ChinaFile

@chinafile.bsky.social

374

Followers

Following

Posts

Online magazine from Asia Society

Reporting, Analysis, Photography, Video and Conversation on China

Posts Replies Media

New on ChinaFile: The written Chinese language consists of tens of thousands of characters. But your computer keyboard only has around 100 keys. So how can you make your QWERTY keyboard output 中文? www.chinafile.com/li... 1/6

China’s Typing Triumph | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com A standard QWERTY keyboard has a few dozen keys. How can Chinese—a language with tens of thousands of characters and no alphabet—be input on such a device? To answer this question, one needs to return to the beginnings of electronic Chinese technology in the wake of World War II, and follow up through to its many iterations in the present day. In particular, we need to examine

New on ChinaFile: Throughout China, groups of "vigilantes" are cropping up to patrol the streets, mediate disputes, and even initiate drug busts. www.chinafile.com/po... 1/10

“The Police’s Strength Is Limited, but the People’s Strength Is Boundless” | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com In some ways, “vigilantes” are the opposite of what their name suggests: rather than rogue agents meting out street justice, they are individuals deemed trustworthy by authorities, working under the guidance of local police forces, deputized to surveil their fellow citizens. In recent years, as Beijing has encouraged the “masses” to take a greater role in public safety,

American companies have particularly dreaded the panel’s focus on how their China businesses might be compromising U.S. national security. One business representative likened the committee’s inquiries to falling under the “eye of Sauron.”-www.chinafile.com/re...

The Committee that Ended the Age of Engagement? | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com The U.S. Congress’ special China committee has a packed agenda for the few months left this term. But its most consequential work may be done: a more confrontational U.S. policy towards China. The Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party has racked up notable successes in its brief existence. Its scrutiny put Wall

On the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Protests and their deadly suppression by China's government, a selection of ChinaFile's work on the subject over the years. www.chinafile.com/re...

35 Years Later: A Retrospective of Our Work on the 1989 Tiananmen Protests and Crackdown | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com This year is the 35th anniversary of the 1989 mass demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, and elsewhere around China, and their brutal suppression on June 4. The memories of these events are receding into the past, a process greatly aided in China by censorship. And even when remembered, the crackdown that ended the optimistic 1980s in China is viewed by some Chinese

A popular Chinese health remedy made from the hides of donkeys, sparked a booming trade across Africa and leading to shortages of an animal critical to local livelihoods. Now in an show of united African countries have pushed back. @lajohnstondr explains www.chinafile.com/re...

Why the African Union Stopped the Donkey Hide Trade with China | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com The African Union’s unprecedented decision to ban the trade of donkey skin ended a hitherto fast-evolving China-Africa business. It also is the result of an unusual agreement between the 55 African Union member countries on a matter that affects rural development, women’s rights, and poverty alleviation. Perhaps most unusually, the ban arose from an implicit unified pushback

In 2015, I witnessed what was then a routine social event: a Muslim wedding conducted according to Uyghur tradition. By 2017, such an event would likely be deemed an instance of “gathering a crowd to disturb social order."-www.chinafile.com/re... @dtbyler

Xinjiang Authorities Are Retroactively Applying Laws to Prosecute Religious Leaders as Criminals | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com Sholpan Amirkhan and her aunt gasped when the guards carried her brother-in-law Nurlan Pioner into the Jimunai County People’s Court, on the border with Kazakhstan in China’s western region of Xinjiang. He was gaunt, and a fetid smell followed him. When she shouted his name, she did not see any recognition on his face. He trembled, barely able to maintain a sitting posture as

"The CCP’s tightening control over universities isn’t a novel development: It is a continuation of a trend that has been evident for over a decade, from Document 9 to the warning from the Party’s General Office."-www.chinafile.com/co...

What Will Newly Increased Party Control Mean for China’s Universities? | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com In January, Radio Free Asia reported that the Chinese Communist Party is “taking a direct role in the running of universities across the country” by merging the presidents’ offices with their Party committees. Ideological controls on universities have been tightening for more than a decade. But this latest move may be even more dramatic: Although all universities have Party

"What Xi is trying to do is steer China closer to what it professes to be: a socialist state...He thinks China has gone too far in one direction over the last few decades, and wants to recalibrate." @nbbf88 speaks w/ @ByChunHan on Xi Jinping's aspirations-www.chinafile.com/re...

“It’s Too Convenient to Say That Xi Jinping Is a Second Mao” | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com The Chinese Communist Party, an organization of over ninety million members, remains opaque to many outsiders, even within China. Wall Street Journal reporter Chun Han Wong spent years in Beijing documenting social, political, and economic changes as General Secretary Xi Jinping consolidated his power over the Party and country. Last year, Wong published Party of One, a

Our Latest ChinaFile Conversation: Many EU member states broadly agree on the challenges of EU-China relations, but their approaches to Beijing have taken very different forms. What will it really mean for Europe to ‘de-risk’ its relationship with China? http://tinyurl.com/4...

What Does It Really Mean for Europe to ‘De-Risk’ Its Relationship with China? | ChinaFiletinyurl.com At the core of many EU Commission and member states’ recent discussions of China is the concept of “de-risking.” Distinct from “decoupling,” the concept focuses on mitigating risks and limiting strategic dependencies in Europe’s relationship with China. They would achieve this using the EU’s economic defenses more effectively and engaging in open and frank dialogue, while

Our latest: Hong Kong Watch's @anoukwear describes her first-hand experiences in UN meetings as Hong Kong delegates have morphed from restrained professionals to wolf warrior-style delegates. www.chinafile.com/re... 1/6

Hong Kong Finds Its Voice at the UN—And Uses It to Cheerlead for Beijing | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com Last May, in a meeting room at the United Nations in Geneva, I sat and listened as a delegate from my hometown of Hong Kong called me a liar. I was there as a representative from the civil society organization Hong Kong Watch, participating in a session on discrimination against women in China—which included the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

"U.S. debate over China is anchored in two prevalent narratives: one emphasizing the country’s strengths, the other spotlighting its liabilities," writes @Ali_Wyne "Ironically, both arise from a place of anxiety and are likely to induce defensiveness."-www.chinafile.com/re...

Debating Whether China Is Getting Stronger or Weaker Won’t Make U.S. Policy More Sound | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com Does the United States have more to fear from a powerful China that continues to strengthen or from a powerful China that begins to decline? While the question takes into account the economic, military, and diplomatic strides China has made over the past quarter-century—its starting point, after all, is that China is powerful—it seems to embed a questionable, two-part premise:

Reposted by

ChinaFile

Among those incarcerated in Xinjiang are Uyhurs with disabilities and other health problems that make the harm they suffer even more acute, and highlight the indiscriminate nature of detention in the region. @RayhanAsat has gathered some of their stories. www.chinafile.com/re...

No One Is Talking About the Plight of Uyghurs with Disabilities in Detention. The World Owes Them More. | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com In 2016, Chinese authorities began rounding up Uyghur intellectuals. Among those detained was Ababekri Muhtar, the founder of Misranim, a popular social media site used by Uyghurs to debate with and learn from each other. Muhtar relies on a wheelchair for mobility, but this did not exempt him from the brutal treatment authorities inflicted upon the Uyghurs they had detained.

Reposted by

ChinaFile

The Biden administration has resisted articulating a clear vision of what success in its China policy would look like, writes @AEI's @zackcooper. Should it? www.chinafile.com/re...

Does America Have an End Game on China? | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com This fall, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan noted that the Biden administration is “often asked about the end state of U.S. competition with China.” He argued that “we do not expect a transformative end state like the one that resulted from the collapse of the Soviet Union.” Instead, the Biden administration has identified three lines of effort in U.S. relations

The Biden administration has resisted articulating a clear vision of what success in its China policy would look like, writes @AEI's @zackcooper. Should it? www.chinafile.com/re...

Reposted by

ChinaFile

Do artists have a responsibility to serve as a force for social change? ChinaFile's Susan Jakes will discuss this and more with Xyza Cruz Bacani, a Filipina interdisciplinary artist who seeks to amplify marginalized voices. 11/20, 6:30pm, Asia Society NY https://rb.gy/f1vv4k

Up Close with Xyza Cruz Bacani: Artist in Servicerb.gy Filipina interdisciplinary artist Xyza Cruz Bacani discusses the journey she has taken to becoming a widely acclaimed photographer and her commitment to using art in the service of greater societal good. Moderated by ChinaFile's Susan Jakes

China in the World Podcast is also celebrating their 10th anniversary this year! Check out their latest episode, "10 Years of U.S.-China Trade Relations" featuring lookback interviews with key scholars and diplomats: www.chinafile.com/li...

10 Years of U.S.-China Trade Relations | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com Trade ties between the U.S. and China have undergone significant changes since the launch of the China in the World podcast 10 years ago. This episode helps shed light on the evolution of U.S.-China trade relations over that time.

China's push to use a non-dollar oil trading mechanism with Saudi Arabia has potentially significant consequences for the U.S., writes Chris Vassallo of Asia Society's Policy Institute www.chinafile.com/re... 1/3

China-Saudi RMB Settlement Will Insulate the Oil Trade from U.S. Sanctions | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com In recent years, Beijing has made efforts to facilitate the settlement of China-Saudi oil trade in renminbi (RMB) rather than in U.S. dollars, a move that would steel China’s trade from financial sanctions and disrupt the global market for oil.

And one more thanks to Sim Chi Yin, who took the amazing photos from our event! Again, you can watch the video here: www.chinafile.com/re...

ChinaFile Presents: China Reporting in Exile | ChinaFilewww.chinafile.com ChinaFile and The New York Review of Books co-hosted a panel discussion with Chinese journalists working from abroad. Participants included reporter, editor, and digital media entrepreneur Annie Jieping Zhang, New York Times columnist Li Yuan, investigative journalist and essayist Jiang Xue, and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Ian Johnson. ChinaFile Editor-in-Chief Susan Jakes

A huge thanks to our panelists and audience for a great event Monday night. Even with the heavy topic, we had a lot of fun.

Our event tonight is officially sold out! tinyurl.com/bcuaphzm If you didn't get a ticket, never fear -- we'll be posting the video in a few days. Thanks to everyone for your support! Looking forward to tonight.

[SOLD OUT] ChinaFile Presents: China Reporting in Exiletinyurl.com In recent years, many of China’s most distinguished journalists have found themselves living and working outside of China. Their work is creating new communities of readers and thinkers in a rapidly changing Chinese diaspora.

We're just a few days away from our 10th anniversary event! ChinaFile Presents: China Reporting in Exile October 30, 6:30-8pm at Asia Society New York asiasociety.org/new-...

ChinaFile Presents: China Reporting in Exileasiasociety.org In recent years, many of China’s most distinguished journalists have found themselves living and working outside of China. Their work is creating new communities of readers and thinkers in a rapidly changing Chinese diaspora.

Reposted by

ChinaFile

A dozen recommendations from me this week—China stories (as always), the new memorial to victims of the Triangle Fire, the Balkans' informal courier network, and at @chinafile.bsky.social, Dan Murphy shows what the Global Times changed when they translated one of his op-eds (without permission).

Weekly Wanderings: October 15, 2023mauracunningham.org Only links from me this week—thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your Sunday. China StoriesSophie Beach, “Interview with Lhadon Tethong on Tibet’s Colonial Boarding Schools: ‘They Are St...

Reposted by

ChinaFile

China's United Front Work Department is not a household name outside of China. If you have heard of it at all, it's probably because of what the it does, or is purported to do, outside of China. But it also has a wide ranging agenda at home.

Holding Swaywww.chinafile.com In most parts of the world, the United Front Work Department is known—if at all—as a secretive Chinese Communist Party organ conducting influence operations abroad. But in Gonghe Village, the loca...

Reposted by

ChinaFile

Thank you to @chinafile.bsky.social for publishing my interview with Samm Sacks about my forthcoming article on China's turn to privacy law. I was glad to have a chance to talk more about the paper. www.chinafile.com/reporting-op...

"Photographer Billy HC Kwok roams Hong Kong, acutely attuned to the quieter changes reshaping his city." www.chinafile.com/multimedia/p...

Reposted by

ChinaFile

An outstanding must-read piece by Jessica Batke on United Front work in China on @chinafile.bsky.social. www.chinafile.com/reporting-op...

End of feed.