Frank Ching - The Japan Times

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Frank Ching

Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based writer who has covered developments in China for several decades. He opened The Wall Street Journal’s Bureau in Beijing after the U.S. and China established diplomatic relations in 1979, becoming one of the first American reporters to be based in China since 1949.

For Frank Ching's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY / Japan

Sep 16, 2015

China won't win friends by flexing its muscles

While China has trumpeted its desire for peace, its Sept. 3 display of military prowess is bound to spur concerns in other capitals.

Japan Times

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 1, 2015

Human rights will loom large in Xi's U.S. visit

If Washington now shifts to reciprocity as an instrument as part of a tougher stance toward China, it will substantially strengthen its hand, not only in human rights but in other areas as well.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Aug 18, 2015

Abe's address fails to achieve desired closure

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's speech did not succeed in providing a sense of closure. In some ways it reopens old arguments, implying that Japan was not really responsible for its role in the war.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 7, 2015

Beijing's chilling new national security law

China's new national security law is worrying on several levels, both because of what it says and because of what is left ambiguous.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 10, 2015

New twist in Hong Kong's democracy movement

Not only do many young people in Hong Kong no longer care about building democracy in China, they don't even care about China.

Japan Times

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 14, 2015

South China Sea standoff

Beijing must be feeling the pressure from the U.S. to stop its campaign of turning tiny reefs in the South China Sea into artificial islands capable of military use.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 19, 2015

Default to 'Chinese characteristics' has limits

How will China define 'major country diplomacy' so as to benefit both sides? There will be little interest in this type of diplomacy if Beijing attempts to qualify it as having 'Chinese characteristics.'

Japan Times

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 9, 2014

Is Beijing breaching the Joint Declaration?

Thirty years ago this month, Britain and China signed the declaration on the Question of Hong Kong under which London agreed to restore Hong Kong to China in 1997 and Beijing agreed to allow it a 'high degree of autonomy' until 2047. But China's deputy ambassador seems to be asserting that the declaration is now void.

Japan Times

COMMENTARY / Japan

Nov 14, 2014

Japan can't afford to remain isolated in the region

Japan cannot afford to remain isolated in its own neighborhood. It's high time that it mended fences with China and South Korea.

Japan Times

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 14, 2014

Hong Kong a growing thorn in Sino-American relations

Just as China and the U.S. are preparing for another Xi Jinping-Barack Obama summit, this time in Beijing for the annual APEC leaders meeting, China is stepping up charges that Washington is secretly supporting student-led pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 3, 2014

Structure self with propriety, Confucius said

When President Xi Jinping addressed the International Confucian Association to mark the 2,565th anniversary of the birth of Confucius, he did not remind listeners that Mao Zedong had launched a nationwide campaign to flame the philosopher.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 5, 2014

Will China's tough stance backfire in Hong Kong?

The Beijing government may think that by blocking Hong Kong's progress toward the democratic election of a chief executive, it is safeguarding both the region's and the nation's economic interests. But it is quite likely to have the opposite effect.

COMMENTARY / World

May 18, 2014

China plays down GDP size

China's government does not sound comfortable with new World Bank figures indicating that China will overtake the U.S. this year and become the No. 1 economy.

COMMENTARY / World

May 1, 2014

Heavy metal contaminants stalk China's farms

China released a report in April disclosing that much of its arable land is contaminated with heavy metals that are entering the food chain. It doesn't bode well for consumers and suggests that China increasingly will have to import food.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 10, 2014

Sino-American trade and investment friction

In recent years, U.S. exports to China have been growing faster than Chinese exports to the U.S. Similarly Chinese investment in the U.S. is growing faster than U.S. investment in China. Trade frictions are inevitable.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 13, 2013

Cameron eats humble pie in China

British Prime Minister David Cameron was feted by China's leaders during his recent three-day trip to the country, but much of his diet consisted of humble pie.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 2, 2013

China girds to open sectors to foreign investors

It appears that China's leaders are cautiously preparing to let foreign investors enter any industry other than those on a 'negative list.'

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 12, 2013

U.S. media pay high price for Chinese censorship

While car tires and chicken meat get the attention of American trade officials, blatant instances of Chinese censorship have led to dire consequences for the U.S. media sector.

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 20, 2013

Taiwan opposition leery of China trade accord

The opposition DPP generally understands the economic realities facing Taiwan, but it is apprehensive of the political perils of a closer trade and services partnership with China.

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 6, 2013

Does China's left turn indicate reforms ahead?

Some analysts believe that China's turn to the left and its crackdown on democratic ideas are tactical moves that foreshadow the launch of major reforms later this fall.

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