As China increases its military and paramilitary activity in the South China Sea, previously timid countries in the region must ignore the short-term risks of publicly rejecting China’s incursions in favor of the long-term prospects of creating a framework for stable and equitable governance over the waterway.
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China’s educational institutions are continuing to lose autonomy, with General Secretary Xi Jinping asserting that universities must “serve the Communist party in its management of the country” and that “adherence to the Party’s leadership is essential to the development of higher education in the country.” Continue Reading
China’s Belt and Road development plan, Xi Jinping’s signature initiative, has captured the world’s attention since its announcement in 2013, with comparisons drawn to the ancient Silk Road and the Marshall Plan. But recently, worldwide coverage of the BRI has grown less favorable and more critical. Continue Reading
Since reforms began 40 years ago post-Cultural Revolution, government policy in China has largely turned a blind eye to followers of religious organizations, provided they didn’t overtly protest or challenge the government like Falun Gong did in the 1990s with its massive… Continue Reading
Although China has been closely surveilling its citizens’ internet usage for the last decade, the Chinese government only recently began constructing a “smart surveillance” CCTV system that matches the extent of existing online surveillance tools. The smart surveillance system is currently being piloted for several causes, from suppressing uprisings in the far western Xinjiang Autonomous Region, to policing jaywalking in the urban areas of Shenzhen in Guangdong. We must wonder: are there any limits to the proliferation of this surveillance technology? Continue Reading
The public dismissal of legislators-elect Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-Ching by prominent Chinese Communist Party authorities demonstrates the Party’s fear that its mandate is waning in Hong Kong, and that the success of governance reform in the special administrative region might encourage challenges to CCP authority in China proper. Continue Reading
Though political pundits have highlighted the theme of this election as one of change or of Taiwanese identity, this was more importantly an election of rejection. Taiwan’s blossoming democracy may invoke pro-democratic citizens of Hong Kong and China to demand more freedom and rule of law. Continue Reading