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☆ Zhongnanhai: The scenic garden that became China’s secretive seat of power
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-25 | by ( Jonathan Chatwin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

As the seat of power, Zhongnanhai is often thought of as China’s equivalent to the White House, or the Kremlin. Architectural changesThere have been serious revisions to the architecture of Zhongnanhai since the end of imperial rule in 1912. Having re-established Zhongnanhai as a center of political power in the new China, Mao set about rebuilding the compound according to his tastes. “It was here,” noted Aldrich, “with the background trappings of a scholar, that he met Nixon and Kissinger in 1972.”Most subsequent leaders have preferred to keep a house outside the Zhongnanhai compound. However, the compound hasn’t always been so forbidden for the masses following the collapse of China’s imperial dynasty.

Persons: Jonathan Chatwin, “, Deng Xiaoping, Leung Chun, Xi Jinping, Simon Song, Xi Jinping’s, Ming, Geremie Barmé, Qianlong, Feng Li, ” Linda Jaivin, ”, Dowager Cixi, Zhongnanhai, Cixi, Dowager, M, Aldrich, Mao Zedong, ” Aldrich, China’s, Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shikai ‘, William Lewisohn, Xinhuamen, William Cooper, —, Qianlong Emperor, Yuan, Invincible Mao, — Mao, Kangxi, Mao, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi, Zhang Wentian, Nikita Khrushchev, Khrushchev, Nixon, Kissinger, Hu Jintao, Jiang Zemin, Newscom Aldrich, Mao’s, Li Zhisui, Xi, Chicago's Walter, Hu Yaobang, Gong, “ Heck Organizations: CNN, Bell, Communist Party, CCP, White, Hong, China Morning, University of Bristol Library, Great Communist Party of China, ”, Shuangqing Villa, Alamy, State Council, China’s Politburo, Huairen, Chicago's Walter Payton College Preparatory, New York Times, Zhongnanhai, Bloomberg Locations: Modern China, Prospect, Tiananmen, Hong Kong, Zhongnanhai, City, China, Beijing, “, People’s Republic, New China, Arlington, Peking, Xinjiang, Russian, Beihai, Beijing’s, Huairen, Qinzheng Hall

☆ Drag queen Nymphia Wind performs at Taiwan’s presidential office
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Christy Choi | Wayne Chang | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Taipei, Taiwan CNN —Taiwanese drag queen Nymphia Wind gave a riotous performance at Taiwan’s presidential office on Wednesday, celebrating her win on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” last month. Taiwanese drag queen Nymphia Wind shakes hands with Taiwan's outgoing leader Tsai Ing-wen. Taiwanese drag queen Nymphia Wind performs on May 15, 2024. Nymphia Wind attends "RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 16 finale screening at The Edge at Hudson Yards. Nymphia Wind and Jimbo onstage at the "RuPaul's Drag Race" season 16 finale screening event on April 19, 2024 in New York City.

Persons: Nymphia, Tsai Ing, Gaga’s “, Huang Fei’s “ Chase, Chase, ”, ” Nymphia, Tsai, Wang Yu Ching, Xi Jinping, Lai Ching, Taiwan’s, popstar, “, Sun, Sun Yat Sen, Santiago Felipe, Leo Tsao, that’s, Jimbo, ” Tsai Organizations: Taiwan CNN, Communist Party, Democratic Progressive Party, DPP, Facebook, Weibo, Sun Yat, Hudson Yards, Reuters Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, ” Taiwan, Beijing, Taiwanese, Asia, China, Taiwan’s, East, Santiago, West, New York City

☆ China’s Xi to host former Taiwan president in Beijing, in rare meeting echoing bygone era of warmer ties
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Nectar Gan | Wayne Chang | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Joint concerns over China’s increasing assertiveness under Xi, including toward Taiwan, are a key driver of that summit. Chinese leader Xi Jinping shakes hands with then Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou before their meeting in Singapore on November 7, 2015. Taiwan's former President Ma Ying-jeou speaks to reporters ahead of his visit to China at the Taoyuan International Airport on April 1, 2024. Ma Ying-jeou” or former chairman of the KMT, with no mention of his former role as the president of Taiwan. Reaction in TaiwanMa’s itinerary – and his meeting with Xi – has been closely watched in Taiwan.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Ma Ying, Xi, Chiang Kai, Eric Chu, Ma, ” Chu, Lai Ching, Joe Biden, Biden, Fumio Kishida, Roslan Rahman, Amanda Hsiao, “, underscoring, ’ ”, Tsai Ing, –, Lai, Lai’s, fixating, ”, ” Sung, China –, Ma’s, Hsiao, Yan Zhao, Mr, Sun, Xi –, Sung, ” Ma, James Chen Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Beijing, Kuomintang, KMT, China’s, shek’s Nationalists, –, Democratic Progressive Party, CNN Beijing, Japanese, Getty, International Crisis, Atlantic, “, Taoyuan International Airport, Communists, Nationalists, Atlantic Council, Taiwan’s Tamkang University, DPP Locations: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Beijing, Taipei, Singapore, Washington, Japan, Philippines, AFP, Taoyuan, Guangzhou, Republic of China, Shaanxi, United States, China . Washington

☆ He was once hailed as the pride of China. Now nationalists are coming for this Nobel laureate
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Now, some of China’s most zealous online nationalists have a new target in their crosshairs: the country’s first officially recognized Nobel laureate. Mo Yan receives the 2012 Nobel Literature Prize from King Carl Gustaf of Sweden during an award ceremony on December 10, 2012 in Stockholm. He accused Wu of creating a publicity stunt by “maliciously framing” the Nobel laureate and taking his words out of context. In 2011, he was named the vice chairman of the state-run Chinese Writers Association – an appointment that could not have been made without the blessing of the party. In 2022, Sima Nan, a nationalist pundit known for his inflammatory criticism of the United States, famously accused Mo’s Nobel win of being a Western effort to smear China.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN — They’ve, Mo Yan, Xi Jinping, Xi, Wu Wanzheng, Mao Xinghuo, Wu, Guan Moye, –, Mo, King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, Jonathan Nackstrand, ” Zhang Yongsheng, Hu Xijin, Hu, ”, Murong Xuecun, “ Xi, Mao, Writers Association –, Liu Xiaobo, Liu, caricaturize, “, doesn’t, Sima Nan, Mo’s Nobel, ” Murong Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Communist Party, Communist, Getty, Red Guards, Tongji University, Global Times, Writers Association, Chinese Writers Association Locations: China, Hong Kong, Mo, Weibo, Stockholm, AFP, Shanghai, Beijing, Shandong, United States

☆ Shares in China's iFlyTek tumble after reports AI-powered device criticised Mao
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An iFlytek company sign is seen at the Appliance and Electronics World Expo (AWE) in Shanghai, China March 23, 2021. It has proposed the compilation of a blacklist of sources that cannot be used to train Chinese AI models. IFlyTek on Tuesday revealed its latest Spark AI model which the company says can rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT in most key areas. Liu said iFlytek’s model could compete with OpenAI’s GPT-4 early next year. The company also said that it is working with Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL) on an AI model training platform which uses Huawei’s flagship AI chips.

Persons: Aly, Mao Zedong, Baijiahao, Mao, iFlyTek, Liu Qingfeng, OpenAI’s, Liu, Josh Ye, Brenda Goh, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Appliance, Electronics, REUTERS, Reuters, Communist Party, Huawei Technologies, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, HONG KONG, iFlytek

☆ Cartoon elves and scrolls visualize Chinese military’s goal of Taiwan ‘reunification’
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

It has long vowed to “reunify” Taiwan with the Chinese mainland, by force if necessary. The Chinese painting "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" displayed in its entirety in the National Palace Museum Taipei on June 1, 2011. As a result, the scroll has long been seen as a living symbol of the division between China and Taiwan. Visitors look at "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" at the National Palace Museum Taipei on June 1, 2011. The “Escape from the British Museum” series “has struck a chord in people’s hearts and reflects the deep patriotic sentiments,” said one article in the state-run tabloid Global Times.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, “, Patrick lin, Huang Gongwang, —, Shi Tang, Xi Jinping, ” Xi’s, Chiang Kai, Mao Zedong’s, ” Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Eastern Theater Command, People’s Liberation Army, PLA, Communist Party, Theater Command, Palace Museum, Getty, National, Museum, Zhejiang Provincial Museum, National Palace Museum, Taiwan, World Health Organization, Olympic Games, Asian, British Museum ’, British Museum, Beijing’s, Nationalist, Global Times, British Locations: Hong Kong, Taiwan Strait, People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Palace Museum Taipei, AFP, Taipei, Hangzhou, China, National Palace Museum Taipei, Beijing, Ukraine, Fujian, London, Mao Zedong’s Communist, Greater China

☆ China's Xi, not premier, delivers National Day speech in break with convention
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Chinese President Xi Jinping toasts to guests during a reception dinner at the Great Hall of the People ahead of China's National Day in Beijing, China on September 28, 2023. Since assuming the office of president in March 2013, Xi has previously delivered a speech twice at the annual reception, usually held on the eve of National Day on Oct. 1. The first time Xi delivered it was in 2014 during a reception with over 3,000 guests, far more than the 1,200 normal at that time. In 2019, Xi again delivered a speech at the reception, which that year marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. At Thursday's reception, Xi told his guests that China must continue to climb over "obstacles" as his current premier, Li Qiang, listened intently at his banquet table, according to footage aired by China's national broadcaster.

Persons: Xi Jinping toasts, Jade Gao, Xi Jinping, Xi, Li Shangfu, Li Qiang, intently, Ryan Woo, Hugh Lawson Organizations: of, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, China's, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING, People's Republic of China

☆ US Senate secures votes to advance temporary government funding bill
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

China category · September 28, 2023 · 1:30 PM UTCAt a dinner reception before the 74th anniversary of the founding of modern China on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the nation to "work together in unity" in a speech more usually delivered by the premier.

Persons: Xi Jinping Locations: China

☆ Rain pelts Beijing for fourth day, northern cities on disaster alert
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] A man carries a child through the mud after floods, in a neighbourhood affected by days of heavy rain from remnants of Typhoon Doksuri, in Beijing, China, August 1, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas PeterBEIJING, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Relentless rain stretched into a fourth day in Beijing and nearby cities on Tuesday after a typhoon brought northern China non-stop precipitation and widespread flooding. Rivers have swollen to dangerous levels, prompting Beijing to use a flood storage reservoir for the first time since it was built 25 years ago. Beijing's Mentougou district in the west saw dramatic damage a day before, after torrential rains turned roads into rivers, sweeping cars away. In July 2012, Beijing was hit by the strongest storm since the founding of modern China, with the city receiving 190.3mm of rain in one day, affecting more than 1.6 million people.

Persons: Doksuri, Thomas Peter BEIJING, Liz Lee, Ryan Woo, Tom Hogue Organizations: REUTERS, CCTV, Shanghai, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Tianjin, Hebei province, Beijing's Mentougou, 738.3mm, South, Hebei, Britain, Fujian

☆ If Elon Musk understood anything about China, he'd know his attempt to make X a super app like WeChat is doomed to fail
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Elon Musk thinks turning X into an everything app like WeChat could make the company profitable. Elon Musk may be going all in with his plan to turn X into an everything app in the vein of China's WeChat. In fact, Musk gave us all some insight into what X might one day look like when he expressed his admiration for China's everything app, WeChat, last summer. We don't have anything like that outside of China," Musk continued. Even foreigners would be hard pressed to make their way around China without using the WeChat app to make simple purchases.

Persons: Elon, Musk, WeChat, HECTOR RETAMAL, he's, —, Feng Kaihua, Tencent, China's Didi Chuxing, doesn't Organizations: Morning, PayPal, Twitter, Getty Images, Facebook, Getty, Netflix, YouTube Locations: China, AFP, Xinhua

☆ China unveils sweeping foreign policy law as Xi consolidates power — and aims to counter the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Hong Kong CNN —China has unveiled a sweeping foreign relations law enshrining its right to impose “countermeasures” against actions that it deems a threat – in Beijing’s latest bid to bolster its position amid strained relations with the West. “This is the first comprehensive foreign relations law … but it (reads) more like Xi Jinping’s foreign policy declaration,” Zhao said, adding that its release comes at a moment when Xi is focused on countering what it sees as US efforts to contain China. “The party, not the government, runs China’s foreign relations. The law also includes China’s pledge to promote “high-level opening-up” of its economy, development of foreign trade and and encouraging and legally protecting foreign investment. In recent months, a campaign against consulting and due diligence firms has unnerved foreign businesses in China.

Persons: enshrining, Antony Blinken, Jinping, –, Zhao Leji, “, Xi, Washington, Lockheed Martin, Suisheng Zhao, University of Denver’s Josef, ” Zhao, ”, China’s, Sung, Li Qiang, Zhao Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, West, Global Times, Lockheed, Raytheon, Communist Party, Center for, Cooperation, University of Denver’s, University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, Australian National University’s Taiwan Studies Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing’s, Beijing, China’s, United States, Ukraine, Taiwan, Center for China, Tianjin, Europe, Denver

☆ Under Xi Jinping, China's military has become an untouchable nationalist symbol
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Yue’s alleged transgression: “uglifying” and “insulting” China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Under Xi, China passed a law in 2018 to ban the slander of national “heroes and martyrs,” a crime punishable by up to three years in prison. To outsiders, it may appear puzzling that China’s military, the largest and one of the most powerful in the world, would be so easily offended by a seemingly tame joke. Xi has staked his legitimacy on returning China to its former greatness, and a strong and powerful military plays a key role in driving that nationalist agenda. He has also ramped up China’s military posturing, sending fighter jets and warships to the Taiwan Strait and around the disputed islands with Japan.

☆ Xi Jinping says no to ‘street stall economy’ in Beijing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —Chinese President Xi Jinping has opposed the lifting of curbs on street vendors in Beijing, signaling splits within government over a policy shift aimed at tackling rising unemployment. In a recent tour of the Xiongan New Area, a city south of Beijing, Xi unusually revealed his personal views about the “street stall economy,” according to a report earlier this week by China’s state-owned Xinhua news agency. “The capital city is first and foremost a political center, not a ‘hodgepodge’, where ‘factories in alleys’ and the ‘street stall economy’ are not allowed,” he said. It’s unclear whether the capital must now comply with Xi’s views and outlaw street vendors once again. But the recent policy reversal was made against a backdrop of growing challenges facing the world’s second largest economy.

☆ Obituary: China's Jiang Zemin confounded doubters, mended U.S. ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/5] A security guard stands next to a portrait of China's former President Jiang Zemin at an exhibition to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing, China, July 7, 2011. Under Jiang, China weathered the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001 and won the bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. "Jiang Zemin was more ready to be natural, even though sometimes it could be perceived as vulgar, not very sophisticated." At celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the People's Republic in 1999, floats carried giant portraits of Mao, Deng and Jiang past Tiananmen Square. Jiang, like Mao, wore his trousers well above his waist and brushed his hair straight back.

CNN —China’s vast security apparatus has moved swiftly to smother mass protests that swept the country, with police patrolling streets, checking cell phones and even calling some demonstrators to warn them against a repeat. While protests over local grievances do occur in China, the current wave of demonstrations is the most widespread since the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement of 1989. Some of the boldest protests took place in Shanghai, where crowds called for Xi’s removal two nights in a row. Police cars patrol Shanghai's Urumqi Road, which has been completely blocked off by tall barricades after a weekend of protests. Another Shanghai protester told CNN they were among “around 80 to 110” people detained by police on Saturday night, adding they were released 24 hours later.

☆ China names Xi Jinping loyalists for core leadership group
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

China's President Xi Jinping (L) walks with members of the Chinese Communist Party's new Politburo Standing Committee, the nation's top decision-making body, as they meet the media in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 23, 2022. BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping broke precedent Sunday by paving the way for his third term as president, and the likely appointment of a premier with no prior experience as vice premier. Li Qiang, party secretary of Shanghai, walked out second behind Xi at a meeting with press on Sunday. Li is a known Xi loyalist and oversaw stringent Covid controls in Shanghai earlier this year. However, Li Qiang has not previously held a vice premier role, according to a state media biography.

☆ China says it's running on a new version of democracy that doesn't rely on elections. Experts say it's just another mind game.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

He first introduced the term "whole-process democracy" to China in a 2019 speech. However, by November that year, "whole-process democracy" was mentioned in 128 People's Daily articles, per CMP. "China's whole-process people's democracy integrates process-oriented democracy with results-oriented democracy, procedural democracy with substantive democracy, direct democracy with indirect democracy and people's democracy with the will of the state," says China's white paper on the subject, per CGTN. Semantics aside, a key point to note is that "whole-process democracy" plays down the need for elections. Even so, Chong said, whole-process democracy might still help the CCP give the impression that it cares about the average citizen.

☆ China's top leaders are set for a reshuffle. Here are the names to watch
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

China's top leadership team around President Xi Jinping is set to change this month at a twice-a-decade congress. One of the most closely watched changes in the political reshuffle is the future of Premier Li Keqiang, who turned 67 this year. However, he could remain a standing committee member, JPMorgan analysts said, pointing to a precedent at the 15th party congress. Huang Kunming — Politburo member and head of China's propaganda department, who worked closely with Xi in the provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang, the report said. Yang Jiechi, a 72-year-old Politburo member and director of the party's central committee foreign affairs office, is widely expected to retire.

Passengers wearing face masks following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak sit in a sightseeing bus during a night tour, ahead of the Chinese National Day Golden Week holiday in Beijing, China September 26, 2022. REUTERS/Florence LoBEIJING, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Travel during China's Golden Week holiday, which begins on Saturday, is set to hit its lowest in years, analysts say, as COVID-19 concerns spur calls for people to avoid travel and keep to their cities, while economic woes damp spending. If trips this holiday reached half the levels of 2019 and spending over the period reached 30% to 40% of holiday spending before the pandemic, that would amount to a "pretty good" result, he added. In the past two years, China's Golden Week travel and spending have fallen short of the levels of 2019, which racked up 782 million trips and tourism revenue of 650 billion yuan ($90 billion). Sanya "is not back", said Shirley, the manager of a luxury store in the city, where travel industry workers despair of the return of Golden Week tourists.

☆ China's ex-justice minister faces life in jail amid purge of security officials
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Fu, 67, was handed a suspended death sentence that will be commuted to life imprisonment after two years, with no possibility of parole, according to state media. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterIn July, Fu admitted accepting bribes exceeding 117 million yuan ($16.50 million). On Wednesday, three former police chiefs of Shanghai, Chongqing and Shanxi province were sentenced to years in jail - including one for life - for corruption. The purges came three weeks ahead of a once-in-five-years congress of the ruling Communist Party where Xi is widely expected to secure a precedent-breaking third term as China's leader. ($1=7.0896 Chinese yuan)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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