China Archives - Foreign Policy In Focus

Approaching Tibet

by John Feffer, Ross Gearllach | Apr 9, 2008

In western China, the low-grade civil war that has brewed for decades in Tibet has recently expanded. The upcoming 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising of 1959, combined with China’s Olympic games this summer, have created an environment that Tibetan separatists believe to be especially conducive to achieving their goals. The emotional power of the date and the chance to act while China is incapable of closing itself off due to the presence of foreign journalists have emboldened activists both within and outside Tibet. As a result, the protests now threaten to erupt into a full-scale rebellion that could create widespread violence across the four provinces with large populations of ethnic Tibetans.

Tibet’s Dangerous Game

by John Feffer, Van Jackson | Apr 8, 2008

China take heed: a new generation of Tibetan youth is coming of age and these young people have little interest in playing by the rules of the game to which you are accustomed. As protests evolved into riots and riots turned into violence over the last several weeks in Tibet, it became increasingly clear that Tibetan youths do not plan on maintaining the status quo ante that has characterized Sino-Tibetan relations over the last generation. The recent escalation of violence between China and Tibet illustrates why China cannot continue to react to Tibetan discord in a typically authoritarian manner, particularly in light of the increasing role of exiled Tibetan youths in Tibet’s independence movement.

Is China a Threat?

by John Feffer, Henry Rosemont | Feb 6, 2008

China’s unprecedented industrial growth over the last two decades has raised the question of whether it now poses a threat to the security of the United States economically, militarily, or both. Economically, the extent to which China truly threatens the United States depends at least in part on the chauvinistic assumption that any potential challenge to absolute U.S. global economic dominance is threatening.

Wooing the Islands

by John Feffer, Andre Vltchek | Jan 15, 2008

Mario Katosang, Palau’s minister of education, is no stranger to foreign travel. His ministry forged close cooperation with Japan. He is also regularly flown to Taipei and his ministry received a total amount of $1 million in 2006 and 2007 for infrastructure improvements to government-run schools. The government of Taiwan gives generous scholarships to the students of Palau and recently it began supplying the small Pacific Island nation’s schools with brand new PCs.
“We were given 100 Windows-based computers by Taiwan,” recalls Katosang. “The education sector uses predominately Apple Macintosh computers, so I mentioned that we may also need software. Taiwan immediately delivered 100 brand new copies of Windows XP, and offered to train our computer technicians.”

Pushback to Unilateralism: the China-India-Russia Alliance

by Tarique Niazi, Miriam Pemberton | Dec 20, 2007

As U.S. unilateralism has asserted the role of the United States as the sole global superpower, the rest of the world is exploring a variety of ways of pushing back. One is the creation of several new regional security consortiums which are independent of the U.S. One of the most important is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a security alliance led by Russia and China, with several non-voting members including India. Its rising economic, political and military profile this year can serve as a useful lens through which to view this geopolitical pushback. It is based on promoting a multipolar world, distributing power along multiple poles in the international system, such as the United States, Europe, Asia-Eurasia and the Middle East,1 while also promoting the multilateralism of international cooperation.2 In recent years, Russia and China have stepped up their advocacy for a multipolar-multilateral alternative.

Heavy Metal Peril

by Alec Dubro, Emily Schwartz Greco | Nov 9, 2007

For one who was raised drinking water from lead pipes, breathing the fumes of leaded gasoline,
and playing aggressively with lead soldiers, I always get a little skeptical of lead scares. Which
is why it’s better to have health and safety policy made by publicly-minded scientists and not by
the mutterings of grumpy old guys.

Responding to Chinas Charm Offensive

by John Feffer, Joshua Kurlantzick | May 31, 2007

In a short period of time, Beijing has proven that it can shift its foreign policy quickly and woo the world, often focusing on countries America has alienated. China has drastically changed its image in many parts of the world from dangerous to benign. It may already be the preeminent power in parts of Asia, and it could develop China-centered spheres of influence in other parts of the globe, like Central Asia or Africa. Even longtime American allies like Australia have moved closer to Beijing.

Too Big to Fail?

by John Feffer | Mar 12, 2007

Many Americans look across the Pacific at China and see nothing but a vast digestive tract. A billion-plus people are developing quite an appetite: for oil to run their factories, for sheet glass to sheathe their skyscrapers, for grain to feed themselves and their livestock.

60-Second Expert: China Eyes Africa

by Akwe Amosu, John Feffer | Mar 9, 2007

China’s direct investment into Africa has gone from $5 million back in 1991 to over $50 billion last year. The driving force behind this investment is China’s enormous appetite for raw materials. In return for oil, minerals, or timber, China offers a package deal featuring a mix of cash, investment, cheap credit, technical expertise and training, and in-kind benefits such as new presidential palaces, stadiums, roads, dams, and railways.

China in Africa: Its (Still) the Governance, Stupid

by Akwe Amosu, John Feffer | Mar 9, 2007

Deep inside the tropical forest of Gabon, 500 miles from the coast, China is going where no other investors dare. A Chinese consortium, led by the China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation, has won the contract to develop Gabon’s massive Belinga iron ore deposit. In return for purchasing the entire output, Chinese operators will build not only the extractive infrastructure at Belinga but a hydro-electric dam to power it, a railway to the coast, and a deepwater port north of the capital, Libreville, for exporting the ore.