China’s largest-ever paramilitary games tied to unemployment, crackdown

China’s largest-ever paramilitary games tied to unemployment, crackdown

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, ‘Inside China’, Geostrategy-Direct.com President and Commander-in-Chief Xi Jinping launched the largest-ever war game involving the nation’s People’s Armed Police late last month. Official news agencies said more than 30,000 commanding officers and “a few hundred thousand” troops in all 31 major administrative districts were involved. This was the largest […]

Pentagon gives Beijing ultimatum on militarizing the South China Sea

Pentagon gives Beijing ultimatum on militarizing the South China Sea

Special to WorldTribune.com By Geostrategy-Direct.com U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter told the Chinese defense delegation in Singapore that the U.S. will take appropriate action if China crosses the red line, i.e. further reclamation and militarization of the Scarborough Shoal in the Spratlys chain. The Philippines and China have fiercely clashed over the Scarborough Shoal […]

Off the record in Beijing: China’s growth rate is non-negotiable

Off the record in Beijing: China’s growth rate is non-negotiable

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com Who is in charge of China’s macro-level financial and economic policy? Most observers will say President Xi Jinping, who is head of the two highest-level decision-making bodies: the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economics (CLGFE) and the newly set up Central Leading Group on Comprehensively Deepening Reforms […]

‘Click farms’: China’s propaganda hubs proliferate Facebook likes

‘Click farms’: China’s propaganda hubs proliferate Facebook likes

Special to WorldTribune.com Inside China, EastAsiaIntel.com While China’s 700 million netizens are blocked from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) English-language propaganda machine is harvesting social media fans around the world. Following top-down orders from president Xi Jinping to “tell China’s story” to the world, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are now rife […]

Xi consolidates power, elevates 6th Generation Zhejiang protégés

Xi consolidates power, elevates 6th Generation Zhejiang protégés

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com Despite reports about challenges to his power, President and Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping has quietly — and relentlessly — built up his personal faction centered upon cadres associated with the prosperous coastal province of Zhejiang. Members of the so-called Zhejiang Clique are tipped for large-scale promotions […]

What’s stalling Xi Jinping’s grandiose imperial dream? No money

What’s stalling Xi Jinping’s grandiose imperial dream? No money

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com Remember the “One Belt One Road” (OBOR), a multi-trillion-dollar intercontinental project that underpins President Xi Jinping’s ambition to catapult China to super-power status? The “Silk Road Economic Belt” links China with Central Asia, Turkey and all the way to Eastern Europe through a series of high-speed railways, highways […]

Moscow need not apply: China’s new Central Asia military alliance

Moscow need not apply: China’s new Central Asia military alliance

Special to WorldTribune.com by Geostrategy-Direct Chinese PLA’s chief of staff has officially proposed a Central Asia military alliance that excludes Russia. The proposal was advanced by Gen. Fang Fenghui last month in Kabul, Afghanistan. President Ashraf Ghani spoke positively about the proposal after Gen. Fang promised $70 million in military aid. Beside China and Afghanistan, […]

Signs of a schism: Xi’s ruthless power grab challenged at National People’s Congress

Signs of a schism: Xi’s ruthless power grab challenged at National People’s Congress

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com The apparent leitmotif of this year’s meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the top advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), consists of ways and means to resuscitate the Chinese economy. However, political issues – particularly differences among members of the Politburo Standing Committee […]

The foreign policy ‘vision’ at Obama’s last State of the Union cries for an opthalmologist

The foreign policy ‘vision’ at Obama’s last State of the Union cries for an opthalmologist

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address, the annual speech to a joint session of Congress, has emerged as more of a political pep rally than a clear overview of America’s standing in the world both domestic and foreign. The address was touted as […]

Beijing slaps U.S. diplomat’s ‘irresponsible’ comments as Party vets Hong Kong candidates

Beijing slaps U.S. diplomat’s ‘irresponsible’ comments as Party vets Hong Kong candidates

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Beijing has ratcheted up its rhetoric against alleged efforts by the United States to “interfere” in the political development of Hong Kong. The special administrative region (SAR) of Hong Kong is scheduled to hold general elections in 2017 to pick its chief executive (CE), whose status is equivalent […]