Europe,”…