China’s Rise:
China’s Economic and Social Developments

~ 2004  ; 2005 ; 2006 ; 2007

[News] [Papers]

China’s Wen Reassures Student on Jobs amid Crisis
(Reuters, Dec. 21, 2008) Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in a surprise visit to a Beijing university, tried reassuring students they would be able to find jobs amid the current global economic woes, and promised more unspecified steps to help the economy.

China’s President Hu Urges Growth and Stability
(Reuters, Dec. 18, 2008) China must focus on economic growth and social stability in the face of a global slump, President Hu Jintao said, vowing a stronger state role in steering market reforms.

China Is Said to Restore Blocks on Web Sites
(New York Times, Dec. 17, 2008) The Chinese government has quietly begun preventing access again to Web sites that it had stopped blocking during the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, Internet experts said.

On Rights Day, China Hails Gains and Detains Protesters
(New York Times, Dec. 11, 2008) China celebrated International Human Rights Day with newspaper editorials and television commentaries hailing what they called the country’s “unremitting efforts” and “nonstop progress” in promoting free speech and individual rights.

Slumping Trade a Sign of Great Fall for China By Don Lee
(LA Times, Dec. 11, 2008) The 2.2% drop in exports from November 2007, reported by the government, underscores the rapidly deteriorating conditions in China's economy. In October, the nation had posted a 19.2% jump in exports from a year earlier.

Yuan Falls Most Since End of Currency Link Before Paulson Visit
(Bloomberg, Dec. 1, 2008) China’s yuan fell the most since the government ended a fixed exchange rate in 2005, supporting the nation’s exporters three days before U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson visits Beijing.

Chinese Leader Says China Losing Competitive Edge
(AP, Nov. 30, 2008) Chinese President Hu Jintao warned that China has started to lose its competitive edge in trade amid the global financial crisis.

China Rate Cut Highlights Concern Over Slowdown, Jobs
(Bloomberg, Nov. 28, 2008) China’s biggest interest-rate cut in 11 years highlights government concerns that the country risks spiraling unemployment, social unrest and the deepest economic slowdown in almost two decades.

Protest-hit China Says Job Stability Top Priority
(Reuters, Nov. 20, 2008) Stabilizing employment is the top priority for China, a minister said on Thursday as he revealed a rise in jobless workers triggered by a weakened export sector amid a series of strikes and protests.

Hu Tells Leaders China Growth Will Help World Economy
(Bloomberg, Nov. 16, 2008) Chinese President Hu Jintao, speaking to leaders from the Group of 20 nations in Washington, said China can help alleviate the impact of the financial crisis and slowing global growth by stoking its own economy.

China’s Hu Goes to Washington Wary of Wish-list
(Reuters, Nov. 14, 2008) China goes to the Washington financial summit facing expectations for global leadership that innate caution and domestic fears leave it unready to shoulder.

China Says It Can Withstand World Crisis
(AP, Oct. 30, 2008) China said its financial markets would remain stable enough to allow it help ex-Soviet Central Asian countries weather the global economic crisis while appearing to snub Western calls for Beijing to help boost the IMF’s bailout pot for countries worst hit by the financial meltdown.

China to Allow Land Leasing, Transfer
(Washington Post, Oct. 20, 2008) China's Communist Party issued new rules on Sunday that would allow farmers to lease their contracted farmland or transfer their land-use rights.

Premier: China’s Government Shares Responsibility
(AP, Oct. 18, 2008) In a rare admission by a member of  China’s leadership, China's Premier Wen Jiabao says the government was partly responsible for the tainted milk scandal.

China’s Economy Shows Signs of Weakening
(Vancouver Sun, Oct. 2, 2008) While China's official statistics show the economy is still steaming ahead, there are other signs the pace of economic growth is already slowing down as many observers have long feared it would.

China Can Best Help World by Growing Fast: Wen
(Reuters, Sep. 27, 2008) Premier Wen Jiabao expressed confidence on Saturday that China could maintain fast growth and said this was the greatest contribution it could make to help the world weather the current financial crisis.

‘China Repression Grow’, Says US
(BBC, Sep. 20, 2008) Repression of religious freedom in some parts of China has intensified over the past year, the US government says.

China Wealth Fund Plays Down Morgan Stanley Talk
(Reuter, Sep. 19, 2008) China Investment Corp dampened speculation that the sovereign wealth fund could be ready to increase its stake in U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley.

China Eclipses US as Japan’s Biggest Customer
(Telegraph, Aug. 21, 2008) China has replaced the US as Japan's biggest customer, underlining the emergence of the country in the global economy.

China Became Net Food Importer in 1st Half
(Reuters, Aug. 21, 2008) The swing into deficit sheds an interesting light on China's stance in last month's abortive global trade talks when Beijing is increasingly concerned about food security.

Poll: Most in China Expect Olympics to Help Image
(AP, Jul. 22, 2008) Overwhelming numbers of Chinese say next month's Olympics will help their country's tattered image abroad, and they predict the Beijing Games will be successful, according to a poll released Tuesday. Pew Research Center Survey Report

China Orders Probe into Latest Rural Clash
(Reuters, Jul. 21, 2008) China flew a provincial Communist party boss to a remote rubber-growing area of southwestern Yunnan to investigate a weekend clash between police and residents in which two people were killed, state media said.

China’s Foreign Investment Up 45 Percent at US$52.4 Billion in First Half of 2008 (AP, Jul. 11, 2008) Foreign investment in China in the first half of the year rose 45 percent over the same period a year ago to US$52.4 billion, the government said Friday.

China’s Trade Surplus Falls Nearly 12 Percent in First Half: Customs
(AFP, Jul. 10, 2008) China's trade surplus reached 99.04 billion dollars in the first half of 2008, the customs bureau said Thursday, a fall of nearly 12 percent from a year ago.

China’s Economy to Become World’s Biggest in 2035: Study
(AFP, Jul. 9, 2008) China's economy will overtake that of the United States by 2035 and be twice its size by midcentury, a study released Tuesday by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace concluded.

Thousands March for Greater Democracy in HK
(Reuters, Jul. 2, 2008) Thousands in Hong Kong urged Beijing to grant it greater democracy on Tuesday, with a recent furor over newly appointed political aides stoking perceptions of the unelected government's lack of accountability.

U.N.’s Ban Calls on China to Be Bigger Peacemaker
(Reuters, Jul. 1, 2008) U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged China to match its growing economic and political clout with more funding and troops for peacekeeping operations to meet growing international crises.

China Calls for Rich Country Help on Climate Change
(Reuters, Jun. 29, 2008) Addressing climate change head-on is in China's best interests, but it needs developed countries to do their fair share, President Hu Jintao said in a speech reported by the Xinhua news agency on Saturday.

China Still Lags Behind U.S. in Influence, Survey Shows
(New York Times, Jun. 17, 2008) Despite China’s remarkable economic rise, and its efforts to spread its influence in Asia through what is known as “soft power,” the country still lags far behind the United States in that sphere, according to a survey to be released Tuesday. Pew Global Attitudes Project A recent survey shows approval for China is down while respect is up.

Asia Soft Power Survey 2008 By Christopher Whitney and David Shambaugh (Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Jun. 2008) As China prepares to host the 2008 Olympics and display the result of its great economic progress to the world, the survey finds that in the estimation of most Americans and many Asians, China still has a way to go to claim the world’s full recognition as a multifaceted power.

New Disease Outbreaks in China; 15K Children Infected
(AP, May 8, 2008) New outbreaks in China reported Wednesday put the number of children infected with hand, foot and mouth disease above 15,000 and the death toll has risen to at least 28 across the country.

China Calls for Halt in 'Radical' Anti-France Demonstrations
(AP, Apr. 23, 2008) With praise for the French president and appeals for calm, China's leadership signaled that it is ready to put an end to anti-France sentiment that has swept the country since the chaotic Olympic torch relay in Paris.

Protests of the West Spread in China
(New York Times, Apr. 21, 2008) Nationwide demonstrations against a French supermarket chain spread on Sunday as thousands of people protested what they said was France’s sympathy for pro-Tibetan agitators. The protesters have also been singling out Western news outlets, especially CNN, for what they said was biased coverage of unrest in Tibet.

China Urges Control of 'Patriotic Fervor' over Tibet
(AFP, Apr. 18, 2008) China has urged its people to contain their patriotism, in the first sign Beijing may be growing uncomfortable with a nationalist outburst over the Tibet issue that it has tacitly supported.

Europeans See China as Biggest Threat to Global Stability: Poll
(AFP, Apr. 15, 2008) Europeans see China as a bigger threat to global stability than the United States, Iran or North Korea, according to a poll. The Harris survey for the Financial Times showed that an average of 35 percent of voters in Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy saw China as the biggest threat to global stability, compared to 29 percent who thought the same of the United States.

China, New Zealand Sign Free Trade Deal
(AP, Apr. 7, 2008) China and New Zealand signed a sweeping free trade agreement Monday, the rising economic giant's first such pact with a developed country. The deal, signed by Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming and his New Zealand counterpart, Phil Goff, will give New Zealand access to one of the world's fastest-growing economies.

China Hopes to Tame Its Rapid Economic Growth
(Associated Press, Mar. 5, 2008) China's premier called for "powerful measures" to rein in the persisting inflation battering ordinary Chinese, saying the government will use further price controls and curb soaring investment to hold prices to a 4.8% rise.

China's Communist Party Approves Leadership, Reform Plans
(AFP, Feb. 28, 2008) China's ruling communist party approved top leadership jobs and government reform plans Wednesday, ahead of the annual session of its parliament next week, state media said.

China Turns to Economic Controls
(Associated Press, Feb. 11, 2008) Fighting stubbornly high inflation, China's leaders dusted off a blunt tool from its pre-market reform era and commanded utility companies to freeze electricity prices.

China Tries to Reassure U.S. About Its Investing Plans
(New York Times, Feb. 1, 2008) The head of China’s $200 billion government investment fund, seeking to reassure Americans nervous about the possibility of foreign takeovers, said that China would invest mostly in portfolios rather than individual companies — except when a “big fat rabbit” like the investment banker Morgan Stanley came along.

China Snow Crisis Shows Vulnerability
(AP, Jan. 31, 2008) China's financial capital saw fresh snowfall as the impact of unusually wintry weather deepened, highlighting the vulnerabilities of the country's booming economy. Heavy snows in recent days have stalled shipments of food and fuel, complicating authorities' efforts to combat a spike in inflation.

Foreign Companies Pour Money into China: Govt
(Agence France Presse, Jan. 22, 2008) Foreign firms invested a record 82.7 billion dollars in booming China last year, the government said, with analysts adding the tide of money had undermined efforts to slow economic growth. The 2007 figure for foreign direct investment, or FDI, was up 13.8 percent from a year earlier.

China's Trade Surplus Surges to Record
(AP, Jan. 11, 2008) China's global trade surplus soared nearly 50 percent last year to a record despite an avalanche of safety warnings and recalls of Chinese-made products abroad. The sharp rise could add to pressure on Beijing to act on currency controls and import barriers.

China to Launch Rockets, Manned Mission, in Olympic Year
(Associated Press, Jan. 8, 2008) China plans to launch its third manned space mission that will feature its first-ever space walk during 2008. China will also send up 15 rockets and 17 satellites. In 2003, China became only the third country in the world after the United States and Russia to send a human into orbit. It followed with a two-man mission in 2005.

China Clamps Down on Internet
(AFP, Jan. 4, 2008) China has announced tough new rules to crack down on the explosion of audio-visual content on the Internet, reiterating that sex and politically sensitive material will not be tolerated. Only state-controlled entities will have the right to operate websites that post audio-visual content, according to the rules.

In Crisis, China Vows Openness By Ariana Eunjung Cha
(Washington Post, Mar. 5, 2009) Wen's online comments reflect the two-pronged approach Beijing is taking toward growing public unease as more companies collapse and unemployment grows.

Party Elderly Press for Checks on China’s Stimulus Plan By Jonathan Ansfield (New York Times, Mar. 4, 2009) As China’s government doles out $584 billion to stimulate its ailing economy, critics inside and outside the Communist Party have pressed for details about the murky spending plan and demanded the right to follow the money.

In China, Media Make Small Strides By Maureen Fan
(Washington Post, Dec. 28, 2008) President Hu Jintao said in June that news coverage of emergency incidents should be more timely, authoritative and transparent, but he stressed the need to adhere to party propaganda.

The China Growth Fantasy By Yasheng Huang
(Wall Street Journal, Dec. 21, 2008) China is one of the few countries in the world endowed with the land mass, the energetic and talented population, and the entrepreneurship to become a true global economic powerhouse. But that potential has been squandered by a misguided development strategy that privileges production at the expense of consumption.

After 30 Years, Economic Perils on China’s Path By Jim Yardley
(New York Times, Dec. 19, 2008) Beyond the oratory, Mr. Hu and other Chinese leaders are now facing a new era in which Deng’s export-led economic model, as well as his iron-fisted political control, face unprecedented challenges.

Divergence Grows Between China and the West—Part I By Xu Sitao (YaleGlobal, Dec. 18, 2008) Like so many other nations, China’s hands are tied when it comes to demonstrating international leadership or offering aid, especially on policies preferred by the West. China’s priority is looking after the interests of its own people, which in the long term benefits the world.

China’s Communist Party Cautiously Celebrates Its Reforms By Peter Ford (Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 23, 2008) After riding the tiger of rising expectations so successfully for so long, the government may have met its match in the international economic crisis.

China’s Charter
(Editorial, Washington Post, Dec. 17, 2008) What they advocate, as Charter 2008 puts it, is to "embrace universal human values [and] join the mainstream of civilized nations." That's an offer that ever more Russians and Chinese are likely to find preferable to 21st-century dictatorships.

With Strikes, China’s New Middle Class Vents Anger By Ariana Eunjung Cha (Washington Post, Dec. 17, 2008) Rural protests, often led by impoverished farmers angry over land seizures that leave them unable to feed their families, have occurred sporadically over the past decade. But richer, more educated Chinese are behind the recent strikes, which have disrupted life in China's cities.

What China Can Learn from 1929 By Michael Pettis
(Newsweek, Dec. 22, 2008) As the key sources of the imbalance, the United States and China must recognize the roles each must play in resolving the crisis. America must reduce spending to bring its overconsumption down, and China must reduce overcapacity.

A Straitjacket for Criticism
(Editorial, Boston Globe, Dec. 12, 2008) Reform is needed for sure, but not only in the economic sphere. The ultimate break with the old Maoist ways would be to let the Chinese people speak their minds.

The Second Long March
(The Economist, Dec. 11, 2008) Now Chinese officials fret about the possibility of growing unrest as the economy suffers the impact of the global crisis. Democrats must wait.

Keep China on the Capitalist Road By Fred Hu
(Wall Street Journal, Dec. 11, 2008) Of the many actual and possible victims of the current global slowdown, one of the most troubling could turn out to be China's process of economic opening and reform.

China Grapples with New Social Safety Net By Lucy Homby
(Reuters, Dec. 9,  2008) Creating a new social safety net for millions of workers cast adrift in the past 15 years has emerged as a key challenge for the Communist Party -- especially given the global economic downturn could create waves of more unemployed.

China Economy at Crossroads After 30 Years of Reform By Alan Wheatley (Reuters, Dec. 7, 2008) For 30 years, concentrating resources in the hands of the government through state ownership and taxes has served China well. But the private consumption needed to power self-sustained growth is lacking.

Chinese State Media Pushes for Press Freedom By Malcolm Moore
(Telegraph, Dec. 5, 2008) Xinhua, the Chinese government's news agency, has condemned officials who try to cover up dissent and called for greater press freedom in the internet age.

China Scholar Warns of Social Turmoil As Growth Slows
(Reuters, Dec. 4, 2008) China risks massive social turmoil next year as the economy slows and the number of angry jobless grows, a leading Communist Party scholar has warned.

Factory Closures, Layoffs Stir Unrest in China By Calum MacLeod
(USA Today, Dec. 2, 2008) A wave of often violent protests poses a challenge to China's ruling Communist Party, as people take to the streets on issues ranging from factory closures to government land grabs.

Ex-bad Boy China Praised at Climate Talks By Arthur Max
(AP, Dec. 2, 2008) Once global warming's bad boy, China is now winning praise for its upbeat role in climate talks, a turnaround perhaps brought on by the effects of carbon emissions on its choking cities, shrinking water resources and increasingly flooded lowlands.

China Defines Future with Peasant Migration to City By Norman Levine (Washington Times, Dec. 2, 2008) With a population of 1.3 billion, and with a vast demography of farmer poverty, China is confronting one of the major socioeconomic challenges of the 21st century: how to overcome the class polarization of urban wealth and agricultural deprivation.

Leadership Gap in China By Elizabeth Economy
(Washington Post, Dec. 1, 2008) In the midst of a global financial crisis, the world has come to China's doorstep seeking leadership. Yet China's leaders have largely kept the door shut. China wants to be a responsible partner, not a global leader.

China Can No Longer Save World By Michael Sheridan
(Times, Nov. 30, 2008) If the world was looking for China to save it, the actions of Chinese leaders in the past few weeks suggest they intend to save their own economy first.

China’s Taxi Strikes: A Test for the Government By Simon Elegant
(Time, Nov. 28, 2008) By a rough estimate, this was the eighth time in four weeks that taxi drivers around the nation had slammed on their brakes, making the rolling strikes the longest sustained chain reaction of labor unrest in the history of the People's Republic.

China’s Media Seen Gradually Freeing Up By Ben Blanchard
(Reuters, Nov. 27, 2008) China's media is not as tightly controlled as foreigners make it out to be but serving demands to maintain "social stability" means reporters must heed official guidance.

Regions Won’t Dance to Beijing’s Tune By Wu Zhong
(Asia Times, Nov. 26, 2008) It may be too far-fetched to explain the controversy as a manifestation of intensified power struggles in the party - it is more likely a good example of the open secret that regional authorities will often circumvent policies from Beijing deemed not to be in the region's interests.

Did Britain Just Sell Tibet? By Robert Barnett
(New York Times, Nov. 25, 2008) The financial crisis is going to do more than increase unemployment, bankruptcy and homelessness. It is also likely to reshape international alignments, sometimes in ways that we would not expect.

China Basks in APEC Limelight, Balks at Star Role By Chris Buckley
(Reuters, Nov. 23, 2008) China will keep edging towards greater activism on world economy, while fending off the demands roused by its huge foreign exchange reserves and exports, said a Beijing-based expert.

China Will Be a Winner in the New Economy By Zachary Karabell
(Wall Street Journal, Nov. 22, 2008) In the new system the United States will still be the largest economy but no longer the sole determinant of global economic health. The new winners will be cash and China.

Chinese Governor, Demonstrators Hold High-Profile Meeting By Lauren Keane (Washington Post, Nov. 22, 2008) A senior Chinese official met with participants in a recent riot as the government sought to highlight how much it was doing in the face of a shaky economy and an increasingly restive population.

Thousands Battle Police in China’s Northwest By Andrew Jacobs
(New York Times, Nov. 19, 2008) A local newspaper and Xinhua, the official news agency, said the skirmishes began Monday and involved 2,000 people.

China’s Huge Poverty Gap Slowing Growth, UN Says By Tania Branigan (Guardian, Nov. 17, 2008) The gulf between rich and poor in China is affecting growth by deterring consumption and holding down productivity, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Program.

China Signals It Is Ready to Help IMF By Jane Macartney
(Times, Nov. 14, 2008) With Chinese President Hu Jintao set to be a focus of international hopes at the G20 meeting of world leaders, Beijing gave its first clear signal that is ready to help the International Monetary Fund to help countries hit by the global credit crisis.

China’s New Deal
(Independent, Nov. 11, 2008) Poverty breeds division; division begets weakness; weakness brings national humiliation, as it did for so much of China's story in the 20th century. China's leaders will be very happy to spend their way out of that particular problem.

China Unveils Sweeping Plan for Economy By David Barboza
(New York Times, Nov. 10, 2008) China announced a huge economic stimulus plan on Sunday aimed at bolstering its weakening economy, a sweeping move that could also help fight the effects of the global slowdown.

Once Sizzling, China’s Economy Shows Rapid Signs of Fizzling By David Barboza (New York Times, Nov. 7, 2008) Just as China attained supercharged growth that astounded much of the world, it appears to be slowing more sharply and more quickly than anyone anticipated.

As China’s Losses Mount, Confidence Turns to Fear By Ariana Eunjung Cha (Washington Post, Nov. 4, 2008) In the initial weeks of the global financial crisis, Chinese officials resolutely declared that they were not significantly affected. But now, the Communist Party's confidence has changed to another feeling entirely: fear.

As China Goes, So Goes …
(Editorial, New York Times, Oct. 27, 2008) A boost to consumer spending would undoubtedly help China weather the economic storm. But by raising Chinese imports and reducing its dependence on exports, it would also help the rest of the world.

Hu Says China’s Economy Stable, Pledges Coordination on Crisis By Dune Lawrence (Bloomberg, Oct. 25, 2008) Chinese President Hu Jintao said maintaining his country's economic growth rate, the fastest among major economies, is the best way to combat a credit crisis that threatens a global recession.

China’s Activist Wins Rights Prize By Jim Yardley
(New York Times, Oct. 24, 2008) In a rebuke of China’s Communist Party, the European Parliament gave a prestigious human rights prize to Hu Jia, an imprisoned advocate for democracy in China.

China’s 3rd-Quarter GDP Drops Sharply By Ariana Eunjung Cha
(Washington Post, Oct. 21, 2008) If China's growth falls below 8 percent, it "would be equivalent to a recession in advanced economies" because that pace is needed to support the labor market.

Giants Feel the Pinch By Rowan Callick
(The Australian, Oct. 20, 2008) The global meltdown is starting to claim its first casualties in China and India, the Asian giants whose economies were believed to be mostly insulated from the international financial crisis.

China Enacts Major Land-Use Reform By Jim Yardley
(New York Times, Oct. 19, 2008) After days of uncertainty, the governing Communist Party announced a rural reform policy that for the first time would allow farmers to lease or transfer land-use rights, a step that advocates say would raise lagging incomes in the Chinese countryside.

Wary of Islam, China Tightens a Vise of Rules By Edward Wong
(New York Times, Oct. 18, 2008) To be a practicing Muslim in Xinjiang is to live under an intricate series of laws and regulations intended to control the spread and practice of Islam, the predominant religion among the Uighurs.

China Extends Olympic-style Foreign Media Freedom at Last Minute By Richard Spencer (Telegraph, Oct. 18, 2008) China has enacted new regulations giving foreign journalists freedom to travel around the country, confirming hints that this Olympics-related reform would be a "lasting legacy" of the Games.

Promises, Promises
(The Economist, Oct. 16, 2008) Chinese academics have long argued that a freer and better-regulated rural property market is essential if peasants are to enjoy more of the fruits of growth.

Hints of Discord on China Land Reform By Edward Wong
(New York Times, Oct. 15, 2008) Chinese leaders have yet to announce details of a rural reform policy they said they adopted on Sunday, contributing to speculation that Communist Party officials are in disagreement on major aspects of the policy.

China Land Reform Disappears from Radar By Mark Magnier
(LA Times, Oct. 15, 2008) By the time the closed-door meeting wrapped up Sunday, the issue had all but disappeared from public view. It wasn't even mentioned in the final communique from the 368-member decision-making body.

China Democracy: Reformer’s Words Signal a New Debate on Political Reform By Malcolm Moore (Telegraph, Oct. 14, 2008) President Hu Jintao has promised "more extensive democratic rights" by 2020, without being more specific, and this is also the year when China's booming economy should deliver per capita GNP of $3,000, ushering in "moderate prosperity for all."

Radical Reforms to Set China’s Farmers Free By David Stanway
(Guardian, Oct. 13, 2008) Thirty years after first setting out on the capitalist road, China's ruling Communist party has approved bold proposals that aim to liberate 700 million peasants from their state-owned land.

China Announces Land Policy Aimed at Promoting Income Growth in Countryside By Edward Wong (New York Times, Oct. 13, 2008) Chinese leaders said Sunday that they would adopt a rural growth policy aimed at vastly increasing the income of China’s hundreds of millions of farmers by the year 2020, setting in motion what could be the nation’s biggest economic reform in years.

China’s Communist Rulers Debate How to Respond to the Crisis of Capitalism By David Eimer (Telegraph, Oct. 12, 2008) For four days, the Chinese Communist Party elite has been meeting behind closed doors in Beijing to thrash out how to prevent the global financial crisis from damaging China's continued prosperity as much as that of the West.

China to Maintain ‘Fast and Stable’ Economic Growth, Yi Says By Nipa Piboontanasawat (Bloomberg, Oct. 11, 2008) China will boost domestic demand to sustain the nation's “fast and stable” economic growth, central bank Deputy Governor Yi Gang said.

In China, Leaders Turn Focus to Farmers’ Plight By Andrew Batson
(Wall Street Journal, Oct. 10, 2008) The decision to focus the high-level Communist Party conclave on rural matters shows how China's relative insulation from the credit crunch is allowing it to continue working on a crucial long-term issue. It also shows the gravity of the situation in the countryside.

China Opposes Peace Prize for Rights Activist
(AP, Oct. 9, 2008) China said Thursday that a prominent Chinese human rights activist should not be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, saying such an honor would go against the spirit of the award.

World Shouldn’t Foot Bill for US Woes—China Paper
(Reuters, Oct. 7, 2008) The People’s Daily commentary comes against a background of speculation that China, with U.S. bonds making up the lion's share of its $1.81 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, could have a role to play in any globally coordinated response to the meltdown.

China’s Rulers Vulnerable If U.S. Contagion Hits Asia By Jonathan Manthorpe (Vancouver Sun, Oct. 6, 2008) Always top of the worries about fallout is China. This is because championing persistent economic growth is now the only claim the Communist Party has to legitimacy in power.

China Could Be Dragged Down by Wall Street Crash By William Pesek (Bloomberg, Oct. 3, 2008) China's mercantilist model makes the most populous nation dangerously dependent on consumers in the biggest economy. Growth in Asia will experience quite a setback if the U.S. enters a prolonged period of weakness.

China’s Image Sullied by Tainted Milk By Mary Kay Magistad
(YaleGlobal, Oct. 1, 2008) Without swift and effective action to better protect its own consumers and citizens, China’s leaders may find that the wave of goodwill they’ve been riding of late may dry up, and bring them down to earth with a thud.

Surveillance of Skype Messages Found in China By John Markoff
(New York Times, Oct. 1, 2008) A group of Canadian human-rights activists and computer security researchers has discovered a huge surveillance system in China that monitors and archives certain Internet text conversations that include politically charged words.

The World Is Observing What China will Do Amid Crisis By Rowan Callick (The Australian, Sep. 29, 2008) What Asia needed China to do in 1997, the whole world is looking for it to do right now. Premier Wen Jiabao won't find much disagreement.

Tainted Milk Flowed Through Holes in Scrutiny By Jim Yardley and David Barboza (New York Times, Sep. 26, 2008) The dairy scandal raises the core question of whether the ruling Communist Party is capable of creating a transparent, accountable regulatory structure within a one-party system.

China’s Top Paper Says Olympics Shows Party Rule Works By Chris Buckley (Reuters, Sep. 26, 2008) The United States' economic woes show the bankruptcy of Western-style democracy while China's Olympic Games triumph shows the growing "superiority" of its Communist Party rule, China's top newspaper said.

China’s Milk Scandal Bares Government Shortcomings By Charles Hutzler (AP, Sep. 24, 2008) Galling to many Chinese is the suspicion that high-level pressures for a successful Beijing Olympics added momentum for a cover-up.

‘Little Emperors’ Surprise China Elders with Work at Olympics By Dune Lawrence (Bloomberg, Sep. 23, 2008) China's pampered, 20-something ``little emperors'' surprised the nation with their hard work during the Beijing Olympics and the May earthquake that killed an estimated 87,500 people.

China Joins a Turf War By Malik Fareed
(Guardian, Sep. 22, 2008) Online, astroturfing - whereby stealth PR tactics are passed off as grassroots enthusiasm for a product or candidate - is flourishing. But in China, things have gone one step further - with the establishment of the country's 50-cent army.

China Seeks to Calm Fears Amid Scandal By Jim Yardley
(New York Times, Sep. 20, 2008) The broad response underscores how deeply the dairy crisis has resonated with the Chinese public as well as the political problem the scandal has presented for the government.

Public Anger Over Milk Scandal Forces China’s Hand By Ariana Eunjung Cha (Washington Post, Sep. 19, 2008) The scandal over tainted milk powder, which has killed four people and sickened 6,244 more, has fueled such universal outrage that the Chinese government in recent days has thrown out its playbook for how it deals with such incidents.

China’s Top Trade Official: Don’t Abandon the Doha Round By Chen Deming (BusinessWeek, Sep. 15, 2008) The Chinese Commerce Minister writes that resuming the key trade talks is needed to combat a global economic slowdown.

China’s Rulers Look to Space to Maintain Olympic Pride
(AFP, Sep. 9, 2008) China's rulers are looking to catapult overflowing pride and patriotism from the Beijing Olympics into another stratosphere when the nation's first "taikonaut" walks in space this month.

Populists Gain Seats in Election in Hong Kong By Keith Bradsher
(New York Times, Sep. 7, 2008) The biggest rift in Hong Kong politics, between those who favor greater democracy and those who support the Beijing-backed local government, produced little change on Sunday.

In China, Police Clash with Protesters Who Invested in Illegal Schemes By Maureen Fan (Washington Post, Sep. 6, 2008) Corruption is endemic in China as the country gains in affluence. Last month, China's top auditor said that 10 central government departments misused or embezzled $660 million in 117 cases last year.

China Trade Outguns Europe’s Rights Concern By Julio Godoy
(Inter Press Service, Sep. 5, 2008) European Union leaders speak repeatedly of tying increasing Chinese investment in Africa to respect for human rights. No such considerations come in the way of the EU's own dealings with China.

China’s Olympic Run—Part II By Pallavi Aiyar
(YaleGlobal, Aug. 29, 2008) Without the Games and their prestige to drive home the necessity of “harmony” at any cost, China’s ruling party will have to confront its greatest Achilles heel – its inability to admit to the existence of real diversity and dissent – head on.

Where Next for Post-Games China? By Michael Bristow
(BBC, Aug. 28, 2008) The Olympics in Tokyo in 1964 and Seoul in 1988 both marked turning points in the development of Japan and South Korea. Many hope it will be the same for Beijing.

China’s Olympic Run—Part I By Mary Kay Magistad
(YaleGlobal, Aug. 27, 2008) China’s leaders are caught between conflicting instincts – to play to both audiences, to trumpet China’s rise as a formidable power, while trying to reassure the world of its friendly, non-threatening nature.

Slipping Over the Great Firewall of China By Nicholas D. Kristof
(NYT, Aug. 24, 2008) It’s true that the government censors critical Web sites and closes down troublesome blogs. Yet there aren’t nearly enough censors to manage the job, and many Chinese are quite adept at technological ladders over the Great Firewall of China.

Post-Games China to Refocus on Economy, Stability By Benjamin Kang Lim (Reuters, Aug. 24, 2008) China's leaders will breath a sigh of relief as the Beijing Olympics close, turning their attention back on the economy, keen to prevent any slowdown and possible unrest.

The Chinese Dream Has Replaced America’s By Martin Fletcher
(Times, Aug. 23, 2008) China’s economy may be lagging behind the U.S., but it is miles ahead in optimism, dynamism, and patriotism.

Will the Olympics Boost China Human Rights? By Bruce Einhorn and Lawrence Delevingne (BusinessWeek, Aug. 22, 2008) Many were hoping a new openness would emerge as the mainland took center stage, but most experts agree the Games won't change much.

New Strategies for ‘Democratizing’ China By James Gomez
(Asia Times, Aug. 21, 2008) An integrated approach that is based closer in the region seems to be the way forward to bring democracy to China as well as to other parts of Asia.

Harmony and the Dream By David Brooks
(New York Times, Aug. 11, 2008) The rise of China isn’t only an economic event. It’s a cultural one. The ideal of a harmonious collective may turn out to be as attractive as the ideal of the American Dream.

U.S. in “Firm Opposition” to Chinese Human Rights Policies, Bush Says By Michael Abramowitz (Washington Post, Aug. 7, 2008) President Bush on Thursday used some of his bluntest language to date on human rights in China, saying that "America stands in firm opposition" to China's detention of political dissidents and religious activists.

China’s Leaders Are Resilient in Face of Change By Jim Yardley
(NYT, Aug. 6, 2008) If the Olympics have presented unmistakable challenges and crises, the Communist Party has proved resilient. The short-term byproduct of the Olympics has been a surge in Chinese patriotism that bolstered the party against international criticism.

China Shouldn’t Be Inscrutable By Fareed Zakaria
(Newsweek, Aug. 11, 2008) To say that this new China is the same as the old is to be utterly ignorant or ideological—perhaps both.

Despite Flaws, Rights in China Have Expanded By Howard W. French (New York Times, Aug. 2, 2008) Political change, however gradual and inconsistent, has made China a significantly more open place for average people than it was a generation ago.

China’s Dash for Freedom
(The Economist, Jul. 31, 2008) On balance, the award of the games has done more harm than good to the opening up of China. The big forces driving that opening are independent of the games.

China Emerges as Major Player in Global Trade Talks By Stephen Castle (New York Times, Jul. 29, 2008) As seven years of global trade talks approach another climax, China is emerging as a central player — and coming under heavy criticism from the United States and others for its tactics.

China Using Olympics as ‘Pretext’ for Crackdown: Amnesty
(AFP, Jul. 29, 2008) China is using the Beijing Olympics as a pretext to pursue -- and in some cases tighten -- a crackdown on human rights, notably ridding the capital of "undesirables," Amnesty International charged Monday.

Rights Issue Looms as Bush Heads to China By Michael Abramowitz
(Washington Post, Jul. 28, 2008) With President Bush set to leave next week for the Olympics in Beijing, the White House is coming under increased pressure from lawmakers and advocacy groups to make a public statement of concern about the crackdown on human rights and freedom in China.

Olympics: Wary China Readies for Some Patriot Games By Jonathan Watts (Guardian, Jul. 28, 2008) With less than two weeks until the opening ceremony, the tide of nationalist fervor is rising to fever pitch as the torch enters the final stages of its epic and controversial journey to Beijing.

China’s Agony of Defeat By Orville Schell
(Newsweek, Aug. 4, 2008) The Beijing Games present a fraught and sensitive moment. China has made a Herculean effort to prepare the way for this spectacle, in which ordinary Chinese, not just their leaders, can announce themselves to the world as having regained their national greatness.

A Long Wait at the Gate to Greatness By John Pomfret
(Washington Post, Jul. 27, 2008) China, the drumbeat goes, is poised to become the 800-pound gorilla of the international system, ready to dominate the 21st century the way the United States dominated the 20th. Except that it's not.

The Man Who Swam to China Floats to the Top of Global Banking By Heather Stewart (Guardian, Jul. 27, 2008) Lin says China’s most important link with Africa is in providing an example of economic success. 'China provides a role model to show that it's possible to change from a very desperate situation into a very promising, dynamic country - and that kind of role model is very important.'

In Washington, China and Critics Spread Separate Versions of Coming Olympic Games (AP, Jul. 25, 2008) The Olympic games begin in Beijing on Aug. 8, but already the competition to sway public opinion in the United States is heating up between anti-China activists and Chinese authorities. It is transforming the run-up to the global sports gathering into a public relations marathon.

China’s Evolving Perspective on Darfur: Significance and Policy Implications By Chin-Hao Huang (PacNet #40, Pacific Forum, CSIS, Jul. 24, 2008) It appears that there is greater consensus on hot spots in Africa such as Darfur, in part because there is growing congruence in Beijing’s evolving perspective and Washington’s outlook.

Open China’s Great Firewall
(Christian Science Monitor, Jul. 24, 2008) China has more people online than any other country. But its rulers are also world-class obstructors of the Internet, a practice sure to be under scrutiny during the Olympic Games, when foreigners used to Web freedom will visit Beijing.

In China, Fine Line Between Response and Overreaction By Jill Drew (Washington Post, Jul. 23, 2008) The goading note was a stark reminder that connecting all the dots before an act of violence and providing an ironclad protection against it is nearly impossible, experts said.

China’s Unreality TV
(Editorial, New York Times, Jul. 22, 2008) We will never know whether China’s leaders intended to keep their word. What we do know is that the International Olympic Committee, corporate sponsors and governments around the world should have held China to its word.

Confronting Income Inequality in China By Alan Wheatley
(Reuters, Jul. 22, 2008) In "China's Dilemma," a collection of papers co-published by the Australian National University and the Asia Pacific Press, Yifu Lin argued that fundamental flaws in China's economic model were partly to blame for the yawning gap between rich and poor.

China is Growing Unfriendly to Foreigners, Visitors Say By Ariana Eunjung Cha (Washington Post, Jul. 19, 2008) Some human rights advocates, business associations and foreign visitors say the visa crackdown has more to do with keeping out potential foreign protesters. They say the process is alienating foreigners.

China ‘Is Fueling War in Darfur’ By Hilary Andersson
(BBC, Jul. 13, 2008) The BBC has found the first evidence that China is currently helping Sudan's government militarily in Darfur.

Faster, Higher – But Freer?
(Editorial, The Guardian, Jul. 12, 2008) The opening ceremony will be less of a coming-out parade for Chinese leaders than a coronation. For the very same reasons, western leaders rightly remain uneasy about giving their imprimatur to a regime which jails dissidents, persecutes religious groups, backs Burma and bankrolls Darfur.

China Crackdown Targets Critics Ahead of Olympics By Henry Sanderson (AP, Jul. 11, 2008) As Beijing enters the final stretch before the August 8-24 Olympics, the government is trying to shut out anyone it believes might mar an event meant to showcase China as a modern nation.

Fraying at the Edges
(The Economist, Jul. 10, 2008) Taiwan is a big unfinished nationalist project at a time when Chinese nationalism is gaining potency. Beijing’s present policy relies on Taiwan’s refraining from any “provocation”. This is dangerously fragile.

Confucianism Makes a Comeback in China By Daniel A. Bell
(Japan Times, Jul. 10, 2008) Communism has lost its capacity to inspire the Chinese. So what should replace it? Most Westerners think the answer is liberal democracy, but there is another answer, which takes the form of the old and venerable tradition of Confucianism.

Around the World, Activists Assemble to Press China on Rights By Robin Shulman (Washington Post, Jul. 9, 2008) Marking the one-month countdown to the start of the Beijing Olympic Games, activists gathered here and in cities around the world Tuesday to call on China to ease crackdowns on dissenters and release political prisoners.

China Seen as Reneging on Media-Freedom Vow By Geoffrey York
(Globe and Mail, Jul. 7, 2008) When 25,000 foreign journalists descend on Beijing next month to cover the Olympics, they will face restrictions that are far from the "complete freedom" China promised in its bid for the Games.

China Protests: A New Approach? By Simon Elegant
(Time, Jul. 4, 2008) The incident that took place in the remote town of Weng’an is more than a mere pre-Olympics anomaly and may be part of a new, more open approach by Beijing to outbursts of long-simmering rage.

Victims of the Boom By David Harrison
(Telegraph, Jun. 29, 2008) The cities may be thriving but in the countryside 800m peasants struggle to survive. As pollution, migration and 'land grabs' threaten to destroy rural China, protests are growing. How much longer can the people be ignored?

Nationalist Fervor in China Is Backed by Anger By Ted Plafker
(International Herald Tribune, Jun. 27, 2008) Wrought from several sets of interwoven strands, the Chinese impulse toward nationalism is an intricate fabric. Love of country is mixed with a sometimes venomous ethnic chauvinism.

To Understand China’s Future, Look to Its Past By Jonathan Fenby
(The Times, Jun. 24, 2008) Given the fault lines created by 30 years of invigorating but unbalanced growth, China's leaders need to show a degree of benevolence to buttress popular support. How to do that without relinquishing their grip on power is a problem they share with rulers dating back through the millennia.

Return to Repression
(Editorial, Washington Post, Jun. 23, 2008) The suppression of critical coverage and the harassment of foreign journalists are the norms in China. What makes it remarkable now is not only the brief relaxation of control that preceded it but the fact that it comes just weeks before the Olympic Games in Beijing.

A New China Appears Amid Quake Rubble By Mark Magnier
(LA Times, Jun. 17, 2008) One month after a massive earthquake killed nearly 70,000 people, some of the effects of the crisis may hardly outlast the rubble, even as other seismic shifts irrevocably shake the Chinese government and society.

In China, the Game Has Changed By Victor D. Cha
(LA Times, Jun. 15, 2008) Political change in China is unavoidable, however. Beijing's leaders face a Catch-22. The price for seeking the Olympic limelight to showcase China's greatness is increased exposure to pressures to change.

China to Keep Grip on Society as Challenges Loom By Benjamin Kang Lim (Reuters, Jun. 9, 2008) Chinese government's burst of openness in the aftermath of its devastating earthquake was not a signal that the Communist Party is relaxing its grip on a rapidly changing society -- far from it.

Victim Or Victor? China’s Olympic Odyssey By Ian Buruma
(Wall Street Journal, Jun. 7, 2008) Resurgent nationalists are counting on a torrent of gold medals to erase centuries of humiliation. Will the Beijing Games complete a restoration of Chinese greatness or arrogance?

Setting Politics Aside to Help Victims of China Earthquake By Kirk Semple (NYT, Jun. 1, 2008) The emergency has temporarily unified the various and sometimes competing strands of the Chinese diaspora, including anti-Communist groups, which have suspended their political animosities toward Beijing for now, to support the victims of the earthquake.

Two Images of China By Lee Kuan Yew
(Forbes, Jun. 16, 2008) this moment of world sympathy will pass, and concerns over China's future role will remain. The West is uncertain whether this huge nation will be good or bad for the world. This tension will only be resolved when both sides approximate each other's worldviews and accept that they will never have identical cultural values.

Outpouring of Help Shifts Mood in China By Edward Cody
(Washington Post, May 27, 2008) Foreign Ministry spokesmen were appealing for help from anywhere abroad within a week of the quake. It was a departure for China, which typically accepts only small amounts of aid in times of crisis.

China Enjoys Rare Moment of Global Support By Peter Ford
(Christian Science Monitor, May 27, 2008) In an unexpected silver lining to the tragic Sichuan earthquake, China's international image has enjoyed dramatic improvement over the past two weeks. But the turnaround remains fragile, say Chinese and foreign scholars.

A Thwarted Search for Information By Maureen Fan
(Washington Post, May 26, 2008) Thousands of children died in the May 12 Sichuan earthquake. The loss has been particularly hard because of China’s limits on family size a nearly 30-year-old policy designed to curb population growth and reduce poverty.

China Teaches Something in Quake By Frederick Kempe
(Bloomberg, May 20, 2008) Tempting as it is to judge China's response as further evidence of the country's unstoppable rise, it is a reminder of Chinese fragility. What lurks beneath the firm surface of accomplishment are growing economic, social and environmental shifts that might threaten the country's single-party, technocratic leadership.

Many Hands, Not Held by China, Aid in Quake By Jim Yardley and David Barboza (New York Times, May 20, 2008) The public outpouring is so overwhelming that analysts are debating whether it will create political aftershocks and place pressure on China’s authoritarian state to allow more space for civil society.

A Hard Look at China's Soft Power
(Asia Times, May 16, 2008) China's attempts to use its "soft power" assets are increasingly successful, although not without problems, according to a recent United States congressional study. China also deploys its soft power as part of the political dynamic of trying to separate Taiwan from its remaining diplomatic relationships.

China's Harmonious Diplomatic Symphony By John Pomfret
(Washington Post, May 9, 2008) While its propaganda machine might be sounding a little shrill lately, China's foreign policy is hitting all the right notes. In the past few weeks, President Hu Jintao has met twice with leading politicians from Taiwan following the election of Ma Ying-jeou. What's more, last week, Hu spent five days in Japan using "smile" diplomacy with China's Asian nemesis.

China-Bashing Is a Blind Man's Game By David Gosset
(Asia Times, May 7, 2008) China's renaissance, arguably the most significant story of our time, offers to the world as much as the world brings to China. Yet some fail to grasp the big picture, and for them, China's re-emergence generates anxiety. The result is anti-Chinese rhetoric and behavior that can only generate anti-Western attitudes within China.

China's 'Soft Power' Blitz No Major Concern: US Study
(AFP, May 6, 2008) Cash-flush China may be winning allies and displacing American influence by ramping up foreign investments and disbursing aid with no strings attached, but a US congressional study says Washington need not lose sleep over it.

China's Pride Versus Western Prejudice
(Asia Times, May 2, 2008) New wave of Chinese nationalism: This is at least the fourth outbreak of Chinese patriotism or nationalism in the last decade: previous triggers include the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia in 1999, the EP-3 US electronic surveillance plane incident in 2001, and protests against the Japanese prime minister's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in 2005.

China Intensifies War against Splittism By Willy Lam
(Asia Times, Apr. 30, 2008) While Beijing started last weekend to rein in nationalistic outbursts against Western media and governments, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has upped the ante in its "people's war" against separatists who are allegedly in cahoots with "anti-China elements overseas" to undermine Chinese rule and disrupt the Beijing Summer Olympic Games.

For Chinese, a Shift in Mood, From Hospitable to Hostile By Edward Cody (Washington Post, Apr. 29, 2008) Just weeks ago, most Chinese were welcoming foreigners as Olympic guests and partners in the country's meteoric economic development. But as the country enters the final 100 days before the Olympic Games in Beijing, the mood has changed. Many Chinese have begun to regard foreigners as adversaries interfering in domestic affairs or, at worst, bigots unwilling to accept China's emergence as a great power.

Tibet Through Chinese Eyes By Kishore Mahbubani
(Newsweek, May 5, 2008) The recent crisis over the Olympic torch and Tibet represent an epic clash: not just between Tibetans and Beijing, but between a self-congratulatory Western worldview and the very different vision of a billion-plus Chinese. Most Chinese think the West’s real aim to deny them the triumph they deserve for their success.

China, India Powers to Equal US Might in 10 Years: Canadian Survey
(AFP, Apr. 25, 2008) A majority of Canadians (67 percent) believe the influence of China and India in the world will rival that of the United States within the next decade, said a survey. As well, more than 60 percent of Canadians believe the growing importance of China and India as economic powers are more of an opportunity for Canada than a threat.

With First Car, a New Life in China By Keith Bradsher
(New York Times, Apr. 24, 2008) China’s explosive growth in first-time buyers is the driving force behind the country’s record car sales, up more than eightfold since 2000. It is the reason China just passed Japan to become the world’s second-largest car market, behind the United States.

China Changes Course, Advocating Tempered Response to Its Critics
(Washington Post, Apr. 23, 2008) After weeks of expressing outrage at Western protests over Tibet and the Olympics, officials here have begun tempering their rhetoric in recent days and telling Chinese people to be "rational" about their response.

China Falls Short on Vows for Olympics: 'Long Way to Go' On Rights, Pollution And Press Freedom (Washington Post, Apr. 21, 2008) China has spent billions of dollars to fulfill its commitment to stage a grand Olympics. But beneath the shimmer and behind the slogan, China has not lived up to a pledge in its Olympic action plan, released in 2002, to "be open in every aspect," and a constitutional amendment adopted in 2004 to recognize and protect human rights has not shielded government critics from arrest.

Chinese Urge Anti-West Boycott over Tibet Stance
(International Herald Tribune, Apr. 20, 2008) Armed with her laptop and her indignation, Zhu Xiaomeng sits in her dorm room here, stoking a popular backlash against Western support for Tibet that has unnerved foreign investors and Western diplomats and, increasingly, the ruling Communist Party.

A Highway that Binds China and Its Neighbors
(International Herald Tribune, Mar. 30, 2008) Prime ministers of Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam officially inaugurate the former opium smuggling route as the final link of what they call the "north-south economic corridor," a network of roads linking the southern Chinese city of Kunming to Bangkok spanning 1,800 kilometers. The network is a major milestone for China and its southern neighbors.

Nationalism at Core of China's Angry Reaction to Tibetan Protests By Jim Yardley (International Herald Tribune, Mar. 30, 2008) Playing to national pride, and national insecurities, the Communist Party has used censorship and propaganda to position itself as defender of the motherland - and block any examination of Tibetan grievances or its own performance in the crisis.

A Whiff of Openness at China's Congress By Jill Drew
(Washington Post, Mar. 14, 2008) China is awash in policy proposals as more than 5,000 people meet this month to ratify laws handed down by Communist Party leaders. The official Chinese news media portray it as democracy in action -- delegates, selected by local officials to represent their regions, offer ideas for laws they believe will improve conditions back home.

The Rise of China’s Neocons By Mark Leonard
(Newsweek, Mar. 17, 2008) A fierce debate over China’ international approach is underway. The argument, waged in government-run think tanks and universities, pits liberal internationalists against China’s neocons – who aim for nothing short of remaking the entire international order in China’s image. For new the liberal internationalists have the upper hand.

Growing Rich-Poor Divide Tests China's Boom
(Reuters, Mar. 2, 2008) Economic reforms over the past three decades may have lifted millions out of grinding poverty and helped fuel a rising middle class, but those effects have not been felt equally across the country. The stability-obsessed government worries that if this gap keeps growing, it will fuel social unrest and violence in the world's most populous nation, some 700 million of whose 1.3 billion people live in a vast and generally poor countryside.

Elite China Think-Tank Issues Political Reform Blueprint
(Reuters, Feb. 19, 2008) The "comprehensive political system reform plan" by scholars at the Central Party School in Beijing argues for steady liberalization that its authors say can build a "modern civil society" by 2020 and "mature democracy and rule of law" in later decades.

China’s Complicit Capitalists By Kellee S. Tsai 
(Far Eastern Economic Review, January/February 2008) Private sector development has clearly had a structural effect on Chinese politics, but not in the manner expected. Neither capitalists nor communists are interested in disrupting the implicit pact that has emerged in the last two decades: continued growth for continued communism.

China’s Economic Fluctuations and Their Implications for Its Rural Economy By Albert Keidel (Carnegie Endowment Report, January 2008) China’s recent inflation surge is the product of domestic rural structural problems, not excessive monetary growth linked to trade surpluses or foreign reserves. The fundamental response to China’s inflation risk should be to raise bank deposit and lending rates to match inflation; failure to do so in the past has caused damaging swings in inflation, output growth, and social unrest.

Beijing Rejects Farmers' Call for Land Privatization Rights
(South China Morning Post, Feb. 1, 2008) A top mainland agricultural policymaker has rejected an appeal by some farmers for the right to privatize farmland, saying land seized illegally by officials should be returned to its collective owner, not individuals.

Keeping an Eye on China’s Security By Keith Bradsher
(New York Times, Jan. 31, 2008) With China now becoming wealthier and its citizens more mobile, the government is now embracing the extensive use of street-by-street surveillance technology — and the United States government is becoming less sure that American companies should be playing a central role in the effort.

China's Leader Puts Faith in Religious By Edward Cody
(Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2008) There was Hu Jintao, head of the Chinese Communist Party, warmly shaking hands at a party-sponsored New Year's tea party with one of the country's main Christian leaders. The shift in tactics does not mean the Politburo has embraced religion, specialists cautioned, but it indicates a desire to incorporate believers into the party's quest for continued economic progress and more social harmony.

In China, a Backlash Over Move to Arrest Journalist
(Washington Post, January 9, 2008) Government officials from a county in northeastern China's Liaoning province were not pleased by a magazine story criticizing their local Communist Party leader. So they traveled nearly 500 miles to Beijing seeking to arrest the author.  As word of the case filtered out, it prompted national attention, with the news media crying foul and many other Chinese using the Internet to voice their displeasure.

What a 'Dissident President' Would Do at the Games By Ellen Bork (Washington Post, Jan. 7, 2008) China's government arrested one of the country's most prominent dissidents late last month. State security agents entered the home of Hu Jia on Dec. 27, according to reports, cut the phone line and gave his wife, Zeng Jinyan, a warrant accusing her husband of subversion. The arrest of Hu, an advocate for AIDS victims and a critic of Beijing's handling of the 2008 Olympics, poses a problem for the White House.

A 'Harmonious Society' Hearing Different Notes By Howard French
(International Herald Tribune, Jan. 4, 2008) To pay attention in China is to be aware of the proliferation of the astoundingly wooden language that suffuses public life. What bigger riddle could there be in China today, for example, than the meaning of President Hu Jintao's signature slogan, "harmonious society"? Certainly, no clear explanation has been given of the concept, as anodyne as it is inherently and, one suspects, deliberately vague.