By Dr. Willy Lam Beijing has ruled out any military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) despite having made vehement calls to punish the executioners (more…)
By Dr. Willy Lam The ostensible motive for the historic handshake last Saturday between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan counterpart Ma Ying-jeou is to anchor cross-Strait relations on (more…)
By Dr. Willy Lam China’s 13th Five Year Plan (13FYP), which covers the years 2016 to 2020, has put emphasis on state-directed innovation and heightened military-civilian synergy in high-tech (more…)
By Dr. Willy Lam 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 (more…)
By Dr. Willy Lam Apart from a vague and non-binding accord on climate change, nothing significant was achieved in China-U.S. relations during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s much-hyped state visit (more…)
By Dr. Willy Lam While presiding over China’s largest-scale military parade on Sept. 3, President Xi Jinping announced with big fanfare the demobilization of 300,000 troops from the People’s (more…)
By Dr. Willy Lam For political circles in Beijing, the forthcoming military extravaganza looks more like a “Chinese-style coronation ceremony” whose major purpose is to consolidate President and party (more…)
By Dr. Willy Lam Just before China’s Army Day on Aug. 1, President and Central Military Commission (CMC) Chairman Xi Jinping elevated ten senior People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officers (more…)
The announcement on July 20 of the arrest of top cadre Ling Jihua could mark at least a temporary moratorium in President Xi Jinping’s three-year-old campaign on corruption among (more…)