China News
The Daily Signal reports on China news with analysis and commentary on foreign policy, trade, technology, and security challenges.
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opinion
How the Information Nabbed in the OPM Hacking Helps Chinese Spies
Former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet famously said when asked about so-called open source (unclassified) intelligence, “we only pay for secrets.” He spoke with the confidence of a man born and raised in the world of the 20th century spy and the Cold War. With the massive leak of government employee information from the… -
opinion
China’s Plan to Challenge US as a Rising Global Power
What is China up to? It’s been building artificial islands in the South China Sea. Recently, two motorized artillery pieces were spotted on one of these artificial islands. Experts believe the Chinese may plan to use them as airstrips. On May 20 the Chinese navy challenged a U.S. surveillance aircraft flying near one of the… -
opinion
China Military Moves Into South China Sea Dispute, Solidifying China’s New Area Grab
CNN broadcast an exclusive report, as one of its reporters hitched a ride on a U.S. Navy P-8 patrol aircraft overflying the artificial islands the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is building in the South China Sea. The Chinese repeatedly tried to warn off the aircraft, in English language broadcasts that CNN included in its… -
opinion
From Antarctica to Djibouti, China’s Presence Is Expanding
Neither Djibouti, on the east coast of Africa at the entrance to the Red Sea, nor Antarctica are all that close to China. Yet, China is intent on establishing a presence in both areas. To support its growing Indian Ocean presence, which recently included deployments of submarines, including a nuclear-powered attack boat, China reportedly is… -
opinion
China, Not America, Rescues Its Own Citizens Stuck in Yemen
As the situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate, consider this striking contrast between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the United States. One country dispatched naval forces to evacuate its citizens from the collapsing Middle East state. In the process, they evacuated citizens from 10 other countries, including Great Britain, Japan and Germany. The other… -
opinion
Would China Have Launched the AIIB If Congress Had Approved IMF Reforms? Yes.
Does anyone really believe that China would have shelved its newly launched, $100 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) if Congress had approved the International Monetary Fund (IMF) “Reform Package” negotiated by the Obama Administration in 2010? That’s what proponents of the IMF reforms would have you believe as they fired off a new round… -
opinion
China’s Economy—Hard or Soft Landing?
A panel at The Heritage Foundation on March 11 discussed whether China’s economy is heading toward a “hard” or “soft” landing. Heritage’s Walter Lohman chaired this panel of experts, which included Dr. James Dorn of the Cato Institute, Pieter Bottelier of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins Univeristy, and Heritage’s Dr. William… -
opinion
China’s Military: Not a Giant, but Not a Midget
In support of the U.S.–China Economic and Security Commission, the RAND Corporation provided a report on the limitations of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Immediately, a chorus of voices was citing the report to show that the Chinese threat was overblown. Time magazine’s Mark Thompson wished that more people would read the report, since… -
opinion
Mind the Gap! China Increasing Its Defense Spending, While U.S. Holds Defense Dollars Constant
Despite the much-vaunted “Asia pivot,” American defense spending and force allocations haven’t shifted that much to Asia. As China’s economy exhibits signs of slowing down, there have been questions about whether this would affect Chinese defense spending. China’s officials made clear that it would not when they announced this week that defense spending would again… -
opinion
India Unseats China as the World’s Fastest Growing Economy—for Now
It was not supposed to happen this fast. Earlier this week India’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) released figures showing economic growth of 7.5 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter for 2014. This rate was a little faster than China’s year-end rate and is noteworthy since China has outgrown India in every year but one over… -
opinion
The U.S. Needs to Deal with China Differently
Between complacency and confrontation there is a responsible way forward that keeps the Asia-Pacific a big enough place to accommodate the vital interests of both Beijing and Washington. The heavy lifting will have to be done by the United States. That’s okay. The work will make America a stronger nation and a better Asian ally…. -
opinion
U.S. Should Join With These 3 Countries to Fight Back Against China
Face it. China is a problem. Nations across the Pacific and Asia are looking for constructive solutions. And that’s the promise of a Quad Dialogue—a forum for developing cooperative, synchronized policies among India, Australia, Japan and the United States. Start with the facts. China’s economic policies are increasingly mercantilist. It is developing military capabilities to… -
opinion
This Is the Only Economy That Could Rival China’s
President Obama attended India’s Republic Day Celebrations as its chief guest—the first time a U.S. head of state has been given this honor. Bilateral discussions, however, were the main order of business for this trip, cut short by the death of Saudi King Abdullah. Talks likely focused, in their limited form, on a range of important defense… -
opinion
China’s Economy Continues to Slow—Probably More Than Reported
This week China announced its 2014 real economic growth rate. There are two salient takeaways from the report: First, at least officially, the economy continues to slow modestly. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 and 7.4 percent over the entire year. This is… -
opinion
U.S. Businesses Feel Increasingly Unwelcomed in China
There was a time when the “China-lobby” meant supporters of The Republic of China (Taiwan). In the last couple decades, it has come to mean representatives of the American business community most eager to do business on the mainland, the People’s Republic of China, and willing to exercise influence in Washington in support of cordial… -
opinion
The Important China Story the Media Ignored This Year
Occasionally, an important foreign policy/national security story gets underreported. This year it was China’s mounting military might. It’s no one’s fault that it didn’t get the coverage it deserved, considering the stories that gripped us in 2014 like Russia rolling into Ukraine and Islamic State terror. But no time like the present to fix this,… -
opinion
Children Repatriated by China and Laos May Have Been Executed or Imprisoned
In 2013, Laos and China forcibly repatriated nine North Korean children. Now, the fate of these children is in question. Recent reports from North Korea suggest that at least two of the children may have been executed, and the remaining seven children are allegedly imprisoned in Camp 14, a brutal forced labor camp. North Korea… -
opinion
China’s Pyrrhic Victory in Hong Kong Will Come Back to Haunt It
Cars began transiting through Hong Kong’s Admiralty district overnight for the first time in 75 days, as police finally brought an end to that city’s cry for democracy. But Hong Kong’s communist overlords in Beijing will not enjoy their victory forever. There were still a few hundred “randomly walking” through the streets of the Asian… -
opinion
China Just Broke Another Promise. Can One Country, Two Systems Be Saved?
Demands by Hong Kong’s people for the autonomy and freedom that China promised has gotten Beijing’s autocrats into such a tizzy that they’re losing sight of their long-term interests. At some point, they will have to understand that keeping promises is not just a matter of civilized behavior, but also a matter of successful statecraft. A… -
opinion
Obama Just Got Punked by the Chinese: They Won’t Honor New Climate Change Deal
That sound you’re hearing from across the Pacific is the Chinese rulers and Beijing laughing at us. President Obama and the “green” lobby actually think China is going to honor the new U.S.-China climate-change agreement that pushes both nations to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions over the next 15 years. China agreed to a “target” of deriving…