China up close

By putting China on its own party-first socialist path, President Xi Jinping has also steered onto a collision course with his G-7 counterparts. (Source photos by Reuters) 
China up close

Analysis: G-7 and the Chinese Communist Party have no chemistry

Xi's centenary speech likely to portray a rising power at odds with democracy

17 June 2021
Xi Jinping would like to portray a gentler China to the global community but appears to only listen to an academic whose articles "smack of a wolf warrior."
China up close

Analysis: Xi's 'lovable' China is wolf in sheep's clothing

Beijing eager to propagate own governance style, but world has no appetite

10 June 2021
Recent internet articles in China allege the 1999 NATO bombing of Beijing's embassy in Yugoslavia was intentional, claiming that the embassy secretly housed the remains of an American F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter shot down in the region weeks earlier.
China up close

Analysis: Mystery of 1999 US stealth jet shootdown returns with twist

China embassy was bombed to destroy F-117's remains, recent articles say

3 June 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping is in no mood to admit to policy failure. (Source photos by AFP/Jiji and Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: China loses Europe as Xi's hard-line diplomacy backfires

A much-touted investment deal with the EU is now in deep freeze

27 May 2021
President Xi's slow but steady political alterations are about to change the lives of China's other top leaders. The party general secretary and multiple aides observe the wheat crop in Henan Province on May 13.
China up close

Analysis: Xi prepares to skip over Little Hu's '6th generation'

Promising politicians in and outside president's camp will not make it to the top

20 May 2021
Xi Jinping's hard-line stance on foreign policy stands in stark contrast to that of Deng Xiaoping. (Source photos by Ken Kobayshi and Reuters) 
China up close

Analysis: China's 'wolf warriors' take aim at G-7

Xi's tough foreign policy resonates with younger generation

13 May 2021
The administration of President Xi Jinping blocked mainlanders from reading an essay written by former Premier Wen Jiabao about his mother. Why? (Nikkei montage/Getty Images)
29 April 2021
Joe Biden delivered a shock to Xi Jinping by proposing a bilateral summit -- with Vladimir Putin. (Nikkei montage/AP)
China up close

Analysis: Biden's call to Putin puts Xi on the defensive

China puzzles over US-Russia summit, seeing fates of Taiwan and Crimea linked

23 April 2021
President Xi Jinping is bringing the tactics he used in his signature anti-corruption campaign to private companies like Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma. (Source photos by Reuters and Getty Images)
China up close

Analysis: Why is Beijing hounding Jack Ma and Alibaba again?

Wielding of newly created rules to penalize e-tailer hints at political motive

15 April 2021
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, buttonholed Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi, left, ahead of the Suga-Biden summit later this month. (Source photos by Reuters and Getty Images)
China up close

Analysis: Wang has message for Japan -- 'Taiwan, Taiwan, Taiwan'

In 90-minute call, Chinese diplomat draws red line ahead of Suga-Biden summit

8 April 2021
A confident Chinese public now sees Beijing approach the U.S. on equal footing.
China up close

Analysis: China never forgot night the US bombed its Belgrade embassy

H&M boycott and Beijing diplomacy tour show country's new ability to punch back

1 April 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to hold a summit with U.S. counterpart Joe Biden before the July 1 centennial of China's Communist Party, but a swift diplomatic campaign by the new American administration has pushed Beijing onto the back foot. (Source photos by Reuters and Getty Images) 
China up close

Analysis: China's push for early Xi trip to US loses steam

Biden team's tough tone leaves Beijing hesitant on strategy

25 March 2021
Thursday's meeting in Alaska will bring together, from left, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, top diplomat Yang Jiechi, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Beijing looks to portray the meeting as a strategic dialogue reducing tensions between the two countries. (Source photos by AP, Getty Images and Reuters) 
China up close

Analysis: China stages its own '2-plus-2' with US in frigid Alaska

Beijing wants to stem image of an international anti-Sino coalition forming

18 March 2021
President Xi Jinping drinks tea -- and perhaps sends a message -- at the opening session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 5.
China up close

Analysis: Xi Jinping's two cups signal there's plenty of hot tea left

With play on 'cold tea' idiom, president signals that retirement is nowhere in sight

11 March 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. Taiwan reunification could be a policy goal Xi floats to win support for staying China's leader for life. (Source photos by AP, Getty Images and Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: China firms up plan for 2035 road and railway to Taiwan

Audacious blueprint hints at Xi Jinping's determination to change status quo

4 March 2021
The Chinese Communist Party will hold its next national congress late in 2022, and already there is speculation about whether Xi Jinping will use the occasion to restore the title of chairman, which last belonged to Mao Zedong. (Source photos by Kyodo and Getty Images) 
China up close

Analysis: Xi demands loyalty from powerful 'second-generation reds'

Leadership praises former premier Hua Guofeng as model party member

25 February 2021
One could say that Joe Biden's Chinese New Year's greeting to Xi Jinping was also sent to the people of Taiwan. (Source photos by AP and Getty Images) 
China up close

Analysis: Biden gives Xi a New Year's gift -- time

But coded congratulatory message keeps Beijing guessing

18 February 2021
At right, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands in 2019. China believes its push to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership hinges on gaining support from New Zealand. At left, the foreign and defense ministers of Japan and the U.K. hold a videoconference on Feb. 3. Beijing fears a new Anglo-Japanese alliance focused on containing China. (Source photos by Reuters) 
China up close

Analysis: A new Anglo-Japanese alliance threatens China's TPP plans

As London eyes entry into Quad, Beijing looks to New Zealand for opening

11 February 2021
Now that Xi Jinping has taken control of China's military, armed police and Coast Guard, the question is: What approach will his regime take in international relations?
China up close

Analysis: Xi takes over Coast Guard and gives it a license to fire

President's consolidation of power at home will be felt in the East China Sea

4 February 2021
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden are already at odds over Taiwan, with China showing its ability to cut off one of Taiwan's far-flung islands. (Source photos by AP, Reuters and Kyodo) 
China up close

Analysis: China tests Biden on Taiwan, with eye on another island

South China Sea's Pratas becomes latest front in the Beijing-Washington battle

28 January 2021
Security forces stand guard at the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan in April 2020. As the virus resurfaces, local government officials across China are growing nervous. 
China up close

Analysis: Beijing scolds local governments for COVID 'war' footing

'Don't cry wolf,' Beijing warns as virus threatens parliamentary session

21 January 2021
This photo holds the key to understanding why for nearly a year China has refused to accept a full-scale field investigation into the origins of COVID-19. Chinese President Xi Jinping is surrounded by boys and girls from the Wa ethnic minority in Yunnan Province on Jan. 19, 2020.
China up close

Analysis: Photo in Xi's office holds secret to COVID probe resistance

China's leader was absent from Beijing in the initial days of the pandemic

14 January 2021
Xi Jinping had to move quickly -- while Angela Merkel still held the presidency of the Council of the EU and before Joe Biden's inauguration -- to drive his wedge between Europe and the U.S. (Source photo by Reuters) 
China up close

Analysis: China splits Atlantic with game-changing EU investment deal

Borrowing from an ancient divide and conquer strategy, Beijing one-ups Biden

7 January 2021
President Xi Jinping is touting that China has become "the only major economy with positive growth this year." (Nikkei montage/Getty Images/Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: Deleted words from Xi's economic policy speak volumes

Need to portray 'success' at party anniversary will be powder keg with world

24 December 2020
Alibaba, its founder Jack Ma, and Chinese tech companies seem to have amassed too much influence for the Communist Party's liking. (Nikkei montage/Reuters and Getty Images)
China up close

Analysis: Xi sees Alibaba and Tencent as rising threats to power

Politburo goes on crusade against 'disorderly expansion of capital'

17 December 2020