Mar 23, 2012

Bowing out with a farewell of great expectation

by Tom Plate

What was most amazing to Westerners at least -and perhaps, especially, to the Chinese people — was that his comments were broadcast live on official China TV. After all, his official observations weren’t exactly pretty. Here is the back-story. In every historical movement and ...

Mar 17, 2012

More than meets the eye in Beijing

While many dismiss China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) as a “rubber stamp,” its annual meeting provides valuable insight into the thinking in Beijing. This year’s 10-day conclave, which concluded earlier this week, was scrutinized particularly closely since China is set for a leadership transition ...

Jan 3, 2012

Unnerving year for Northeast Asia

While 2011 was “the great unraveling,” 2012 holds out the prospect of equally consequential changes for Asia, but the inflection points are visible well ahead of time. The most notable feature of the calendar will be elections that are scheduled to be held throughout ...