Category: Thinking About China

China’s ‘Xiconomics’: Lots of Economic Slogans, More Government Control

News Analysis Chinese leader Xi Jinping is cracking down on the financial sector, restricting foreign trade, and generally moving the Chinese economy away from market influence toward one of social and central planning. To commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the founding of communist China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a letter, extolling “the six…


COVID-19 in Historical Perspective

Commentary The COVID-19 pandemic has been around long enough—about two years since it first emerged in China’s Wuhan city—for the first draft of history to segue into a deeper understanding of its lessons and implications. While historians will debate its consequences for decades to come, at this point, we may draw five conclusions about its…


The Chinese Economy: Less Markets, More Socialism

News Analysis In 2012, Xi Jinping told the Chinese people that “only socialism can save China.” Although it was capitalism that dramatically increased the country’s living standards, Xi is leading the country back to the stricter socialism that kept China poor, decades ago. Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping said that “to get rich is glorious,”…


Consequences of America Losing a War to China—Part 2

Commentary In July Japan’s Vice Defense Minister Yasuhide Nakayama told the Hudson Institute that China and Russia could launch a surprise “Pearl Harbor-style attack” in the Pacific. The Washington Examiner and Reuters quoted Nakayama as insisting the United States and Japan must demonstrate the will to deter both China and Russia because “they are doing…


Japan’s Election: No Drastic Changes

Commentary Japan held its election for the Diet Lower House (think: U.S. House of Representatives) on Oct. 31. Japanese elections rarely result in drastic change—and this one didn’t, either. What happened? The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost some seats, but retained a majority—even without Komeito, its coalition partner’s seats added in. Since its founding…


Canada’s Ambassador to China Should Be Vying for Canadians’ Interests, Not Beijing’s

Commentary Martin Lloyd-Jones, a well-known Protestant minister in Britain, had a rather effective quote that pithily described the duty of an ambassador. “An ambassador from any country,” he said, “is always conscious of the fact that he has a tremendous responsibility because he is the representative by whom his country is to be judged.” Indeed,…


Power Struggle Within CCP Intensifies as Top Officials of Gestapo-Like Office Purged

Commentary Amid Xi Jinping’s recent anti-corruption campaign that targets China’s political and legal system, many officials who were recently taken down were part of the “610 Office.” On Oct. 24, China’s eastern province of Jiangsu announced that Chen Yizhong, former deputy director of the provincial public security department, is under investigation. The announcement also noted…


China’s Push for Carbon Neutrality Appears to Be a Lie

Commentary Mother Nature, we’re told, is incredibly sick. According to one China expert, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is the man to “save the planet.” However, Xi is not an environmentalist; moreover, as this short piece demonstrates, Beijing’s climate-based pledges are heavy on promises, but devoid of genuine progress. In many ways, China’s climate-centered promises contradict…


Examining John Kerry’s Support for Communist States

Commentary U.S. “Climate Czar” John Kerry has a long history of supporting communist states, including the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Kerry could not have been happy with the disclosure last week that he has invested $1 million in a Chinese private equity firm, which has “invested in a tech company blacklisted for human rights abuses…


Chinese Military Plans Foreign Port Destruction

News Analysis The Chinese military is unveiling a range of sophisticated military technologies, from underwater stealth attacks against foreign ports, to drone fighters and military artificial intelligence (AI). China’s military is testing stealthy underwater explosions for purposes of the destruction of foreign ports, according to the Global Times, an ultra-nationalist news outlet controlled by the…