China up close

Wang Huning, left, Xi Jinping and Wang Yi: the three key figures for Taiwan policy. (Nikkei montage/Getty Images/Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: Xi puts top brain in charge of Taiwan unification strategy

Wang Huning tasked with creating alternative to 'one country, two systems'

26 January 2023
Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma was, in effect, driven out of Ant Group, the financial company he spent his life building. The era of President Xi Jinping is drastically different from his predecessors'. (Nikkei montage/Reuters/Ken Kobayashi)
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Analysis: Jack Ma downfall spells end of China's golden age

Alibaba founder was blown off the scene like a cloud in the sky

19 January 2023
Senior citizens are dying at an unprecedented pace after President Xi Jinping's administration abandoned the zero-COVID policy. (Nikkei montage/Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: China's elderly pay ultimate price for COVID missteps

Senior citizens die at unprecedented pace, leaving families devastated

12 January 2023
Xi Jinping and Li Qiang are Nos. 1 and 2 in the Chinese Communist Party hierarchy, but Li is still learning how to pull the levers of power in Beijing. (Nikkei montage/Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: As COVID soars, China has 2 chains of command

Premier Li Keqiang and new No. 2 Li Qiang both have hands on the steering wheel

22 December 2022
Did the "white paper movement" force an authoritarian to make a concession, or give him an excuse to pivot away from an economic boondoggle? (Background photo touched up for security reasons. Nikkei montage/Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: China's female protesters break nation free from zero-COVID

Xi snubbed women in leadership shuffle but pent-up frustration may boomerang

15 December 2022
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and former President Jiang Zemin had different approaches to the economy. (Nikkei montage/Getty Images/CCTV/AP)
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Analysis: Jiang Zemin was almost fired before embarking on market reforms

The drastic turnaround that put China on a growth surge has lessons for Xi

8 December 2022
President Xi Jinping is facing the most widespread popular discontent seen in China since 1989 because of the war on COVID-19 he has spearheaded and the extreme lockdown measures he has enforced across the country. (Nikkei montage/Reuters)
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Analysis: Quash the 'white paper' -- Xi's Chinese dream turns into nightmare

Weekend unrest possible ahead of International Human Rights Day

1 December 2022
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Most read in 2022

Analysis: Xi no longer described as 'people's leader' in China

Leader tries smile diplomacy, but public scolding of Canada PM ruins image

24 November 2022
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden are not the friends they once thought they were. (Nikkei montage/AP/Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: Xi Jinping's path to greater power goes through Taiwan

Chinese president does not show Joe Biden his 'leader for life' road map

17 November 2022
Xi Jinping's recent moves to tie big internet companies to state-run telcos seem to echo the strategies of Mao Zedong. (Nikkei montage/Yusuke Hinata/AP)
China up close

Analysis: Xi puts economy on war footing with Taiwan in mind

Lessons from Russia: Tighten grip on communications, social media and deliveries

10 November 2022
Clockwise from bottom-left: Jiang Zemin, Song Ping, Zeng Qinghong and Hu Jintao "used their last bit of strength" to keep Xi Jinping from giving himself even more power. (Nikkei montage/Kyodo/Yusuke Hinata)
3 November 2022
Former President Hu Jintao, left, leaves his seat next to his successor, Xi Jinping, during the closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 22. (Photo by Yusuke Hinata)
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Analysis: Was Hu Jintao about to express discontent?

Chinese palace drama spills out in front of cameras at party congress

27 October 2022
Chinese President Xi Jinping chose Oct. 16, the day China successfully conducted its first nuclear test in 1964, to open the Chinese Communist Party's 20th National Congress. (Nikkei montage/Xinhua/AP/Getty Images)
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Analysis: Xi's coronation ceremony opens on date of China's first atom bomb

Leader talks up Taiwan 'mission' as he makes play for third term amid economic downturn

20 October 2022
Former President Hu Jintao, left, Vice Premier Hu Chunhua and President Xi Jinping will be jostling for influence at the upcoming national congress. (Source photos by Reuters and Ken Kobayashi)
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Analysis: 'Little Hu' has chance to be premier but not Xi's successor

Hu Chunhua likely to be surrounded by president's allies if promoted

13 October 2022
How will President Xi Jinping, center, handle the two Lis, Premier Li Keqiang, left, and Shanghai party chief Li Qiang? (Nikkei montage/Kyodo/Reuters/Getty Images)
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Analysis: China's power struggles were ferocious in 1972 and remain so today

Normalization with Japan was risky for all the players involved

6 October 2022
Xi Jinping's aged foe is Song Ping, right, who 19 years ago took on Jiang Zemin. (Nikkei montage/Kyodo/Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: 105-year-old party elder sends blunt message to Xi

Reform and opening up is the only path for China, Song Ping says

29 September 2022
Chinese President Xi Jinping was able to maneuver Vladimir Putin into publicly acknowledging China's "questions and concern" about Russia's war in Ukraine. (Source photos by Reuters)
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Analysis: Xi's new diplomacy keeps Putin's war at arm's length

China reaches out to Kazakhstan, as Central Asian country sours with Moscow

22 September 2022
Xi Jinping's upcoming Central Asia victory lap might be designed to distract from his administration's muddy economic policy. (Source photos by Akira Kodaka and Xinhua/Kyodo)
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Analysis: Xi prepares to wave magic wand for more power

Upcoming changes to party constitution will be precursor to bigger changes next spring

15 September 2022
"The Yellow River and Yangtze River will not flow backward," Premier Li Keqiang, right, recently said, in a possible dig at President Xi Jinping's economic policies. (Nikkei montage/Getty Images/Reuters)
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Analysis: In cryptic lingo, Premier Li says rivers only flow forward

Emphasis on reform and opening-up puts brakes on Xi's economic policies

8 September 2022
Will Wang Yang become China's next premier and thus be allowed to try to stem the economic downturn? That's up to Xi Jinping. (Nikkei montage/Taro Yokosawa/Getty Images)
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Analysis: Next premier must save the economy. Is Wang Yang the one?

China's current No. 4 has the right bio but isn't too mainstream

1 September 2022
Chinese President Xi Jinping had an option to avoid firing missiles into Japan's EEZ but instead tried to rattle Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. (Nikkei montage/AP/Reuters)
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Analysis: Xi ditched milder options in sending missiles toward Japan

Military had prepared last-minute alternatives that avoided controversy

25 August 2022
Every time Chinese President Xi Jinping goes tough on Taiwan, it ironically helps Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in elections. (Nikkei montage/Getty Images/Xinhua/Kyodo)
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Analysis: China targets Taiwan, Okinawa in Pelosi damage control

Xi's dangerous game of chicken risks triggering larger conflict

11 August 2022
Xi Jinping might maintain the countermeasures he took after Nancy Pelosi met with Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei to deter other international dignitaries from making similar trips. (Source photos by AP)
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Analysis: Pelosi's Taiwan visit is Xi's final exam to stay top leader

President under pressure to prove he can manage U.S. relations like predecessors

4 August 2022
Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo in Beijing this week, ending the capital's diplomatic lockdown. (Nikkei montage/Reuters/Getty Images)
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Analysis: Xi opens Beijing's heavy gates to receive Jokowi

President sees window for diplomatic offensive in November at G-20

28 July 2022
Clockwise from top-left: Wang Yi, Ding Xuexiang, Wang Xiaohong and Pan Yue. These members of Xi Jinping's travel entourages appear to be on the cusp of big promotions. (Nikkei montage/Kyodo/Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: Xi's entourage to Hong Kong, Xinjiang likely core of new team

The select officials who joined the leader on recent trips are set for promotions

21 July 2022