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 […]
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 […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com A series of internal speeches has confirmed President Xi Jinping’s arch-conservative view that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will choose its own survival over “subversive” reforms. A 10,000-word story in the Friday edition of the reformist Chinese newspaper Southern Metropolitan Daily has revealed the psychology behind Xi’s refusal […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com President Xi Jinping has shocked even pro-establishment academics and businessmen by openly calling on officials to “attain the goal of Communism.” Xi’s exhortation came in the form of an address he made earlier this year to county-level cadres who were attending courses at the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com Much of the discussion of the People’s Liberation Army’s just-released White Paper — China’s Military Strategy — has focused on a leap forward in China’s global hard-power projection, particularly new emphasis being put on enhanced naval, space and cyberwarfare capacities. Equally important for the long-term development of the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com China’s momentous “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) strategy — a reference to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road — has further illustrated the declining political fortunes of Premier Li Keqiang. Although Li is ranked second on the supreme Chinese Communist Party Politburo […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com Chinese President Xi Jinping has formalized his country’s quasi-alliance relationship with Russia by his high-profile participation in counterpart Vladimir Putin’s celebration of the 70th anniversary of the “defeat of Nazism in WWII.” For the first time ever, a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) honor guard took part in the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com President Xi Jinping has invited Eric Chu, Chairman of Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT, or the Nationalists) Party for a “historic handshake” in Beijing early next month on May 4. This will be the second time since 1949 that the heads of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the KMT […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com A leaked internal document of the Communist Youth League (CYL) – the youth wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – has exposed plans by Chinese authorities to recruit more than 10 million “volunteers” to sensitize the country’s information superhighways. The document, which was reported in the Hong […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, EastAsiaIntel.com Ma Xingrui, a fast-rising high-tech whiz turned politician, has parachuted into the Shenzhen special economic zone (SEZ) as Party Secretary. The latest appointment of the 56-year-old designer of space vehicles has immense significance for the high-tech development of Shenzhen, which is home to Huawei, ZTE and Tencent Holdings, […]