During the Politburo’s 40th Collective Study Session in April 2017, President Xi delivered a speech on strengthening the Party’s leadership over financial affairs, particularly over the financial mechanisms used to stimulate economic growth. In respo...

In this two-part series, I examine the story behind China’s potential future military basing in Cambodia. Part I focused on how China used economic tools to win over the Cambodian leadership and drew conclusions about the intersection of China’s econ...

In this two-part series, I examine the story behind China’s potential future military basing in Cambodia.  Part I focuses on China’s use of economic tools to win over the Cambodian leadership and draws conclusions about the intersection of China’s ec...

Last year, I wrote a feature explaining why China’s GDP numbers were cause for worry. At the time, the US-China trade war was just a possibility, and the English-language dialogue surrounding China was largely cautious about discussing the nation’s e...

China’s largest state-owned commercial banks—Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of China—have been increasing their market share in the Middle East. Also known as the “Big Four,” the...

The PLA will always be the Party’s army. China’s latest national defense white paper, released on July 24, highlights the imperative of adherence to the Party’s “absolute leadership” (绝对领导). Tellingly, the requirement that the PLA must “obey the Part...

[Yang Xiaodu, director of the National Supervision Commission, answers questions on the sidelines of the 19th Party Congress]

It has been over a year since the People’s Republic of China (PRC) passed the National Supervision Law, part of a major gover...

Depending on who you talk to, China’s economic engagement in developing countries could be construed as an absolute positive or an absolute negative. Proponents cast it as a “win-win” in which Chinese firms and government agencies respond to local de...

On January 17th, the Trump Administration released the long-anticipated Missile Defense Review, the first since 2010. The 2019 report marks a major departure in how Russia and China are portrayed vis-à-vis missile defense. The 2010 version of the rep...

China discredits American extradition treaties just as it expands them as a tool in its anti-corruption campaign.

[A Chinese suspect is extradited from Bulgaria to Beijing in 2018]

On 1 December of last year, Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Chinese tech giant...