China up close

The second volume of Chinese President Xi Jinping's book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China", translated into multiple foreign languages, is on display at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Dec.1.
China up close

Communist China's third era: 2012 to 2035?

Xi hangs 'do not disturb' sign as he dreams of belts, roads and a strong military

4 December 2017
Chinese President Xi Jinping has surrounded himself with faithful 'commoners,' those who have been with him from his days in China's rural provinces.
China up close

Xi Jinping bids adieu to his fellow princelings

Obedience, not bloodline, is the currency that counts in the new team

27 November 2017
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping watch a traditional Beijing opera at a historic theater inside the former imperial palace in Beijing on Nov. 8.
Politics

Xi Jinping breaks taboo and enters the Forbidden City

Chinese leader may still be commander-in-chief in 2035, when he would be 82

20 November 2017
Emperor Akihito meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Nov. 6.
Politics

Xi Jinping's eyes were fixed on Trump's visit to emperor

Chinese leader may choose to visit Japan before the abdication

13 November 2017
Chinese President Xi Jinping walks to the lectern to deliver his speech during the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 18.
China up close

Xi Jinping just fired 75% of party veterans

Chinese president personally interviewed candidates, eliminating dissenters

8 November 2017
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, put a lot of power in his own hands during the recent national congress. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Politics

No successor needed: Xi Jinping's dream extends to 2035

China's factions align to enshrine leader's 'Thought'

1 November 2017
President Xi Jinping waves at the opening session of the Chinese Communist Party congress in Beijing on Oct. 18. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Politics

Xi Jinping and the end of collective leadership

'The gang of six corrupt arch-villains' now a warning to those who resist

23 October 2017
Chinese President Xi Jinping, seen here at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, will always derive his power from his anti-graft crusade.
Politics

Xi Jinping has more tigers, foxes and flies in his sights

With or without Wang, president's anti-graft purges to endure through 2022

16 October 2017
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a speech at a Tokyo hotel during a party hosted by the Chinese embassy on Sept. 28. (Photo by Maho Obata)
Politics

Japan and China send sweet words, for now

Beijing to watch Abe's election gamble before rapprochement

9 October 2017
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un claps during a celebration for nuclear scientists and engineers in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang.
Politics

North Korea's China bashing makes Trump look polite

Pyongyang reminds Beijing that it supported China's nuclear test in 1964

2 October 2017
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Politics

Xi silences once-powerful youth league and former president's protege

With bastion demolished, the 90-million-member organization rests hopes on Guangdong secretary

25 September 2017
People's Liberation Army naval soldiers stand inside a Chinese military vessel featuring a photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Politics

Xi clobbers dissent in final stretch to party congress

Ousts two generals close to predecessor, Wang Qishan back on center stage

18 September 2017
Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, and his wife, Peng Liyuan, greet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS banquet in Xiamen, China on Sept. 4.The couple married in Xiamen 30 years ago.
Politics

Xi's blueprint for 'G-2' stained by Kim Jong Un

North Korean nuclear test knocks 'major country diplomacy' off track

11 September 2017
Marathon runners run past the portrait of late leader Mao Zedong in Beijing's Tiananmen gate. The struggle for political survival has always been ferocious in China.
China up close

It's life-or-death for 'Mr. Qisan'

Big fish Wang Qishan has slipped into the dark ahead of the Oct. 18 Party Congress

4 September 2017
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives to hold a meeting with Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Karim Massimov at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in March 2015.
Politics

Was Korean Peninsula part of China? Xi and the Han dynasty game plan

Kim Jong Un's disobedience could lead to drastic change in Asia's geopolitical landscape

28 August 2017
State-run KCTV footage taken from a Pukguksong-2 missile launched by North Korea on May 21 shows Chinese territory.
Politics

Pyongyang missile footage is a dagger to Xi's throat

A coup plot, a wiretap and an execution have left blood allies with no trust

21 August 2017
Chinese President Xi Jinping reviews troops in Inner Mongolia on July 30. (Xinhua/Kyodo).
Politics

Xi flexes military muscle in quest to follow Mao

But a close aide is hit by 'friendly fire,' giving political foes more ammunition

8 August 2017
Billionaire Guo Wengui is seen in New York on April 30.
Politics

Most-wanted tycoon keeps Chinese leaders' ears burning

Popular TV series overlaps with real life as chess game for power escalates

1 August 2017
Sun Zhengcai, the former Communist Party chief in Chongqing, is seen during the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, in Beijing in March. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Politics

Xi tears up succession script with Chongqing shocker

Chinese president promotes yet another protege defying consensus candidates

24 July 2017
Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida on April 6.
Politics

Xi Jinping's empty North Korea promise pays off

100-day plan with Trump bought time to fight political battles at home

16 July 2017
Chinese President Xi Jinping reviews troops stationed in Hong Kong on June 30. (Photo by Nozomu Ogawa)
Politics

Xi tells his troops: 'Call me chairman'

By resurrecting Mao's old title, China's leader wants to show his rivals who's boss

10 July 2017
Xi Zhongxun, the late father of President Xi Jinping, maintained close ties to the Ye family throughout his life.
Politics

The kingmaker clan behind Xi Jinping

Some 2,000km south of Beijing, the Ye family pulls the levers of power

11 June 2017
Chinese President Xi Jinping (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Politics

China's Xi maneuvers to extend his reign

As 'core' leader, the president may try to break retirement rules

20 March 2017
A tribute to late Chinese supreme leader Deng Xiaoping in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province
Politics

Xi wants same status as Mao and Deng

President stays in spotlight even on 20th anniversary of Deng's death

24 February 2017
Billionaire Xiao Jianhua reads a book outside the International Finance Centre in Hong Kong in December 2013. He was apparently taken from a hotel room in the city by mainland Chinese police on Jan. 27.
Politics

Xi Jinping and the 'man who knew too much'

Billionaire's disappearance ups pressure on Chinese VIPs to choose sides

16 February 2017