Stories

‘Take Off Your Kong Yiji’s Gown’: Why Are State Media and Unemployed Youth Disagreeing Over Interpretations of Lu Xun’s Classic

Posted on 9 May 2023 by Annie Luman Ren

For graduates in search of a job in China, March and April are traditionally the busiest hiring season. This golden window of opportunity has even acquired the nickname ‘golden March, silver April’ 金三银四. But this year’s job-finding season proved exasperating for many, with the National Bureau of Statistics reporting that in March 2023, unemployment among … more

Semiconductors, Supply Chains, and the Fate of Taiwan

Posted on 4 May 2023 by Sam Chetwin George

Innovation in science and technology has become the main battleground of the global strategic contest.[1] — Xi Jinping, 28 May 2021 Realising the complete reunification of the Motherland is the shared longing of all Chinese sons and daughters and represents the essence of National Rejuvenation.[2] — Xi Jinping, 13 March 2023 Introduction At the Two … more

How Fearful is China’s Military Rise?

Posted on 26 April 2023 by Edward Sing Yue Chan
DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley/Released

During a meeting with delegates from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the People’s Armed Police Force at the Fourteenth National People’s Congress in March 2023, Xi Jinping called for the improvement of China’s ‘integrated national strategies and strategic capabilities’ and to ‘accelerate the modernisation of [the] army as a world-class armed force’. His speech … more

Letters From Lockdown II

Posted on 3 April 2023 by Zichu Huang

In a news conference held on 15 March 2022, Shanghai city officials told reporters that ‘there’s no need to lock down the city’. Thirteen days later, on 28 March 2022 officials announced a five day lockdown of Shanghai, China’s biggest financial hub. Many of the city’s residents prepared a week or two weeks’ worth of groceries and … more

Letters From Lockdown

Posted on 28 March 2023 by Peishan Yann

In a news conference held on 15 March 2022, Shanghai city officials told reporters that ‘there’s no need to lock down the city’. Thirteen days later, on 28 March 2022 officials announced a five day lockdown of Shanghai, China’s biggest financial hub. Many of the city’s residents prepared a week or two weeks’ worth of … more

The Communist Party of China — Where Are the Women?

Posted on 8 March 2023 by Junyi Cai
https://www.flickr.com/photos/remkotanis/8165953012

At the Twentieth National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), not a single woman was elected to the Politburo. Women’s participation in Chinese elite politics has stalled as men continue to dominate political power. The systemic underrepresentation of women in China’s elite politics clashes with the Party’s propaganda about increasing ‘the proportion of … more

A ‘No Limits’ Partnership? China-Russia Strategic Cooperation

Posted on 1 March 2023 by Alexander Korolev

On 4 February 2022, the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Beijing and only twenty days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China and Russia declared a ‘no limits’ partnership that ‘surpasses an alliance.’ Given China’s and Russia’s geopolitical ambitions and boundaries, a tighter alignment between the two countries could significantly change the power structure … more