China

China

China’s new celebrity politicians

China’s politicians are beginning to shed their staid image for the limelight of social media, notes ELAINE JEFFREYS The emergence of commercial entertainment and sports stars as an elite stratum in China is a relatively recent phenomenon. Nonetheless, celebrity has entered the terrain of governance along with the growth of commercial popular culture, the loosening […]

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Drug addiction as morality tale: behind China’s anti-drugs campaign

Stories of drug addiction form a backdrop to the Chinese government’s current crackdown on illicit drug use, writes GUY RAMSAY. The Chinese government is currently carrying out a nationwide crackdown on illicit drug use. Jaycee Chan, son of famous Chinese actor Jackie Chan, has been a noted victim of the crackdown. Jaycee’s and Jackie’s public

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Democracy takes fragile root on China’s edge

JIE CHEN sees similarities between Tibet and Taiwan in the Tibetan government-in-exile’s struggle to democratise. At the invitation of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)—better known as the Tibetan government-in-exile—I recently joined several overseas-based Chinese scholars on a visit to the CTA’s headquarters in Dharamsala, India. We were warmly received by senior CTA members and some

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The making of Xinjiang Han

Much has been much written about the exploitation and cultural repression of the Uyghur population in China’s far-west province of Xinjiang but, says TOM CLIFF, far less attention has been paid to the Han settlers. Settlement in the urban areas of Southern Xinjiang has recently been made easier in an attempt to encourage Han immigration.

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China’s growth prospects: ‘Sinophoria’ or imminent collapse?

JANE GOLLEY considers the arguments over whether China can sustain high economic growth. In early 2015, China’s Premier Li Keqiang lowered the official growth rate to around 7 per cent—its lowest target in 11 years, and one that is being touted as the new normal rate of growth, in contrast with the heady double-digit levels

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