Suggested Readings: January 7-14, 2019

作者：Robert A. Kapp  来源：US-China Perception Monitor

January 7 – 14, 2019

China Domestic

https://www.vifindia.org/2019/january/09/situation-in-china-in-2019 This article by an Indian strategic policy figure predicts that 2019 will be a year of growing troubles for China and its leadership – which is not surprising.  What makes the article useful is its bringing together in one place so many of the fragmentary reports of political and economic uneasiness below the surface in today’s PRC.  Regrettably, no hyperlinks.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Company-in-focus/China-s-Ctrip-faces-turbulence-in-journey-to-the-top?utm_campaign=RN%20Subscriber%20newsletter&utm_medium=daily%20newsletter&utm_source=NAR%20Newsletter&utm_content=article%20link  Great look at CTrip, China’s biggest online travel agency – its achievements and its challenges.

https://www.amchamchina.org/news/how-chinese-startups-stand-out-anna-fang-zhenfund?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=12k-startups-are-created-everyday-in-china,-but-how-are-they-funded?&utm_medium=email From AmCham China, a fine interview piece on the world of Chinese startups.  Great read, and very informative.

https://www.cfr.org/blog/boost-flagging-growth-china-doubles-down-its-least-productive-sector  To boost slowing economy, PRC plans more infrastructure investment.  This site questions the wisdom of that, noting that infrastructure investment is already low-productivity in China.

https://www.ft.com/content/d79274c0-13f3-11e9-a581-4ff78404524e?segmentId=6132a895-e068-7ddc-4cec-a1abfa5c8378 HK prepares to mandate PRC national anthem in international schools in HK.  A broader discussion ensues in this article.

http://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/viewpoint/now-we-dont-talk-anymore  A powerful and devastating report on the situation in Xinjiang.

China Global

https://warontherocks.com/2019/01/when-the-china-dream-and-the-european-dream-collide/  One analyst’s take on rising awareness and concern in Europe over China’s growing economic and military reach.
https://www.chinausfocus.com/article/2019/0108/17621.html Cato Institute’s Doug Bandow lays out a very serious and comprehensive critique of trends in today’s China and the ripple effects they have on China’s global relationships. Title is “President Xi Jinping is Sacrificing What Made China Great.”  Published in China-US Focus, which is sometimes accused of subtly influencing foreign opinion in pro-China directions.  Not this time.

U.S.-China

http://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/viewpoint/normalization-of-sino-american-relations-40-years-later MUST READ.  Prof. Jerome Cohen, whose revered work on China spans more than a half-century, beautifully expresses the defense of Normalization of diplomatic relations in 1979, in today’s climate of recrimination and retrospective blame-gaming.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/rethinking-us-primacy-east-asia-40972  Paul Heer, long a CIA China specialist, argues that US pursuit of continuing “primacy” in the Asia-Pacific region is now outdated and futile:              “If U.S. primacy in the region is not materially sustainable, it becomes untenable to define it as a vital interest that must be upheld.” Argues for re-definition of China’s intentions and adjustment of US plans and expectations.

https://warontherocks.com/2019/01/jaw-jaw-rethinking-our-assumptions-about-chinese-aggression/  A second contrarian entry, this one an intellectually stimulating podcast with Prof. Lyle Goldstein of the U.S. Naval War College.  The host/questioner, Prof. (and former Congressman) Brad Carson of the University of Virginia, does a great job.  Goldstein offers a blunt counter-view to the prevailing perception of China as an aggressive and existential threat to the U.S.  Take the 45 minutes and listen in a quiet space. Goldstein is courageous, in the current climate, e.g. at 36:00.

https://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/the-40th-anniversary-of-us-china-relations-looking-back-and-looking-forward  Senior American China specialist David Shambaugh looks back over forty years since establishment of US-PRC diplomatic relations, recognizes the “thick” bonds that now link the two countries, and cautions about the future challenge of managing wide-ranging “competition.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/09/business/us-china-trade-talks-beijing.html  Another temporizing article, noting the conclusion of mid-level US-China trade talks in Beijing with nothing firm to report on ultimate outcomes.

Taiwan Issues

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1134550.shtml#.XC7Assh6Kgs.twitter  The “nationalistic” Global Times English edition offers comments by three academics on the Taiwan “unification” situation, following Xi Jinping’s big speech on the subject.

来源时间：2019/6/18   发布时间：2019/1/14

旧文章ID：18877