Author Archives: Bigdragon

Unrest in Xinjiang

The Times reports that 17 people were killed by rioters in Lukqun, Xinjiang Province, before police opened fie on the rioters and shot ten of them dead. The notion of China as a nation state is a very recent – … Continue reading

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New leader hints at foreign policy apporach

The Times reports on the first publicised speech of China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, on foreign policy. The Times article is titled’ “Xi strikes strident note on foreign policy” although the report itself simply reports on Xi Jnpings assertion that … Continue reading

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New leadership in China

China has new leaders. That’s not to say that the old ones have completely disappeared. There’s lots of commentary and news coverage on the subject, and I don’t want to simply regurgitate that material. Rather a simple point of observation, … Continue reading

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China’s soft power

China’s soft power is arguably weak, at least if you are to listen to voices within China. Recently the press in China have asking why China can’t produce a global hit as Korea has done in PSY’s Gangnam Style. The … Continue reading

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Scapegoating China

China features highly in the US elections, with neither Republican nor Democrats wanting to be seen to be soft on “Red China”. The evils of China range from spy networks, cyber crimes and stealing American jobs to trade deficits, undervalued … Continue reading

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Caught in the middle

The US Congress has deemed that the two Chinese telecoms companies, Huawei and ZTE pose a security threat to the US, and recommended that the two companies should not be allowed to take part in any US mergers or acquisitions. … Continue reading

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Bo Xilai – understanding the process

In understanding the Bo Xilai case we need to first understand why the case is so important in China. Mr Bo was one of Chinas top ranking members of government, poised to take a seat on the all powerful Politburo … Continue reading

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Hate Crimes

It’s the start of a new academic year for Universities across The UK. British Universities rank among some of the finest in the world, and not surprisingly attract many students from China – indeed, Chinese students are by far the … Continue reading

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Anti Japanese protests

Back in 1998 Emperor Akihito of Japan made a state visit to Britain. As the BBC reported, the trip was marred in protests: PoWs [Prisoners of War] symbolically turned their backs on Emperor Akihito as he was taken by the … Continue reading

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The rise of the Renminbi

China continues to make steps in its liberalization of the Renminbi. Currently about 9% of China’s trade is conducted in Renminbi, and this is undoubtedly going to continue to increase. Not only does China want to reduce its reliance upon … Continue reading

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