This Month
Xi Jinping’s most trusted confidante has a new job: Winning Taiwan
He was fascinated by democracy as a student but Wang Huning has been the definition of a party insider for the past three decades.
- Chris Buckley
- Opinion
- National security
James Curran is wrong: ASPI is and will remain independent
Commentators are free to criticise research institutes critical of China but should focus on evidence, not innuendo.
- Euan Graham
December 2024
- Updated
- Royal family
‘Chinese spy’ linked to Prince Andrew denies allegations
Businessman Yang Tengbo was described as the Duke of York’s “close confidant” and was banned from entering Britain on security grounds.
- Updated
- Sam Tobin and Michael Holden
- Analysis
- China’s Great Slowdown
China’s ‘bazooka’ stimulus will have to wait - again
Beijing says “vigorous” efforts to boost domestic consumption are the country’s top economic priority, but details are once again lacking.
- Updated
- Jessica Sier
The four charts that show what’s wrong with China’s economy
Key indicators reveal the challenges facing Chinese policymakers as they gather to deal with the task of balancing short-term stimulus with longer-term reforms.
- Updated
- Jessica Sier
November 2024
Trump win puts global corporate tax deal ‘in peril’
Experts believe that countries will now be unlikely to apply rules over fears of retaliation from Trump-led administration.
- Emma Agyemang and Paola Tamma
October 2024
Xi Jinping tightens stranglehold on China’s academia
Scholars have been fired or ‘disappeared’ as Beijing clamps down on discussion of sensitive topics, including the economy.
- Joe Leahy, Sun Yu and Kana Inagaki
August 2024
- Exclusive
- Art
How the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is tearing itself apart
War erupted on the board of one of Australia’s most prestigious arts institutions long before the public upheavals over a pianist’s remarks about Gaza.
- Myriam Robin, Michael Bailey and Patrick Durkin
- Opinion
- US election
What does China make of America’s topsy-turvy election?
Beijing will have trouble working out whether a hard or soft approach to a new US administration will work best.
- Ian Bremmer
‘You don’t embarrass the New Yorker in Trump’ says military adviser
Chris Miller, a former acting secretary of defence and Project 2025 contributor, says the AUKUS military alliance will be fine if Donald Trump wins the election, but Vladimir Putin could be in a jam.
- Kevin Chinnery
July 2024
China’s consumer price growth weakens ahead of key summit
Factory deflation eases but Beijing’s reliance on exports and industrial output is stoking trade tensions.
- Ryan McMorrow
June 2024
China charges defence ministers in military anti-graft purge
The two generals were accused of taking huge bribes and of corruption that reached into the armaments sector, as China hinted that more heads could roll.
- Chris Buckley
Australia criticises China for sea skirmish in sign tensions remain
Improved communications between the Australian and Chinese militaries will not reduce the likelihood of potentially dangerous confrontations, experts warn.
- Updated
- Andrew Tillett
- Analysis
- China’s Great Slowdown
Why won’t Xi Jinping fix China’s dreadful economy?
Explanations for Beijing’s refusal to work on deep-seated problems include denial, ignorance and ideology.
- Scott Kennedy
May 2024
China’s curse is to raise hopes and dash them
In her book “Wild Ride”, an American journalist details her life in China as it opened to the world, then regressed back to an oppressive, inward-looking regime.
- Anne Stevenson-Yang
‘We don’t know the truth’, says senior CIA officer
Beth Sanner was Donald Trump’s daily intelligence briefer for two years. Few people know the boundaries between secrecy and democracy so well.
- Kevin Chinnery
April 2024
Tesla clears key regulatory hurdles for self-driving in China
CEO Elon Musk’s surprise visit to the US vehicle maker’s second-largest market appears to have paid off.
- Daniel Leussink and Liam Mo
Why China’s spies are being caught all over Europe
A flurry of arrests this week reflect the continent’s newly toughened response to Beijing’s espionage activities and political meddling.
- Andrew Higgins and Christopher F. Schuetze
- Opinion
- Trade wars
Biden’s trade action against China is just polite Trumpism
Improved relations between the two powers can’t mask age-old trade tensions. Better communication is important because the structural problem between them is insoluble.
- Edward Luce
- Exclusive
- Social media
TikTok referred to anti-money laundering authorities
The app’s gifting function, usually used to reward engaging streamers, had directed cash to terror-linked accounts.
- Nick Bonyhady