Category: Thinking About China

Worse Than Japan: China Unable to Deal With Aging Crisis

News Analysis In order to save itself from the aging crisis, China needs to increase the number of young workers or increase the education and productivity of its current workers. Either policy would be very costly and could take decades to pay off. In 2016, faced with an aging population and a dwindling workforce, the…


The China Link Between Hunter Biden and Corruption in Uganda

News Analysis Do you hear that sound? It’s the swoosh of air that China’s debt trap makes on its way to slamming shut, this time on Uganda’s international airport nearest its capital city, Kampala. Uganda’s gradual loss of sovereignty to Beijing has uncomfortable parallels to what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) apparently attempted to do…


Communist China Declared War on the US Long Ago: Part 2

News Analysis The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is partial to the number three for cultural and superstitious reasons. As it turns out, that would appear to apply to Xi Jinping, too, as noted in part one of this three-part series. A few of his “campaign of threes” have included: Three major economic initiatives. The historic third…


China’s Aging Crisis Is the Final Blow to Its Economy

News Analysis China’s aging crisis may be the final blow to an embattled economy—already plagued by a debt crisis, real estate bubble, and sluggish growth. China’s GDP growth is expected to drop to about 5 percent this year, as opposed to the 10 percent of previous decades. Some experts believe that next year, growth may…


The Real China and the Downside of Arrogance

Commentary Much of the world is having an enlightening moment with China. Recall that China began the last decade by positioning itself as a global benefactor. Its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was supposed to be a beneficial foreign aid and development program. Other economic and cultural outreach efforts supplied nations with financing and cultural…


China’s ‘Historical Resolutions’ Solidify Communist Leaders’ Authorities

Commentary There are many documents in the history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but there are only a few so-called “historical resolutions.” That tells the significance of these documents. The passage of these historical resolutions indicates two major turning points within the CCP—one in 1981 and the other in 2021. The 1981 historical resolution…


How a Growing Energy Crisis Hobbles China

Commentary How seriously does the arrival of “peak coal” in China impact its strategic viability? China’s coal reserves, the essence of its energy security, are now in decline. More than half of China’s energy is delivered by coal. Domestic oil production had already peaked in 2013. In 2020, China produced 3.9 million barrels a day of…


Peng Shuai Scandal Is Yet Another Reason the West Should Boycott Beijing Olympics

Commentary The controversy revolving around Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai and the Western response has showcased yet again how rudderless the West is in the face of an assertive China. The Olympic Charter describes the philosophy of Olympism as a “philosophy of life” with the goal of creating a “way of life based on the…


Why Is McKinsey Providing Counsel to Both China and the US?

Commentary Powerful people, including ex-presidents, have spoken about shadow governments; the idea that real power resides with private individuals, not with elected officials. “Behind the ostensible government,” warned Teddy Roosevelt, “sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.” The first task of a true statesman, he argued, involved the…


Dispatch From Quemoy: My Journey to the Front Lines of Freedom

I’m on the front lines. Alone on a fortified island beach, steel-spiked anti-invasion barriers around me. An American face-to-face, facing off against totalitarian China. It’s been 10 months since I stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building, meeting with my House representative, a decorated war veteran, asking if the result-changing presidential election fraud—a…