Xi pulls strings to suppress book about seamy side of his past
By Dr. Willy Lam Efforts by the Xi Jinping administration to suppress embarrassing stories about his career in Fujian Province in the late 1980s and 1990s were behind two (more…)
Apocalyptic: Xi warned Party it could go down ‘just like the Titanic’
By Dr. Willy Lam 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” (more…)
China won’t retaliate for ISIL execution: Is Xi Jinping a paper tiger?
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…)
‘Historic handshake?’: Xi sets timetable for ‘liberation’ of Taiwan
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…)
Xi’s vision: ‘military-civilian integration’, ‘national big data’ strategy
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…)
Xi dismays Red Capitalists: Communism still China’s ultimate ‘goal’
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…)
Xi gains face in much-hyped summit, fails to repatriate Ling Wancheng
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…)
PLA cuts? Yes, but Xi to beef up Navy and cyber-warfare divisions
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…)
Mystery shrouding Tianjin disaster clouds Xi’s ‘coronation ceremony’
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…)