– Observing Recent Events, Especially the Death of Lei Yang By Wu Qiang, June 13, 2016   As public contention surrounding the death of Lei Yang’s continues to grow, something new is developing in China’s political scene: the middle class is speaking out and asserting its own demands, even as the rights defense movement continues to s [...] Keep reading »

By Mo Zhixu, published: April 6, 2016 Authoritarian resilience has always been an illusion.       On March 6, 2015, the Wall Street Journal published a piece by George Washington University Professor David L. Shambaugh entitled “The Coming Chinese Crackup.” In it, he pointed to five indications that China’s political system is [...] Keep reading »

By He Qinglian, published: September 30, 2015   A flood of commentary has come out since the release of the long-anticipated Guiding Opinions on Strengthening and Reform of State-Owned Enterprises (《中共中央、国务院关于深化国有企业改革的指导意见》; “SOE Reform Program” or “Program” hereafter), jointly issued b [...] Keep reading »

By Xiao Zhonghua, published: September 19, 2015 “Everyone understands that, in China, the real estate business is closely entwined with power, and it has no way to succeed without the backing of political connections. Therefore, wealth generated from real estate is not wealth generated completely from the market economy. [He] can’t exit just be [...] Keep reading »

China Change, published: July 10, 2015 Before China’s recent, painful reckoning with the share markets, official media channels were abuzz with the limitless prospects for bountiful equity prices well into the future (“decades,” one optimistic commentator intoned.) Now, as retail investors grapple with their losses, and the full extent of the [...] Keep reading »

By Yaxue Cao, published: March 9, 2015 China’s left foot wants to go north, and China’s right foot wants to go south. Both feet have the same goal, and, that is, to maintain the one-party rule.   When I first watched Chai Jing’s Under the Dome a week ago, my response was like everyone else’s: “Bravo!” In early 2013, shortly after t [...] Keep reading »

By Liu Yu, published: February 25, 2015 “You see?  No hands are raised by those who are absent in the classroom.  Everyone is here. What a wonderful class!”   I complain about China now and then, and a friend of mine pointed out my failing to appreciate it. “China is in great shape now,” she pointed to the window. “Can’t you see? [...] Keep reading »

A slice of China. By Shun Ni, published: June 20, 2014   Zhaoyuan is my hometown. The Baidu Encyclopedia tells us that Zhaoyuan (招远) is one of the top one hundred counties in China. It was established as Zhaoyuan County in the year 1131. As of the end of 2013, the population was 565,900, and the county was comprised of four thoroughfares a [...] Keep reading »

Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke is the Man Asian Literary Prize nominated story of a small village in Henan as it is ravaged by the AIDS epidemic that spread through central China nearly a decade ago (and continues to devastate communities to this day). Even though it is a work of fiction, the author is a respected anthropologist who did a larg [...] Keep reading »