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But Mr. Li maintained that China was on the right track. China had “withstood external pressures and overcome internal hardships,” Mr. Li told the National People’s Congress, a Communist Party controlled body that approves laws and budgets. “The economy is generally rebounding.”The National People’s Congress, a choreographed weeklong event, typically focuses on the government’s near-term initiatives, especially economic objectives. China’s growth goal, and the ways that the government is attempting to achieve it, are under intense international scrutiny this year. Communist Party leaders are trying to restore confidence in China’s long-term prospects and to harness new drivers of growth, such as clean energy and electric vehicles.

Persons: Li, ” Mr, Li’s Organizations: Stock, National People’s Congress, Communist Party, People’s Congress Locations: China

In the months leading up to a pivotal presidential election for Taiwan, candidates have focused on who can best handle the island democracy’s volatile relationship with China, with its worries about the risks of war. But at a recent forum in Taipei, younger voters instead peppered two of the candidates with questions about everyday issues like rent, telecom scams and the voting age. It was a telling distillation of the race, the outcome of which will have far-reaching implications for Taiwan. The island is a potential flashpoint between the United States and China, which claims Taiwan as its territory and has signaled that it could escalate military threats if the Democratic Progressive Party wins. A considerable number expressed disillusionment with Taiwan’s two dominant parties, the governing Democratic Progressive Party and the opposition Nationalist Party.

Organizations: Democratic Progressive Party, Nationalist Party Locations: Taiwan, China, Taipei, United States

☆ Behind Public Assurances, Xi Jinping Spread Grim Views on U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Chris Buckley | More About Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When President Xi Jinping of China made his first state visit to the United States in 2015, he wrapped his demands for respect in reassurances. He denied that China was militarizing the disputed South China Sea, while asserting its maritime claims there. He spoke hopefully of a “new model” for great power relations, in which Beijing and Washington would coexist peacefully as equals. In Mr. Xi’s telling, China sought to rise peacefully, but Western powers would not accept the idea that a Communist-led China was catching up and could someday overtake them in global primacy. The West would never stop trying to derail China’s ascent and topple its Communist Party, he said in speeches to the military that are largely unreported by the media.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Xi, Xi’s Organizations: People’s, Army, Communist Party Locations: China, United States, reassurances, Beijing, Washington, Communist

☆ Li Keqiang, Former Chinese Premier, Dies of Heart Attack at 68
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Chris Buckley | More About Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

China’s former premier, Li Keqiang, died of a heart attack on Friday, Chinese state media announced — an abruptly early end to a leader who had served alongside Xi Jinping for a decade until March. Mr. Li, 68, was visiting Shanghai when he suddenly suffered the heart failure near midnight on Thursday, a report on Chinese state television said. “All efforts to resuscitate him failed,” said the report. Mr. Li was once considered a potential top leader of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. But in the end, he was overtaken by Mr. Xi, and became China’s premier — its prime minister — in 2013.

Persons: Li Keqiang, —, Xi Jinping, Li, ”, Xi Organizations: Mr, Communist Party Locations: Shanghai

☆ China Dismisses Defense Minister Amid Swirl of Speculation
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Chris Buckley | More About Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just four months ago, China’s defense minister, Gen. Li Shangfu, was at a forum for regional officials in Singapore, serving as the face of his country’s bold vision for reshaping Asia’s balance of power. China’s announcement on Tuesday ended some uncertainty about General Li’s professional fate but leaves open questions about whether he is being investigated for any offenses. Officials in the United States had earlier said that Chinese authorities had placed him under investigation for corruption. General Li is the second Chinese minister to be purged this year without explanation and under a cloud of suspicion; the foreign minister, Qin Gang, was dismissed in July. The general’s removal also followed an abrupt shake-up in the leadership of China’s nuclear force, the highest-level upheaval in China’s military in recent years.

Persons: Li Shangfu, Li, Xi Jinping, Li’s, General Li, Qin Gang Organizations: United States Locations: Singapore, China, United States, United

☆ China’s Military Is Making Risky Moves and Adding Nuclear Warheads, U.S. Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Chris Buckley | More About Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Risky ManeuversSince the fall of 2021, the Pentagon report says, the United States has recorded more than 180 intercepts of U.S. aircraft by Chinese military forces in the region. Beijing has long bristled at the U.S. military aircraft and ships that operate in international skies and seas near China. Beijing did not immediately comment on the Pentagon report. The most eye-catching evidence of China’s nuclear buildup in recent years has been three clusters of missile silos that have been dug out of the deserts of northern China. The Pentagon report found that construction of the silos had been completed by last year and that “at least some” intercontinental ballistic missiles had been installed in them.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Xi Organizations: Pentagon, U.S, People’s Liberation Army Locations: United States, Beijing, China . China, China, Canada, U.S, Chinese, Taiwan, Russia

☆ China’s Defense Minister Has Not Been Seen in Weeks, Fueling Intrigue
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Chris Buckley | More About Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China’s defense minister, Gen. Li Shangfu, has not been seen in public in more than two weeks, fueling speculation about further upheaval in the military after the abrupt removal of two top commanders in charge of the country’s nuclear force. Just six weeks ago, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, replaced the two most senior commanders of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, which oversees China’s nuclear missiles. The abrupt dismissals suggested that Mr. Xi was seeking to reassert his control over the military and purge perceived corruption, disloyalty and dysfunction from its ranks, analysts have said. Many experts believe that the military commanders may be accused of corruption, though some have said that suspicions of disloyalty toward Mr. Xi may be involved. In July, China also dismissed the foreign minister, Qin Gang — another official who had risen rapidly under Mr. Xi — without explanation.

Persons: Li Shangfu, General Li’s, Li’s, Mao Ning, Xi Jinping, Xi, Qin Gang — Organizations: Chinese Foreign Ministry, People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, Qin Locations: Vietnam, China

China has discouraged the use of foreign-made electronic devices by government officials for a decade. It has told agencies and state-owned companies to replace American computer servers and other devices with domestic ones. And officials frequently show off to Americans their phones made by Huawei, China’s cellphone giant. Now, some employees of government agencies said they have received directives not to use Apple iPhones for work. Chinese authorities have issued no public pronouncements about broader restrictions on iPhones.

Organizations: Huawei, Apple, Street Locations: China, American, U.S

☆ Storms Deluge Hong Kong and Other Southern Chinese Cities
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Chris Buckley | More About Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Torrential rains have pounded southern China, flooding low-lying homes and roads, choking expressways, and prompting officials to suspend classes while the record-breaking storms lingered over the region. By Friday morning, Shenzhen, a southern Chinese commercial city next to Hong Kong, had endured nearly eight inches of rain overnight, in the most intense downpour since records began in 1952, according to the city’s official news service. Hong Kong was hit by about six inches of rainfall in several hours. The Hong Kong Observatory headquarters recorded over six inches in just one hour, the most in that spot since its records began in 1884, according to the South China Morning Post.

Persons: Hong Kong Organizations: Hong Kong Observatory, China Morning Locations: China, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Hong

☆ China’s Economic Pain Is a Test of Xi’s Fixation With Control
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Chris Buckley | More About Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But he may have to relinquish some of that control, as that strategy comes under pressure. The economic setbacks are eroding Mr. Xi’s image of imperious command, and emerging as perhaps the most sustained and thorny challenge to his agenda in over a decade in power. “The worse things get for China’s economy, the more likely it is that Xi Jinping has to make some course correction.”Earlier this year, Mr. Xi started his third term as China’s president, appearing indomitable. He was committed to taming the debt-laden real estate sector even as home sales fell. And he had a new Communist Party leadership team of loyalists poised to push through his growth plans.

Persons: ” Neil Thomas, Xi Jinping, Xi Organizations: Communist Party, Asia Society’s Center for Locations: Asia Society’s Center for China

Vice President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan rose to prominence as a pugnacious opponent of Beijing’s claims over the island. But now, as a leading candidate in Taiwan’s presidential race, he is likely to present a more muted persona when he visits the United States starting Saturday. Expect restraint, not rousing speeches, Taiwanese officials and scholars say. Nonetheless, his stops in New York and San Francisco will be closely watched — in Taiwan, in Beijing and in Washington — for clues to how he might handle crucial relations with the United States and China as president, a top issue in Taiwan’s intense presidential race. And his visit, however low-key, is also likely to prompt an escalation of Chinese military flights and naval maneuvers near Taiwan, bringing into focus the risks of real conflict over its future.

Persons: Lai Ching, Beijing’s, Washington —, there’s, ”, Shu Hsiao, huang, ” Mr, Lai, William Organizations: United States, People’s Liberation Army, Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, Democratic Progressive Party Locations: Taiwan, New York, San Francisco, Beijing, Washington, United States, China, Taipei

Chinese naval ships and air force planes have been edging closer to Taiwan’s territorial seas and skies, probing the island’s vigilance and trying to wear down its military planes and ships. China’s increasing presence there signals its intent to dominate an expanse of sea that could be vital for the island’s defenses, including for securing potential aid from the United States in a conflict, experts say. Mr. Lai leaves on Saturday for Paraguay, and is scheduled to stop in the United States on his way there and back. Beijing regards such transits in the United States as an affront to its stance that Taiwan is not an independent state. Mr. Lai is also the presidential candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party, which supports asserting Taiwan’s separate status, a position that Beijing condemns as “separatism.”

Persons: Lai Ching, Lai, ” Organizations: Pacific, Democratic Progressive Party Locations: China, Taiwan, United States, Beijing, Paraguay

☆ Xi Remade China’s Military to His Liking. Now a Purge Threatens Its Image.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Chris Buckley | More About Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As Xi Jinping has entrenched his hold on power in China, he has likened himself to a physician, eradicating the toxins of corruption and disloyalty that threaten the rule of the Communist Party. And his signature project for over a decade has been bringing to heel the once extravagantly corrupt military leadership. But recent upheavals at high levels of the People’s Liberation Army forces suggest that Mr. Xi’s cure has not endured. “It’s like a virus in the system that has come back. It’s a deep-rooted problem, and it has survived in the system.”

Persons: Xi Jinping, Xi’s, ”, Andrew N.D, Yang, “ Organizations: Communist Party, People’s Liberation Army, Rocket Force Locations: China

☆ Xi’s Surprise Shake-Up Exposes Problems at Top of China’s Nuclear Force
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Chris Buckley | More About Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the years since China’s leader, Xi Jinping, transformed the People’s Liberation Army, one of his crowning creations has been the Rocket Force, the custodian of China’s expanding nuclear arsenal. But this week, Mr. Xi abruptly replaced the Rocket Force’s two top commanders with outsiders with no experience in the nuclear force. The shake-up in the rocket force indicated that the force’s expansion has been accompanied by serious problems in its top ranks. Suspicions of corruption or disloyalty to Mr. Xi may slow or complicate China’s upgrade of its conventional and nuclear missiles, several experts said. “I imagine this could disrupt the modernization,” said David C. Logan, an assistant professor at the Fletcher School of Tufts University who studies the Rocket Force and China’s nuclear weapons modernization.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Xi’s, Xi, Qin Gang, “, ”, David C Organizations: People’s Liberation Army, Rocket Force, Fletcher School of Tufts University Locations: China, Logan

☆ Eleven Dead and 27 Missing, as Heavy Rains Batter Beijing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Chris Buckley | More About Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The intense rain prompted Beijing to close tourist attractions like the ancient Forbidden City. On Tuesday, the Beijing government announced that, in addition to the 11 killed in the flooding — including two rescue workers — another 27 were missing, implying that the death toll could rise significantly. Most of the fatalities were in the outer parts of Beijing, including Mentougou District, where video shared by local news outlets on Monday showed cars being swept down a swollen river. Chinese television later showed footage of residents in the district walking through muddy streets strewn with cars that had been washed away. The Beijing government said 13 of the missing were in Mentougou, and another 10 were in Changping, another semi-rural district.

Locations: Beijing, city’s, Mentougou, Changping

☆ China Replaces Foreign Minister Missing From Public View Since June
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Chris Buckley | More About Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, has been removed from office after disappearing from public view 30 days ago, abruptly ending the career of a diplomat who leaped to the top as one of President Xi Jinping’s most trusted rising stars, the Chinese government announced on Tuesday. The official decision that Mr. Qin had been replaced — and his spot taken by the former foreign minister, Wang Yi — capped weeks of speculation about his fate. As speculation grew, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that Mr. Qin had health problems. The lack of clarity appears sure to fan speculation among Chinese commentators and seasoned observers about the circumstances behind one of the most dramatic falls of a high-flying Chinese official in recent times. Whatever the veracity of those theories, Mr. Qin’s downfall is an awkward moment for Mr. Xi, who catapulted Mr. Qin into his powerful role as minister ahead of other older, longer-serving diplomats.

Persons: Qin Gang, Xi Jinping’s, Qin, —, Wang Yi —, Xi Organizations: Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National, Committee Locations: China’s, United States

Mr. Kerry emerged late Wednesday from the lengthy negotiations in Beijing with no new agreements. In fact, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, insisted in a speech that China would pursue its goals to phase out carbon dioxide pollution at its own pace and in its own way. Still, Mr. Kerry appeared buoyed that the world’s two biggest polluters had restarted discussions, which had been frozen for a year because of strained relations over Taiwan, trade and other issues. He insisted he was not disappointed in the outcome, noting that just talking marked progress. “We had very frank conversations but we came here to break new ground,” Mr. Kerry said, adding, “It is clear that we are going to need a little more work.”

Persons: John Kerry, Biden’s, Kerry, Xi Jinping, Mr, ” Locations: Beijing, China, Taiwan

After China’s leader, Xi Jinping, catapulted Qin Gang into the post of foreign minister in December, Mr. Qin set a frantic pace, meeting dozens of foreign officials as he pressed Beijing’s agenda in a divided, war-stricken world. Then Mr. Qin went silent. He was recently scheduled to meet the foreign policy chief of the European Union in Beijing, but China canceled that visit. Outside China, Mr. Qin’s lengthy absence has set off speculation on the internet about his health and status. Abrupt disappearances of senior Chinese officials from public life are often seen as potential signs of trouble.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Qin Organizations: European Union Locations: Vietnam, Russia, Sri Lanka, Beijing, China, Jakarta, Indonesia

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