The Central Party School has had several notable heads in the past 30 years, including Hu Jintao (1993-2002), Xi Jinping (2007-2012), Zeng Qinghong, and Liu Yunshan (until 2017). These roles often served to familiarize heirs apparent with ideology work or were held by chief ideologues.
Beijing rejects boundary talks with Japan and Philippines, citing illegality and invalidity, amid escalating territorial disputes and joint naval patrols in contested waters.
Cai, a close aide to Xi, appointed to oversee training of top officials at party school, solidifying ties with Xi after decades of collaboration.
Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit North Korea June 8-9, strengthening ties after pandemic isolation, amid Beijing's denuclearisation stance and Pyongyang's growing Moscow ties.
China's United Front Work Department head Li Ganjie urged Tibet academics to find creative ways to shape the global conversation about Tibet while adhering to Communist Party ideology, citing the region's critical stage of stability and development.
Zhao Yongjin, party secretary of Qinyuan county in Changzhi, is under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law. An anti-corruption watchdog revealed preliminary findings of severe safety problems and systemic failures at a mine site, with past issues including poor management and illegal activities.
An official in China's Shanxi province is under investigation for corruption following a deadly coal mine blast. The explosion at Liushenyu Coal Mine on May 22 killed multiple miners and exposed severe safety fraud and mismanagement.
A 62-year-old CAS academician, identified as Zhou, was reportedly taken away by disciplinary inspectors in late April. His details have since been removed from the official CAS website. His research areas include spatial data mining and hydrology.
Tibetan Australians are using cultural celebrations and activism to preserve their heritage and advocate for the Dalai Lama's succession, resisting Chinese government interference.
Tibetan Australians are using cultural practices like dance and language schools to preserve their identity amid China's attempts to control the succession of the Dalai Lama. The community in Australia is actively engaging with politicians to advocate for the Dalai Lama's spiritual authority over his reincarnation.
Japanese Communist Party Chairwoman Tomoko Tamura criticized proposed revisions to the Imperial House Law, stating that the Diet should not legislate in a way that is detached from public opinion. She expressed strong concern over government-led movements and reiterated her call for a direct discussion on female emperors.
US President Donald Trump concluded his Beijing visit with a rare tour of Zhongnanhai, the Chinese Communist Party's leadership compound, alongside President Xi Jinping. The visit featured pageantry and conciliatory remarks, with discussions touching on trade and Iran.
A US congressional commission is pressing President Donald Trump to confront his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping over detained Americans when the leaders meet this week, warning that silence would leave Beijing free to “use human beings as bargaining chips”. The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), in a letter to Trump dated May 7, aired concerns over the growing threat arising from the Communist Party’s use of “hostage diplomacy, coercive exit bans and transnational repression”...
The relationship between mainland China and Taiwan is not one of state-to-state relations, Chang Rong-kung, vice-chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT), the island’s main opposition party, told Beijing’s top official on Taiwan affairs on Monday. Chang met Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the Communist Party’s No 4 official, at the opening day of the third annual Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit. Wang said the summit showed people on both sides of...
Cheng Li-wun is the chairwoman of Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT). In this far-ranging interview, she discusses her vision for peace and cooperation between Taiwan and mainland China, her meeting in April with Communist Party chief Xi Jinping and her coming trip to the United States in June. Cross-strait relations have been increasingly tense for more than 10 years. What approach can change this situation? As long as both sides of the strait accept the 1992 consensus and...
Cheng Li-wun is the chairwoman of Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT). In this far-ranging interview, she discusses her vision for peace and cooperation between Taiwan and mainland China, her meeting in April with Communist Party chief Xi Jinping and her coming trip to the United States in June. The original interview was conducted in Chinese. SCMP Plus members can read a Chinese version of the transcript here. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click...
Cheng Li-wun is the chairwoman of Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT). In this wide-ranging interview, she discusses her vision for peace and cooperation between Taiwan and mainland China, her meeting in April with Communist Party chief Xi Jinping and her upcoming trip to the United States in June. The original interview was conducted in Chinese. SCMP Plus members can access the Chinese transcript. Chinese transcript: interview with KMT’s Cheng Li-wun by scmp
A bonfire of red tape to unleash investment and complete stalled projects across Vietnam may drive economic expansion but is unlikely to offset the damage caused by US tariffs and the fuel crisis which have threatened the country’s growth ambitions. Vietnam’s Communist Party General-Secretary and President To Lam, the most powerful leader in a generation, has set an annual growth target of 10 per cent until 2030 to galvanise a nation whose ponderous bureaucracy has snarled private investment and...
A bonfire of red tape to unleash investment and complete stalled projects across Vietnam may drive economic expansion but is unlikely to offset the damage caused by US tariffs and the fuel crisis which have threatened the country’s growth ambitions. Vietnam’s Communist Party General-Secretary and President To Lam, the most powerful leader in a generation, has set an annual growth target of 10 per cent until 2030 to galvanise a nation whose ponderous bureaucracy has snarled private investment and...
The Communist Party chief of Hefei – a growing tech hub and capital of China’s central Anhui province – has been placed under investigation, the country’s top corruption watchdog announced on Wednesday. Fei Gaoyun, once widely recognised as a rising star in the “seventh-generation” of future national leaders, is the latest senior official to be snared in President Xi Jinping’s long-running anti-corruption campaign. The 54-year-old’s career trajectory was typical of China’s emerging generation of...
China and the United States are taking divergent paths to developing artificial intelligence (AI), putting their technology ecosystems increasingly at odds. This divergence was on show on April 24 when start-up DeepSeek launched its next-generation V4 AI models that were optimised for use with the Ascend chips and associated software tools of tech giant Huawei Technologies. China has for years been pursuing technological self-reliance, a policy reiterated by the Communist Party’s Politburo at...
China sees an opportunity in Trump's upcoming visit, believing a transactional US president seeking a trade deal and Iranian cooperation might shift on Taiwan. Foreign minister Wang Yi linked Taiwan to broader bilateral cooperation in a call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Beijing hopes for reduced US arms sales following a $11bn package to Taiwan, while Xi Jinping has made unification his legacy. China prefers peaceful achievement of unification but has simulated blockades and increased military intimidation. Taiwan's population increasingly identifies as Taiwanese-only (63%), though many still see improving relations with China as pragmatic.
A Taiwanese official has begun a more than 10-day visit to the United States, with engagements planned at think tanks, with overseas Taiwanese communities, and potentially with policymakers. The official, identified only as Cheng, emphasized that the trip focuses on substantive strategic dialogue rather than ceremonial visits. At the core of her pitch is a rejection of what she describes as the "false binary" of choosing between Beijing and Washington.
A courtyard house in Fuzhou, Fujian, once home to Wu Shi – a KMT defector executed in Taipei in 1950 – has become a pilgrimage site after a hit drama 'Silent Honour' aired in October. The residence was renovated in three months and opened in February, drawing up to 20,000 visitors daily over Chinese New Year. Since April, it has been designated a National Security Education Base, part of Beijing's messaging toward Taiwan.
