China up close

Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects troops at the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison on June 30, 2017. The troops notably addressed him as "chairman" and not the standard term "commander." 
China up close

Analysis: Xi floats 2027 as new milestone year

Celebration of army's 100th birthday likely a precursor of bigger things ahead

10 December 2020
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, appears jovial as he meets with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who betrays no hint of a smile under his mask. (Source photos by Uichiro Kasai and Kyodo) 
China up close

Analysis: China pressures Japan at sea with Biden on horizon

Beijing stirs pot over Senkaku Islands, blaming incursions on Japan fishing boats

3 December 2020
When Xi visited the U.S. in June 2013, he made a proposal to then-President Obama that tried to counter the TPP exclusion. (Source phots by AP and Getty Images) 
China up close

Analysis: Xi Jinping's embrace of TPP is 8-year revenge on Obama

Snubbed over 'great power relationship,' China ready to turn the tables

26 November 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President-elect Joe Biden hosted each other on mutual visits as vice presidents, trying to establish a personal relationship early on. Will the efforts bear fruit? (Source photos by AP, Reuters and AFP/Jiji
China up close

Analysis: Biden's old friend Xi is not the man he once was

The two go back nine years, but China's rise has complicated the relationship

12 November 2020
Perhaps Xi Jinping's code is no mystery at all: Political power grows out of the barrel of a U.S.-beating economy. (Nikkei montage/source photos by Getty Images and Ken Kobayashi)
China up close

Analysis: Cracking China's Da Vinci Code 2035

Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping connected by mysterious set of numbers

29 October 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, has not said anything publicly about Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's meeting with Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. (Source photos by EPA/Jiji and AFP/Jiji)
China up close

Analysis: Silence in Beijing as Suga builds anti-China coalition

Xi Jinping visit to Japan remains key goal deterred by bilateral and geopolitics

22 October 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses a local crowd in Chaozhou, Guangdong Province on Oct.12. (Xinhua via Kyodo)
China up close

Analysis: Xi Jinping pays homage to father with Shenzhen visit

Twice-sidelined Xi Zhongxun taught China's current leader the price of defeat

15 October 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping has entrusted his nearly lifelong friend Wang Qishan, 72, with his most important missions. But that may be changing. (Source photos by Reuters) 
China up close

Analysis: Whither Wang Qishan? All eyes on Xi's right-hand man

China's 'October surprise' presages a tectonic shift in party's power structure

8 October 2020
Leaders of the Quad from left: U.S. President Donald Trump, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. (Source photos by Reuters)
China up close

Analysis: With eye on 'Quad,' China steps up Japan courtship

Xi's 'dual-circulation' economic model needs a stable supply chain with neighbor

1 October 2020
Japanese soldiers dispatched to French Indochina in 1941 wait at an undisclosed location before moving forward.
China up close

Analysis: China's wolf warrior overreach draws comparison to Imperial Japan

Making enemies on all sides goes against ancient diplomatic textbook, scholars warn

17 September 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping, front center, last week took aim at the U.S. while commemorating the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
China up close

Analysis: Five things Xi pledged never to allow the US to do

President switches message on anti-Japan day to slam Washington

10 September 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping has delivered a message to "two-faced people:" Those who officially pretend to obey him but secretly resist will be removed.
China up close

China officials run for cover as Xi Jinping prepares another brutal purge

Rival Youth League sends coded messages to prepare for the coming storm

3 September 2020
Yu the Great became a legendary ruler in China for his introduction of flood control. Will President Xi Jinping be credited for harnessing the floods of 2020? (Nikkei Montage/Source photos by AP and Getty Images) 
China up close

China portrays 'Xi the Great,' tamer of floods

President shows who's boss, while premier is sidelined in the mud

27 August 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping vanished from state media for more than half a month. Was he at the seaside resort of Beidaihe? There have been no clues. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by AP and Reuters) 
China up close

China's stealthy conclave adds to annual guessing game

Did Xi Jinping host summer gathering in Beidaihe? Mystery thickens

20 August 2020
Xi Jinping and Tsai Ing-wen have been on the opposite side of an existential argument since it was first posed by Lee Teng-hui more than 20 years ago. (Nikkei montage/source photos by AP/Reuters/Getty Images) 
China up close

Xi Jinping's red line on Taiwan goes back to Lee Teng-hui

Chinese leader now confronts 'two states' protege in popular Tsai Ing-wen

13 August 2020
Former Chinese leader Mao Zedong ruled until his death at 82. Many think President Xi Jinping is eyeing the possibility of staying in office until 2035, when he too will be 82-years-old. (Nikkei montage/AP/Reuters/Getty Images) 
China up close

Xi Jinping sends shock waves with his 2035 manifesto

A coded news release signals the president's intent to be 'leader for life'

6 August 2020
The one policy Chinese President Xi Jinping has stuck to ferociously during his tenure is to strengthen the rule of the Communist Party so as to avoid the fate of Mikhail Gorbachev and the Soviet Union. (Nikkei Montage/Source photo by AP) 
China up close

Xi's Gorbachev obsession put China on a Soviet path

Efforts to strengthen Communist Party rule has only backfired

30 July 2020
Giving Chinese President Xi Jinping the red carpet treatment in Tokyo could have been risky for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Nikkei Montage/Ken Kobayashi/Karina Nooka/Reuters/EPA/Jiji) 
China up close

How Xi Jinping almost spoiled the Tokyo Olympics

Japan would have given red carpet treatment despite Hong Kong law

23 July 2020
Chinese Communist Party elders no longer cause President Xi Jinping as much anxiety as they once did, though they can still criticize him for a few days every summer. (Nikkei Montage/Source photos by AFP/Jiji and AP) 
China up close

Will China's secretive conclave be held this summer?

'Beidaihe' is the one assembly that poses a risk to Xi Jinping's rule

16 July 2020
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China up close

China talks of US decoupling and a divided world

Former official urges citizens to prepare for the worst-case scenario

9 July 2020
Some 36 years ago a woman who would come to be known as Hong Kong's "Iron Lady" gave Margaret Thatcher a test on morals. (Nikkei Montage/AP/Reuters/Jiji/AFP)
China up close

Hong Kong Iron Lady's nightmare scenario comes true

In a 1984 news conference, Margaret Thatcher shot down Emily Lau's concerns

2 July 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, has stayed relatively quiet about the June border skirmish. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the country is "capable of giving an appropriate response," if instigated. (Nikkei Montage/AP/Reuters) 
China up close

Xi takes China back 40 years with India scuffle

Willingness to engage in combat signals break from peaceful rise

25 June 2020
Xi Jinping's portrait on display at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. Is he a modern-day Marx? (Nikkei montage/Getty Images/Ken Kobayashi)
China up close

Xi's birthday gift of Marxist deification leaves a lot to unwrap

Campaign to put Chinese president on par with revolutionary socialist has begun

18 June 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Premier Li Keqiang have been rivals since they both were candidates for the top job years ago.(Nikkei Montage/Reuters/Kyodo)
China up close

China's street-stall debate puts Xi and Li at odds

Premier's attempt to revive vendors is immediately shot down by president's henchmen

11 June 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping's stance toward Hong Kong lacks the pragmatism of late leader Deng Xiaoping's. (Nikkei Montage/Source photo by AFP/Jiji. Getty Images and Kosaku Mimura) 
China up close

China again moves to quash a rebellion, 31 years after Tiananmen

But Xi's high-handed measures on Hong Kong lack Deng Xiaoping's pragmatism

4 June 2020