Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com A People’s Daily commentary on the one-and-half-year rule of President Xi Jinping has thus characterized the Chinese strongman’s unique approach to foreign policy: alternatively using tough and soft tactics so as to close the gap with the United States as the leading arbiter in global affairs. The extraordinary article, entitled […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com While Xi Jinping has accomplished what the official media call a “watershed triumph” by taking out “super-big tiger” Zhou Yongkang, tell-tale signs have emerged showing that the supremo’s hold on power is far from complete. Firstly, while the president’s opponents have apparently acquiesced in Xi’s breaking the taboo that “former […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com It is a credit to Xi Jinping’s Machiavellian genius that he has pulled off a major achievement in fighting corruption — which is universally regarded as the most serious problem of the party and state — within less than two years in power. The decision to begin investigations into the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Even as Xi Jinping is extending the parameters of his anti-corruption drive, the official media is building up a personality cult around the President that is unprecedented since the demise of Mao Zedong in 1976. Since early July, the official media such as Xinhua News Agency and the People’s Daily […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com A series of unusual happenings in the People’s Liberation Army has demonstrated that President and Commander-in-Chief Xi Jinping is paying a heavy price for hitting out at “big tigers” among corrupt military officers. Late last month, Beijing announced that former Politburo member and vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Even though President Xi Jinping has urged more “communication and cooperation” between his country and the United States, the on-going Strategic and Economic Dialogue (SED) between top officials from both sides has confirmed their “frenemy” status. While welcoming Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Half a million Hong Kong residents took part in a demonstration on July 1 against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership’s adulteration of autonomous powers granted the Special Administrative Region (SAR) upon the reversion of Hong Kong’s sovereignty in 1997. This followed hot upon the heels of another act of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to South Korea in early July heralds a new era of China’s relations with both Koreas. Traditionally, a new Chinese head of state would first visit the DPRK — with which China still maintains a mutual defense treaty — before South Korea. This was true […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com China’s highest-ranked diplomat Yang Jiechi made a surprising trip to Hanoi even as the two countries are embroiled in arguably the worst confrontation since the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979. The tension was triggered in early May when Beijing moved an oil rig into waters within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone. China […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com The Xi Jinping leadership has tightened the screw on Hong Kong by setting limits to the autonomy that the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Hong Kong can enjoy. On Tuesday, the State Council or central government published a White Paper on “The Practice of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ Policy […]