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Articles on Chinese history

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Chinese stamps commemorating Deng Xiaoping, a leader widely regarded to have modernised the country and made it a formidable economic power, 1998. Shutterstock

World politics explainer: Deng Xiaoping’s rise to power

China is one of the world’s largest economies, and Deng Xiaoping was arguably the man who made that happen through his visions of economic reform.
China’s aspirations of global dominance will hit a snag given the world’s other major powers identify democratic values as central to their national identies. Only China and Russia do not. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in June 2018. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

The prospects for Chinese leadership in an age of upheaval

New research suggests the values and identities of the world’s great powers present a major barrier to China’s aspirations of global domination. Do not bet on China’s hegemonic prospects just yet.
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)

The China-U.S. conflict is about much more than trade

The recent U.S. trade mission to China failed, allowing no space for future compromise. What follows will likely be much more than a simple trade war.
Plato, Confucius and Aristotle. Ancient Greek philosophy is widely taught in American universities, but classes in Chinese philosophy are few and far between. Public domain

Why the US doesn’t understand Chinese thought – and must

It’s more important than ever that the U.S. understand China. So why don’t our universities teach Chinese thought?
A Mexican who was recently deported from the U.S. in Tijuana, Mexico. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

America’s mass deportation system is rooted in racism

From Chinese laborers to ‘bad hombres,’ the US settler mentality has perpetuated an immigration system that pushes out unwanted groups and bypasses the Constitution.
The Red Detachment of Women was one of just eight model theatrical pieces approved for performance during the Cultural Revolution. Mark Gambino

The Red Detachment of Women marches forward – but to where?

The staging in Melbourne of this classic of the Cultural Revolution has attracted controversy. And amid Bermuda shorts and weapons galore, this political ballet has contemporary resonances.
From its earliest days, the influx of outsiders created the distinctive urban character that has driven the development of Shanghai into a modern metropolis. Wenjie, Zhang/flickr

Shanghai, a modern metropolis born of a refugee crisis

From its earliest days as a haven for refugees, Shanghai developed a distinctive character and urban identity that have driven its emergence as one of the world’s great metropolises.

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