China up close

How firm is Chinese President Xi Jinping's grip over the country? His rejection of predecessors Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao is drawing pushback. (Source photo by Ken Kobayashi)
China up close

Analysis: When China's leading paper ignores Xi, all bets are off

Commentary piece extols Deng Xiaoping and successors but not Mao Zedong

23 December 2021
President Xi Jinping has long worried about rising home prices in China. (Nikkei montage/Reuters/Getty Images)
China up close

Analysis: Xi plays with dynamite reviving Bo Xilai's housing policy

President struggles to find economic model that makes 'common prosperity' work

16 December 2021
Tennis star Peng Shuai's allegations against former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli are putting President Xi Jinping's "zero tolerance" anti-corruption campaign to the test. (Nikkei montage/AP/Getty Images/Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: Peng Shuai scandal mismanagement triggers Olympic boycotts

Xi caught in dilemma over how to deal with former party heavyweight Zhang Gaoli

9 December 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping won some handsome political dividends from his virtual summit with U.S. President Joe Biden. (Nikkei montage/AP)
2 December 2021
Xi Jinping is halfway to his goal of overtaking Deng Xiaoping, a leader who clashed with Xi's father and gained veneration for enriching China. (Nikkei montage/Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: Xi's need to overtake Deng poses big risk for Taiwan

Unification would cement his legacy. Does he have a timeline?

18 November 2021
While Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares to extend his reign, he is moving to replace a symbol of friendship between his country and Japan. (Nikkei montage/CNS/Kyodo/Getty Images)
China up close

Analysis: Xi's favorite Zen master holds key to Japan rapprochement

17th-century monk traveled to Edo. Now his statue may be coming home

11 November 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping is signaling compromise to a rival political faction as well as to the business world. (Source photos by AP and AFP/Jiji) 
China up close

Analysis: Xi's 'common prosperity' puts cake debate back in oven

As economy slumps, Chinese leaders ask if recipe is right

4 November 2021
Xi Jinping is betting that he can start reforming China's property market now and be able to chalk it up as an achievement at next year's party national congress. (Source photos by AP and Reuters) 
China up close

Analysis: Xi's new tax threatens China's invincible housing market

Only those who understood politics knew they had to sell

28 October 2021
Who will lead China in 2035, when current President Xi Jinping says substantive progress toward correcting the country's income disparity will have been made? (Nikkei montage/Reuters/AP)
China up close

Analysis: Xi Jinping's plan to rule for life is coming together

Third historical resolution and 2035 'common prosperity' target outline path forward

21 October 2021
Former Justice Minister Fu Zhenghua, left, has been placed under investigation as President Xi Jinping's team campaigns against "two-faced pretenders." (Source photo by Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: The man who knew too much of Xi's power plays is out

Ex-minister Fu Zhenghua was the engine behind president's anti-corruption drive

14 October 2021
Xi Jinping and China forced Tsai Ing-wen and Taiwan to play catch-up with a sooner-than-expected application to join a trade bloc currently being presided over by Japan. (Nikkei montage/AP/Wataru Ito/Presidential Office of Taiwan)
China up close

Analysis: China and Taiwan bids catch CPTPP chair Japan off guard

Distracted by race to replace prime minister, Tokyo took its eye off the ball

30 September 2021
Xi Jinping has found a new tool to help him gain leverage at the expense of the U.S. and Taiwan, the 11-member trade bloc known as the CPTPP. (Nikkei montage/Getty Images/Wataru Ito)
China up close

Analysis: China's TPP bid follows carefully scripted 300-day plan

Beijing's move aims to thwart possible U.S. return to pact, pressure Taiwan

23 September 2021
Will there be a first in-person summit between Xi and Biden in the near future? (Source photos by AP, Reuters and Xinhua/Kyodo) 
China up close

Analysis: Wolf warriors fall silent as Xi ponders U.S. strategy

Biden wants summit but Chinese leader remains reluctant to leave Beijing

16 September 2021
Xi Jinping is warning young party officials to "never tremble in the face of danger and never be spineless cowards."
China up close

Analysis: Xi's China floats dangerous trial balloon of 'revolution'

President's new 'common prosperity' slogan puts some Chinese on edge

9 September 2021
Huaibei Normal University students watch Xi Jinping speaking at the party's 19th National Congress in 2017. The president is maneuvering so Chinese will feel the president's era should continue for a while.
China up close

Analysis: A footnote on Cultural Revolution hints at Xi headwinds

President paints school text books in own color, but intra-party tug-of-war continues

2 September 2021
By putting one of his faction's "insiders" under investigation, Xi Jinping is demonstrating how seriously he takes China's return to socialism. (Source photos by Reuters and Getty Images) 
China up close

Analysis: Xi's leftward shift to a socialist China is for real

Purge of ally in power base Zhejiang Province sends shudders across country

26 August 2021
Amid the rehabilitation of Mao Zedong, TV shows hold up Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, as examples to be emulated. (Source photos by Reuters and CCTV/Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: China begins sending signals that Xi should stay

Emphasis on '2021-2025' plans suggest that 2022 isn't the best time for change

19 August 2021
Karl Marx once called religion "the opiate of the masses." Now Chinese leaders think of video games in the same terms. (Source photos by Kyodo, Reuters and Getty Images) 
China up close

Analysis: Xi aims to mobilize the masses with populist crackdowns

Demonizing of tutor industry and games has hints of Cultural Revolution

12 August 2021
Back in 1964, just before the first Tokyo Olympics, Mao Zedong came out in support of Japan over its territorial dispute with the Soviet Union. Now Xi Jinping sees few benefits to siding with Tokyo. (Source photos by AP, Reuters and Kyodo) 
China up close

Analysis: Like '64, China enters Japan-Russia row at Tokyo Games

Beijing signals subtle shift away from Mao's policy on territorial dispute

5 August 2021
China continued its "wolf warrior" diplomacy toward the U.S. as Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, background left, met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other senior officials July 26 in Tianjin. China claims that Americans cite the Pearl Harbor attack and Sputnik launch to portray Beijing as an enemy. (Source photos by Reuters and Getty Images)
China up close

Analysis: China engages in fierce propaganda war during Sherman visit

Using online media, Beijing shapes the narrative while the meeting was ongoing

29 July 2021
The 1972 meeting between Mao Zedong and U.S. President Richard Nixon kicked off the process for normalizing relations between the U.S. and China and reshaped global politics. (Source photos by AP and Xinhua/Kyodo)
China up close

Analysis: Nixon visit anniversary will be a watershed moment

Will Xi commemorate the groundbreaking visit next February?

22 July 2021
Xi Jinping's crackdown on "illegal securities activities" has even stoked distrust on Wall Street, traditionally filled with China optimists. (Nikkei montage/Reuters/Xinhua/Kyodo)
China up close

Analysis: Xi's capital market crackdown has a 2022 timeline

With his term extension on the line, leader hurries to control tech giants

15 July 2021
Xi Jinping wore a gray Mao suit to make sure he would stand out on the dais while celebrating the Chinese Communist Party's centennial on July 1.
China up close

Analysis: Xi becomes 'Mao' in Tiananmen visual effect

Chinese leader uses 100th anniversary ceremony to try the chairman look

8 July 2021
Apple Daily mourners will be in no mood to celebrate the centennial of the Chinese Communist Party along with President Xi Jinping.
China up close

Analysis: On party's centennial, China drifts further from world

The media crackdown, based solely on domestic concerns, will one day backfire

1 July 2021
Xi Jinping, who watched his father lose power struggles by clinging to integrity, decided long ago to deal himself a better hand. (Source photos by Kyodo and Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: Xi looks up to father's integrity, but will choose a different path

Leader hoists 'common prosperity' flag in bid to counter Deng Xiaoping

24 June 2021