Presented as a peaceful power for the past decade, China is now seen as a potential military aggressor by many. Amid the tug of economic and political interests, China keeps rising.
country: China
Stay updated with comprehensive news on China from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on Chinese politics, economic developments, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include Beijing, Shanghai, and events like the Chinese New Year.
Known as the “household registration” system, hukou has denied certain basic rights to millions who have migrated from rural to urban areas. This may be set to change radically.
An antitrust investigation by Beijing authorities into the U.S. software giant was many months in the making, and may signal the end to a two-decade relationship built on billion-dollar deals.
BEIJING — Eight days after the Osi Group meat scandal was exposed, the chief executive of the company’s U.S. headquarters finally spoke out. But the apology and the promise of reforming company regulations are so far not convincing enough for the Chinese customers who have been traumatized by the scandal. Chinese customers, who have long […]
BEIJING — What is holding back trade expansion with Southeast Asian countries? And why are they always turning to the U.S. whenever something happens? These two questions capture Chinese central concerns as voiced at the recent “China-ASEAN-East Asia: Cooperations and Challenges” forum, an event held by the think tank on China’s public policy Anbound Consulting. […]
BEIJING — Since Chinese President Xi Jinping took office at the end of 2012, at least 23 high-ranking local officials have been fired because of corruption. What is most striking — though not surprising — is the stark contrast of these officials’ images depicted in the media before and after their fall. Last month, for […]
Traffic is decidely outbound in a country whose medical practices and facilities can’t keep up with a multiplying affluent class. Still, there may be positive effects for all in the long run.
Animal rights activists have attacked an annual Dog Eating Feast, which asks the larger question over values in modern China.
–OpEd– Chinese philanthropist Chen Guangbiao recently staged yet another high-profile charity event, this time in the United States, by inviting “poor and destitute Americans” to lunch in New York’s Central Park and to accept a cash gift of $300 each. He seems to have three goals: to find and express his personal convictions, to push […]
BEIJING — Summer shopping included the hunt for a new pair of sandals, which was also an opportunity to take stock in where the Chinese shoe industry stands. In itself, it is not surprising to find a “cohabitation” of different quality from different brands in a single shopping center. It’s also natural that different brands […]
BEIJING — Obesity is a worldwide problem. The latest confirmation comes from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, which conducted a study in 188 countries that found one-third of the global adult population and one-fourth of all children are overweight or obese. That includes no fewer than 671 million […]
BEIJING — Three years after the epic battle in Transformers: Dark of Moon, it’s time for the Autobots and Decepticons to face off again for viewers around the world. There is particular attention in China, where the fourth installment, Transformers: Age of Extinction, has been chosen to be the closing feature at the Shanghai International […]
BEIJING — Wang Huning is on time, standing alone. The lean man, who looks as if he might be a university professor, doesn’t stand out in the lobby of the luxury hotel. He is waiting for the sign that it’s time for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s delegation to leave. The protocol officers who’ve come to […]
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China’s High-Speed Rail Diplomacy
Having rapidly become one of the world’s premier (and fastest) builders of high-speed rail, China is now looking to export its know-how around the world.
As China expands its anti-bribery crackdown, targeting ritzy gifts to officials, luxury brands are seeing drops in Chinese sales. The hope now is in the rising middle class moving up.
CHENGDU — It’s common practice in every country to confiscate property that criminals attained illegally. In China, criminal law stipulates three concrete measures: confiscation of the instruments of crime and contraband, recovery of illegal gains from criminals, and confiscation of the personal property of criminals who commit certain offenses. It’s worth recognizing that the law […]
-Commentary- BEIJING — Seeing a strategic opportunity to dilute the global monopoly of the three major credit rating agencies, China and Russia recently announced plans to establish a joint credit rating agency. The idea is that it would evaluate Sino-Russian cooperation projects, then eventually enter the international market. But there is a deep divide between […]
-Analysis- SHANGHAI — The evolution of megacities is a common worry in various countries: Beijing and Shanghai in China, Seoul in South Korea and Mumbai in India all are concerned about how to manage skyrocketing urban populations. But while other countries typically regard population expansion as the result of economic development, and base their future […]
BEIJING — Earlier this month, in the central Hunan province, the family of a cancer patient beat up the attending doctor and a pregnant nurse because they had been unable to save the patient’s life. The nurse nearly had a miscarriage afterwards, while the hospital ward facilities were badly damaged. On June 5, the Chinese […]
BEIJING — With President Barack Obama’s recent announcement that the United States will remove all military forces in Afghanistan by the end of 2016, American foreign policy is preparing to turn a page full of blood and tears. But this also may mark the beginning of another era: when China will play a prominent role […]
BEIJING — Three years after his imprisonment, still deprived of his passport and shut off in a bubble of official Chinese silence, Ai Weiwei, 57, neverthless appears ubiquitous everywhere else on the planet. The Martin-Gropius-Bau exhibition hall in Berlin devoted a huge retrospective entitled “Evidences” from April to July. His last documentary, Ai Weiwei’s Appeal […]
Credit cards, ratings agencies and currency supremacy are some of the battlegrounds where Beijing and Moscow are teaming up to take on the West.
More people would have access to health care, and there would be less waiting for doctors if public hospitals were divided and more private hospitals were created in China.
BEIJING — Recent acts of violence in China have prompted the country to step up its anti-terrorism measures, leading the Beijing government, for example, to give police more authority to use force to stop a terror attack. The capital’s public security bureau has given anti-terror units twice the normal amount of bullets, Beijing News reports. […]
A visit in southern China to a movement afoot to openly challenge the regime. It remains, 25 years after the Tiananmen Square protest was crushed, a risky affair.
BEIJING — It is not exaggerating to describe China’s automobile market as rolling into its “Golden Age.” According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers’ latest data, from January to April this year the passenger car market grew by 10% to 6.48 million cars. In comparison, for the first quarter of this year, the U.S. […]
BEIJING — With a generous chin and a rich voice, the German vice president of Wanda Hotels & Resorts also speaks fluent Chinese. Ilja Poepper is one of several top foreign managers of Wanda — a Chinese conglomerate with various interests, including commercial properties, entertainment and hotels — who were specially recruited over the past […]
BEIJING — Before 2000, public space in China dedicated exclusively to young people was basically non-existent. Rock-loving youngsters, for example, had nowhere to go except for a few small, dark bars. Woodstock represented an unattainable dream. But times have changed since then. First the Midi Music Festival, one of China’s largest rock music festivals, was […]
The Fujian Tulous, mysterious circular Chinese buildings, were named a World Heritage site in 2008. It has raised both investments and fears.
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The Emotional Republic Of China
Words and feeling and the party line. Leaning on Western studies of social psychology, the writer deconstructs how the powers that be have taught Chinese people how to feel.
It’s a business decision, above all.
Two full decades after its previous version was voted in, the country’s newly amended environmental protection was cited for its toughness. But the challenge is in the execution.
With the intention to stop the ‘corruption’ of the Chinese language, authorities in Beijing have been taking aim at everything from the NBA and MBAs, to iPhones and WiFi.
BEIJING — Ancient Chinese erotic drawings have been well-documented throughout history — in the Book of Han, for example, a classical Chinese history finished in 111 AD of the Han dynasty between 206 BC to 25 AD. Numerous well-respected classical artists have also been painters of erotic art. The most famous is Zhou Fang, the […]
China is set to supplant the US as Latin America’s preeminent outside economic power: it remains to be seen if that is a good thing.
Since insecticides have killed most bees in China’s Sichuan province, local farmers are forced to fertilize the flowers themselves. But the “bee-men” may now be a dying breed.
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The Fashion Education Of The Chinese Male
BEIJING — The other day I read Hou Hongbin’s article entitled, “Why are Chinese men so ugly?’ It harshly criticizes the generally unkempt appearance of Chinese men. I can’t help but admire the author’s mastery of words in describing Chinese men’s singular neglect of their looks. Naturally, it also left me feeling like crying for […]
A military pact between Manila and Washington sealed on Obama’s trip to Asia is giving Beijing the jitters.
SÂO PAULO — The Chinese government is already making its first plans to celebrate the centenary of two momentous events in the country’s history. Seven years from now, in 2021, the nation will mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Then in 2049, the country will celebrate the creation […]
BEIJING — In China, the core users of the professional social networking site LinkedIn are white-collar and managerial-level staff of large companies, particularly multinationals or joint ventures with foreign firms. Still, the network has a long way to go if it wants to recruit native Chinese. The users it can claim in China tend to […]