For China, national amnesia has become a ‘state-sponsored sport’. Memories of events deemed sensitive by the state are not just forgotten, they are winnowed out and selectively deleted.
Xiong’an represents Xi Jinping’s plan to outdo even the extraordinary rise of Shenzhen (above) from small market town to mega-city in just a few decades.
Jerome Favre/EPA/AAP
Xiong’an is called China’s No.1 urban project. Orchestrated by President Xi Jinping, the mega-city to be built just over 100 kilometres south of Beijing is also very much a political project.
Whether or not China and the US are successful in negotiating out of a trade war and restoring the integrated global economy, there will still be strategic tensions between the nations.
THOMAS PETER / AAP
We modelled a number of scenarios showing all increases in US or Chinese trade protection would cause international trade, and the global economy more generally, to shrink.
In this November 2017 photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping prepare to shake their hands after a joint news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The China-U.S. trade conflict is about far more than trade; it’s about American efforts to change how China deals with the world.
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)
At first, the 2010s seemed full of hope for democracy. The picture today is rather more complicated.
In this November 2017 photo, U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The brewing China-U.S. trade conflict features two leaders who have expressed friendship but are equally determined to pursue their nation’s interests.
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)
“Honesty is the best policy” is hardly a hallmark of the Trump régime, so China would have been smart to pursue a more honest, less manipulative path in its simmering trade war with the U.S.
People in South Korea watch a news program on TV about the meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late March. Kim and Xi sought to portray strong ties between the neighbours and long-time allies despite a recent chill.
(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Kim Jong-un’s surprise recent visit to Beijing and Xi Jinping was an awkward get-together that didn’t address the elephant in the room – Kim’s possible face-to-face meeting soon with Donald Trump.
Cobus van Staden, South African Institute of International Affairs
Now that President Xi Jinping’s presidential term has been extended indefinitely, African governments need to plan strategically for their future engagements with the Chinese.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is sworn in for a second term at the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall.
AAP/Wu Hong
The author of the controversial Silent Invasion argues it’s not the book, but the reaction to it, that has highlighted something troubling in Australian intellectual life.
Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he leaves a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing recently.
(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Canada has reportedly committed more than $1 billion to a Chinese investment bank. Is Canada unwittingly serving as a ‘useful idiot’ in Xi Jinping’s grand plans to restore China’s lost greatness?
Xi Jinping on his way to take the oath of office after being formally re-elected to a second term.
AP Photo/Andy Wong
Chinese official media casts President Xi Jinping as an anti-corruption crusader; critics say he’s authoritarian. The reality is that he is a man of contrasts whose traits are difficult to pin down.
China has made numerous signals that it does not want to start a trade war with the US.
Clive Hamilton paints a picture of China’s unrelenting determination not only to control those within the country, but also to dominate the world using whatever means at its disposal.
AAP/Wang Zhou
Clive Hamilton’s book is perhaps a useful reminder that we must not be naïve about our relationship with China, but his prescription is the wrong direction for tackling the genuine issues he raises.
Yi Gang will take over the leadership of China’s central bank from Zhou Xiaochuan, who had been in the position since 2002.
International Monetary Fund/Flickr
As the governor of China’s central bank oversees the stability of the world’s second largest economy, this leadership change is one the global economy is watching closely.
Xi Jinping votes on a constitutional amendment lifting presidential term limits.
REUTERS/Jason Lee
The result of Russia’s upcoming election is already known: President Vladimir Putin will be re-elected. Will he be content to be a lame duck, or will he undermine democracy to suit his ambition?
Chinese President Xi Jinping has led social and economic transformation.
Wu Hong /EPA
China has upped its defence spending and is investing heavily in revolutionary technologies that could transform its military into the world’s most powerful force by the middle of the century.
There’s a very unflattering historical parallel for Xi Jinping’s move to lift term limits. The Chinese Communist Party is having none of it.
Chinese President Xi Jinping claps while addressing the media in October 2017 as he introduces new members of the Politburo Standing Committee at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Any naive hopes for a peaceful evolution to democracy in China are shattered against the reality that it’s now a one-man dictatorship. What does it mean for the West?