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Contemporary China: A Book List and Websites about China and Southeast Asia (Prof. Lynn White, Princeton University) Categorized by subjects and has been updated. This list is long, but you can use the subject categories at the left of your screen to find items you need. Websites about China and Southeast Asia is a clickable list of websites, giving access to thousands of articles about China and Southeast Asia.

~ 2006 ; 2007-2008; 2009

China’s Vice President Orders More Thought Control Over Students (The Telegraph, Jan. 7, 2012) Xi Jinping, who is tipped to take over from President Hu Jintao later this year, has ordered universities to increase thought control over students and young lecturers.

China’s President Urges Unification with Rival Taiwan; Jiang Makes Rare Appearance (AP, Oct. 9, 2011) China’s president used the centennial of a revolution that ended imperial rule to make an appeal to further relations with Taiwan, saying they should move beyond the history that divides them and focus on common economic and cultural interests.

Pew Survey Indicates Rising Positive Sentiment of China
(China Daily, Jul. 16, 2011) In the latest Pew Global Attitude survey conducted between March 18 and May 15, most of the respondents in 15 out of 22 countries believed that China either will replace or already has replaced the United States as the world’s leading superpower.

Tens of Thousands Protest at HK Handover Anniversary
(AP, Jul. 2, 2011) Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong vented their anger over skyrocketing property prices and government policies at an annual march held on the anniversary of the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule.

Hu Jintao Eager for Taiwan Legacy
(Taipei Times, Jun. 12, 2011) The cable, issued by the US embassy in Beijing on Feb. 27, 2009, showed that the US has learned from at least two sources that Hu believes that his Taiwan policy, and not China’s Scientific Development Concept, should be his primary political legacy.

US Urges China to Respect Rights
(AFP, Jun. 5, 2011) The US on Friday urged China to free opponents and respect the basic rights of its citizens, 22 years after the authoritarian state crushed a democracy uprising in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Taiwan President Tells China Democracy “No Disaster”
(Reuters, Jun. 4, 2011) Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou told China that the transition from authoritarianism to democracy can only bring stability, urging Beijing on the 22nd anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown to release dissidents. President’s Statement on 22nd Anniversary of Tiananmen Incident

Dalai Lama Urges Standoff Restraint
(Reuters, Apr. 17, 2011) Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has urged restraint in a stand-off between Chinese security forces and Tibetans at a Buddhist monastery in southwest China, said to have been sparked by the self--immolation of a monk last month.

Chinese President Delivers New Year Address, Economic Work on Top Agenda (Xinhua, Dec. 31, 2011) Chinese President Hu Jintao put the country's economic tasks on top of next year's agenda in a New Year address.

China’s Communist Meet in Beijing as Xinhua Decries Widening Wealth Gap (Bloomberg, Oct. 15, 2010) China’s Communist Party Central Committee began its annual meeting in Beijing to discuss economic planning and personnel changes that may decide whether Vice President Xi Jinping will be the nation’s next leader.

Not Much Will Change under China’s Next Leaders: Scholar
(China Post, May 13, 2010) Leaders of China's communist party (CCP) are determined to keep their grip on power and will never allow a leader who is too liberal or progressive to assume power, said Dr. Willy Lam.

Economy the Focus As China Political Session Ends
(AP, Mar. 13, 2010) Mao Zedong's grandson couldn't have put it more simply. China's biggest challenge? Economic development and to help more Chinese enjoy it.

China’s Rise Poses Challenges for Its African Peacekeeping Missions By Ivan Broadhead (VOA, Feb. 3, 2012) China has long adhered to a foreign policy of non-interventionism, where it tries to appear neutral in disputes outside its borders. As the country becomes more of a global power, however, it is less able to stay on the sidelines.

Kidnappings of Workers Put Pressure on China By Andrew Jacobs and Jeffrey Gettleman (New York Times, Feb. 1, 2012) The kidnappings have challenged Beijing’s traditional noninterference approach to foreign affairs and increased pressure, much of it expressed online, to protect its citizens more aggressively abroad.

Heartland Return for Chinese Leader By Jeremy Page and Mark Peters (Wall Street Journal, Jan. 31, 2012) Xi Jinping's planned trip to Muscatine, Iowa, later this month sheds light on how the man expected to become China's top leader this fall differs from the nation's prior leaders.

China in 2012: The Politics and Policy of Leadership Succession By Bruce Gilley (China Breif 12(2), Jamestown Foundation, Jan. 20, 2012) The political challenges facing Xi Jinping concern both policy and government reform. Key benchmarks can be used to trace the implications of each of these three political stories of 2012—succession, policy and government—giving signs about the future direction of politics and leadership in China.

The Road to the 18th Party Congress By Alice Miller (China Leadership Monitor #36, Jan. 6, 2012, Hoover Institution) This article lays out the formal processes involved in preparing for the coming Chinese Communist Party’s national congress.

Procedures and Mechanism By Cheng Li (China Leadership Monitor #36, Jan. 6, 2012, Hoover Institution) This paper addressees two crucial questions: How will the delegates to the congress and the members of the new central committee be chosen? And how will the party’s ideological platform be formulated?

China’s New Leaders Get in Line By Jeremy Page
(Wall Street Journal, Jan. 3, 2012) China begins a once-a-decade leadership change in 2012 that could paralyze decision-making, stir infighting and expose flaws in an ossified political system—just when urgent action is needed to steer the world's second-largest economy.

Guangdong Protests Could Alter China’s Leadership Shuffle By Keith B. Richburg (Washington Post, Dec. 23, 2011) An uprising over land seizures in a fishing hamlet in southern Guangdong province has been defused, but Chinese analysts and others are watching to see whether the unrest could have a wider effect, perhaps on the future of a provincial chief who had been seen as a rising star in the Communist Party.

The Last Year of Hu’s Leadership: Hu’s to Blame? By Chen Li and Eva Cary (China Brief 11(23), Jamestown Foundation, Dec. 20, 2011) As the Hu Jintao era enters its final year, Chinese elites have started to review his administration, revealing many observers share a profound sense of disappointment.

Chinese Public Opinion: Shaping China’s Foreign Policy, or Shaped by It? By Yun Sun (Brookings, December 2011) In a country like China, where the government has critical means to shape public opinion but in which the public has relatively limited means to express their political opinions, one must carefully examine the relationship between foreign policy and public opinion to determine the extent to which public opinion influences foreign policy decisions.

Children of the Revolution By Jeremy Page
(Wall Street Journal, Nov. 26, 2011) China’s ‘princelings,’ the offspring of the communist party elite, are embracing the trappings of wealth and privilege—raising uncomfortable questions for their elders.

Silence Not Necessarily Golden for China’s Next Leaders By Russell Leigh Moses (China Real Time Report, Nov. 22, 2011) Of course, many cadres hope for a smooth leadership transition. Yet the discontented in Chinese society seem to need something transformational, and some cadres could be starting to get on board.

Bo Xilai’s Campaign for the Standing Committee and the Future of Chinese Politicking By Yawei Liu (China Brief 11(21), Jamestown Foundation, Nov. 11, 2011) Bo Xilai’s unprecedented politicking and Wang Yang’s open counteroffensive have established new political dynamic in China, and revealed fractures beneath the surface. The public emergence of such factions representing different interests of the society—rather than different ideological leanings—may prove a good development for the future of China’s politics.

Flare from Party’s Red Star Signals a Brewing Storm in Beijing By Russell Leigh Moses (China Real Time Report, Nov. 1, 2011) Bo Xilai’s outburst reminds us that the political winds in China have a way of switching suddenly. It might be better for those who think the leadership transition is proceeding on a secure and steady heading to check their compasses again.

Jockeying for Position Intensifies among Candidates for the Politburo Standing Committee By Willy Lam (China Brief 11(20), Jamestown Foundation, Oct. 28, 2011) In the run-up to the Central Committee conclave, up-and-coming members of the party’s two dominant if fractious cliques—the Communist Youth League faction under President Hu Jintao and the Gang of Princelings—have been actively trying to enhance their chances for promotion next year.

What’s Behind the Communist Party’s Focus on Cultural Reform By Russell Leigh Moses (China Real Time Report, Oct. 24, 2011) Delegates to the plenum may be pretty certain about Chinese culture. But the current Party leadership is still struggling to shape a unifying strategy for economic and political restructuring to hand over to the next leadership. The Party plenum showed that there’s no faking that.

The Leadership Secrets of Bismarck: Imperial Germany and Competitive Authoritarianism By Michael Bernhard (Foreign Affairs, Oct. 16, 2011) China is hardly the first great power to make authoritarian development look attractive--Wilhelmine Germany did it with ease. But can even successful nondemocratic political systems thrive and evolve peacefully over the long run? The answer depends on whether authoritarian elites can tolerate sharing power.

Chinese Succession Highlights Military’s Role By Christopher Bodeen (AP, Oct. 17, 2011) Maneuvering over China's leadership succession is providing an opportunity for the powerful military to exert greater influence over decision-making, potentially dragging the government into a more confrontational stance with its neighbors and the U.S.

Photos from China Offer Scant Clues to a Succession By Michael Wines (New York Times, Oct. 15, 2011) This week’s plenum informally signals the official beginning of the selection process. While the top party leaders ultimately decide who should succeed them, the route will be long, convoluted and completely opaque before the appointments are announced in fall 2012.

Ex-President of China, Said to Be Ill, Appears in Beijing By Edward Wong and Jonathan Ansfield (New York Times, Oct. 10, 2011) Jiang Zemin appeared at a ceremony in Beijing, fanning speculation about his health and the role he might play in power struggles accompanying the long-planned shift in the top leadership next year.

China Can Meet US, Europe Where Their Interests Converge By Zheng Bijian (Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 7, 2011) The promoter of China's 'peaceful rise' argues that China needs a new approach in its relations with the United States and Europe. Beijing should build on common interests, such as investment in each other's countries, stability in global hot spots, and climate change.

Profound Shift As China Marches Back to Mao By John Garnaut
(Sydney Morning Herald, Oct. 9, 2011) China is heading into a new Mao-inspired epoch of socialism and nationalism, says the founder of China’s most powerful leftist internet platform.

Secret Bid to Arm Qaddafi Sheds Light on Tensions in China Government By Michael Wines (New York Times, Sep. 12, 2011) Some believe that big state-run weapons companies, with their close ties to the military, easily make end runs around the diplomats in the Foreign Ministry, which negotiates China’s position on international sanctions.

Xi Jinping: China’s Conservative Strongman-in-Waiting By Willy Lam (China Brief 11(16), Jamestown Foundation, Sep. 2, 2011) Xi confirmed earlier impressions of being a conservative who is a fervent believer in many aspects of Chairman Mao Zedong’s teachings.

Xi Jinping, Likely China’s Next Leader, Called Pragmatic, Low-Key By Keith B. Richburg (Washington Post, Aug. 15, 2011) Those who have seen Xi’s working style in the two provinces, Fujian and Zhejiang, where he spent more than two decades in various jobs working his way up to the top position, use similar words to describe him: pragmatic, serious, cautious, hard-working, down to earth and low-key.

This Time Around, Politics Could Hobble China’s ‘Decisive’ Leaders By Russell Leigh (Wall Street Journal, Aug. 12, 2011) The policy-making process in China may be well suited to crisis management: Tactical adjustments have worked and support for the leadership’s economic approach has remained generally solid among the powerful. But what happens if an economic tsunami arrives and major restructuring is called for?

China’s Premier Seeks Reforms and Relevance By Michael Wines, Jonathan Ansfield and Sharon LaFraniere (New York Times, Aug. 8, 2011) As Mr. Wen enters the twilight of a decade as China’s third-ranked leader, he appears to be struggling to remain relevant in a political system that covets his benevolent public image but has little use for his ideas

Undemocratic China Can’t Rule the World By Jinghao Zhou
(Asia Times, Jul. 16, 2011) If the CCP properly manages the process of democratization, it is possible for the party to introduce democracy and maintain its rule. Should the CCP reject political reform, however, it could possibly lose both.

Why China Is Trying to Censor Talk About Jiang Zemin By Jeremy Page (Wall Street Journal, Jul. 7, 2011) To the outside world, China’s efforts to censor talk of the apparent illness of former President Jiang Zemin might seem unnecessary, but the Communist Party is acutely aware that the death of current and former Chinese leaders has often been a trigger for political instability in the past.

China's Communist Party at 90 By David Shambaugh

(IHT, Jun. 30, 2011) Nationwide ceremonies and a deluge of media coverage have been mobilized by China’s ruling Communist Party to mark its 90th anniversary today. But all the hoopla cannot conceal the party’s insecure state.

China Censors Web Searches on Jiang Zemin’s Health By Keith B. Richburg (Washington Post, Jul. 6, 2011) China’s media censors began blocking Internet search terms to try to tamp down speculation on the health of ailing former leader Jiang Zemin.

Great Party, but Where’s the Communism? By Minxin Pei
(IHT, Jun. 30, 2011) Yet if asked, “What does the Communist Party stand for,” few Chinese leaders today could give a coherent or honest answer.

As Number One, China to Face Hour of Choice By Richard Bush
(YaleGlobal, Jun. 30, 2011) When economic order shifts, rising countries are called upon to make choices between aggression or accommodation. The choices that major powers make are more important than their economic rank.

China’s Communist Party Tries to Reclaim Glory By Keith B. Richburg (Washington Post, Jul. 1, 2011) Although the party has used Friday’s anniversary to try to renew interest in its past glories, the hoopla may be having an unintended consequence, causing some to question whether the current leaders have lived up to the original ideals of the party’s founders.

Insecure at the Top in China By Didi Kirsten Tatlow
(New York Times, Jun. 16, 2011) Key reasons for CCP’s unpopularity are corruption, and its regular resort to violence when people ask for more oversight of government.

When Will China Become a Global Superpower? By Thair Shaikh
(CNN, Jun. 10, 2011) Lawrence Saez, senior lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies, in London, says: "When China decides to take over Taiwan, that is when it will be a superpower. Unquestionably that will be the day."

Hong Kong Remembers Tiananmen As Beijing Cracks Down By Andrew Higgins (Washington Post, Jun. 4, 2011) In the one small patch of China that nurtures memories the Communist Party wants buried, tens of thousands gathered Saturday night in Hong Kong to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Bo Xilai and China’s ‘Red Revival’ By Mark Mackinnon
(Globe and Mail, May 6, 2011) Depending on whom you ask, the Chongqing model is either a much needed reinvention of Communist Party rule, or the beginning of a dangerous backslide toward an ideologically-driven era akin to the one the country all-too-gladly abandoned three decades ago.

China’s Foreign-Policy Balancing Act—Part II By Shen Dingli
(YaleGlobal, Apr. 15, 2011) China prefers pragmatism in alleviating global tensions. China’s rapid rise, increased external pressures to act at a faster pace and tardy responses to crises heighten suspicions.

China’s Foreign-Policy Balancing Act—Part I By Jonathan Fenby
(YaleGlobal, Apr. 13, 2011) China’s evolving policy on Libya reveals its earnest pursuit of African trade and investment and caution on security matters.

China’s Acquiescence on UNSCR 1973: No Big Deal By Shen Yun
(PacNet #20, Pacific Forum, CSIS, Mar. 31, 2011) The world should not think that China has changed or will easily change its principle of and approach to non-interference. The Libyan case offers little ground for such expectations.

A Chinese Assessment of China’s External Security Environment By Dingli Shen (China Brief 11(5), Jamestown Foundation, Mar. 25, 2011) An assessment based on a Chinese government white paper and recent report published by a leading think tank on China’s external security environment suggest that Beijing perceives that it is facing unprecedented external challenges.

China Grooming Deft Politician As Next Leader By Edward Wong and Jonathan Ansfield (New York Times, Jan. 24, 2011) Following a secretive succession plan sketched out years ago, Mr. Hu has already begun preparing for his departure from power, passing the baton to his presumed successor, a former provincial leader named Xi Jinping.

China Leader’s Limits Come into Focus As U.S. Visit Nears By David E. Sanger and Michael Wines (New York Times, Jan. 17, 2011) Mr. Hu may be the weakest leader of the Communist era. He is less able to project authority than his predecessors were — and perhaps less able to keep relations between the world’s two largest economies from becoming more adversarial.

Xi Jinping’s Chongqing Tour: Gang of Princelings Gains Clout By Willy Lam (China Brief 10(25), Jamestown Foundation, Dec. 17, 2010) Xi’s bonding with Politburo member and Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai shows that the vice-president may be putting together his own team in the run-up to taking over the helm in less than two years’ time.

Rising Leader Xi Jinping’s Family Suffered in Chinese Power Struggles By Keith B. Richburg (Washington Post, Oct. 23, 2010) In Beijing for China's leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, growing up as the son of a prominent revolutionary brought more pain than privilege.

PLA Gains Clout: Xi Jinping Elevated to CMC Vice-Chairman By Willy Lam (China Brief 10(21), Jamestown Foundation, Oct. 22, 2010) Xi's induction into the policy-setting CMC could also augment the military establishment's already formidable clout in foreign policy and other arenas.

Xi Who Must be Obeyed
(The Economist, Oct. 21, 2010) The transfer of power to Mr Hu was the first smooth succession in communist China’s history. The handover to Mr Xi may not be the second.

Jockeying Under Way for China’s Top Political Posts By Duncan Hewitt (Newsweek, Oct. 21, 2010) As Beijing moves closer to a handover of power to a new generation of political leaders in 2012, jockeying for influence between rival factions is becoming more evident, with sometimes unexpected results.

Chinese Promotion Puts Official on Track for Presidency By Michael Wines (New York Times, Oct. 19, 2010) Xi Jinping, China’s vice president, was named to an important military position, continuing his elevation to the top echelons of China’s leadership and reconfirming that the Communist Party had selected him as the successor to President Hu Jintao.

Once a Winner, China Sees Globalization’s Downside—Part II By Jeffrey Wasserstrom (YaleGlobal, Oct. 13, 2010) Harsh attempts to suppress demands for democracy and human rights may ensure the party’s hold on power, but tarnish China’s image globally.

Party Meeting Begins in Beijing amid Increasing Dissent Over Human Rights By Keith B. Richburg (Washington Post, Oct. 15, 2010) China's Communist Party Central Committee started its annual closed-door meeting to map the country's economic course for the next five years, amid increasingly bold calls for political reform and a continuing crackdown on human rights activists, dissidents and lawyers.

China’s Midterm Jockeying: Gearing Up for 2012 By Cheng Li
(China Leadership Monitor, Hoover Institution, Winter 2010) China is set to experience a major leadership turnover at the 18th National Congress of the CCP in 2012. Who are the most promising candidates for these supreme leadership bodies? This essay aims to shed light on the question and others by studying the 62 provincial chiefs.

Bo Xilai’s Charm Offensive Is Paying off Politically in China By Ariana Eunjung Cha (Washington Post, Mar. 8, 2010) Of the nearly 3,000 members of China's ruling elite in the country's capital this weekend to kick off the biggest political gathering of the year, only one has the state media and online commentators abuzz: Bo Xilai.

China’s Congressional Concerns By Willy Lam
(Wall Street Journal, Mar. 2, 2010) While China's National People's Congress is a rubberstamp legislature, its annual plenary session—which kicks off Friday—affords a good window into the thinking of the nontransparent Chinese Communist Party elite. This year's theme is the economy, stupid.