Intelligence Review 

*Balancing act - Elections spell continuity in China-Taiwan relations
President Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang (KMT) won re-election in Taiwan's 14 January presidential election by an unexpectedly large margin against Tsai Ing-wen, his main...
01-Feb-2012
*Police state - China's community-based policing
While international media attention is likely to remain focused on the high-profile leadership transition in North Korea, 2012 will see a no less significant shift...
05-Jan-2012
*Loose change - Diverse social and political control in China
On 3 November, a Buddhist nun in China's Sichuan province became the 11th Tibetan to set herself alight since June, as part of a new...
22-Nov-2011
*River rage - China seeks to calm troubled Mekong waters
The October massacre of 13 Chinese barge crew on the Mekong river near the tri-border of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar - the bloodiest attack on...
10-Nov-2011
*In the zone - China strengthens ties with Pakistan
In late August, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was an honoured guest at the opening ceremony of the first China-Eurasia Expo in Urümqi, the administrative...
06-Oct-2011
*Final frontier - China's emerging military-space architecture
China's drive to improve its space architecture is gathering pace, with its total of 70 satellites in orbit as of mid-2011. This puts it behind...
06-Sep-2011
Sea assault - China's developing amphibious capability
During an 18 May press conference in Washington, Chief General Chen Bingde, from China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Department, surprised his hosts by...
29-Jul-2011
*Telltale sign - Trade and security in Southeast Asia
The presence of General Liang Guanglie at the 10th Shangri-La Dialogue, an inter-governmental security summit in early June, was both symbolic and practical. Liang was...
07-Jul-2011
*Taxing exile - Tibetan opposition reform aids China
In May, the structure of the Tibetan government-in-exile underwent one of its most significant reforms since it was first established in 1959. So extensive is...
15-Jun-2011
*Harmonious society - China and the US reheat military relations
While it is far too early to say there has been a rapprochement between the militaries of China and the United States, the tenor of...
27-Apr-2011
*Strait spying - China's intelligence strategy towards Taiwan
If any evidence were needed to prove that the conflict in the Taiwan Strait is far from resolved, it came with the arrest in late...
28-Mar-2011
*Lips and teeth: China continues to embrace North Korea
A flurry of news about North Korea broke in November 2010, some of which suggested that ties with its long-standing ally China might be weakening....
03-Mar-2011
*Stealthy progress: Spotlight falls on China's airpower ambitions
On 11 January, the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation's (CAC) new twin-engine fifth-generation J-20 fighter (known as the fourth-generation in China) completed its first 21-minute official test...
01-Feb-2011
*Leap frog years: China regards growth as key to stable Xinjiang
A series of largely unreported killings in November have highlighted the ethnic tension that is still rife in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), northwest China....
21-Dec-2010
*Heir transplant - Xi Jinping is set for China's presidency
Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping's appointment on 18 October as vice-chairman of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Military Commission (CMC) is the clearest sign yet that...
25-Nov-2010
*Heir transplant - Xi Jinping is set for China's presidency
Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping's appointment on 18 October as vice-chairman of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Military Commission (CMC) is the clearest sign yet that...
24-Nov-2010
*Age concern - China's ageing population increases
Having reaped the economic dividend of its population explosion in the late 20th century, China is now facing the prospect of a large ageing population....
01-Nov-2010
*Heavy seas - Sino-Japanese relations hit stormy waters
Lingering tensions between old antagonists China and Japan have been reignited by a recent dispute over a maritime encounter. On 7 September, a Chinese fishing...
07-Oct-2010
*Smart moves - China secures energy infrastructure
China plans to invest a world-leading CNY 49.2 billion (USD7.3 billion) in smart grid research and construction during 2010, according to market research firm Zpryme...
16-Sep-2010
*Robot wars - China's weapons research gains pace
It seemed light-hearted stuff. From 21 to 23 June, the Harbin Institute of Technology in northeastern China hosted the world's first International Humanoid Robot Olympics,...
06-Aug-2010
*Striking back - China adapts to address labour unrest
On 17 May, in Foshan in Guangdong, close to 2,000 workers went on strike at a Honda factory demanding a 75 per cent wage increase....
16-Jul-2010
*Chinese democracy - Calls grow for universal suffrage in Hong Kong
Suffrage movements often cause turbulence in a country. As it inherently involves a transfer of power from a smaller to a larger proportion of the...
25-May-2010
*Mountain to climb - China's complex relationship with India
China's rising power has inevitably led to debates about a possible strategic competition with the United States. As Beijing expands its economic, diplomatic and even...
07-May-2010
Home economics - China moves to avert a housing credit crunch
China's property market is bubbling. The national real estate selling price index's year-on-year growth rate has swung from -1.3 per cent in March 2009 to...
15-Apr-2010
*Into the shade - China's overseas naval operations
China is currently maintaining a naval presence in the Gulf of Aden, the first time it has mounted an active operation so far afield since...
10-Mar-2010
*Reach for the stars - China develops its military space technology
At the beginning of 2010, China once again demonstrated its space-based ambitions. On 11 January, China's state-run Xinhua news agency announced that it had successfully...
11-Feb-2010
*Ballistic trajectory - China develops new anti-ship missile
It seems a cliché to cite Sun Zi's maxim "in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is ...
04-Jan-2010
*Crossing the divide - Sino-Taiwanese economic co-operation
Since Ma Ying-jeou's rise to the presidency in May 2008, there has been a significant improvement in relations between mainland China and Taiwan. Direct shipping,...
04-Dec-2009
*Tighter bonds - China strengthens ties with Iran
Passing UN sanctions is fraught with difficulty. For various parties to agree on the terms to restrict the flow of goods or services to a...
11-Nov-2009
*Birthday presence - China parades its modernised military might
For a military steeped in the millennial wisdom of Sun Zi (Sun Tzu), who prized information denial and deception, the 1 October 2009 anniversary military...
16-Oct-2009
*Strait and narrow - China and Taiwan's criminal crackdown
Alaw enforcement agreement between China and Taiwan appears set to deal a blow to organised crime in Taiwan. However, a vaguely worded opt-out clause in...
20-Aug-2009
*All at sea - China's navy develops fast attack craft
When analysing China's naval development, international media naturally focus on the headline-grabbing platforms. The potential for an aircraft carrier and the Type 094 ballistic missile...
30-Jul-2009
*Pipe dream - China seeks land and sea energy security
China's growing reliance on seaborne oil shipments has led to an increasing willingness to secure vulnerabilities to its sea lines of communication. As a result,...
17-Jul-2009
*Rocking the boat - China prepares to expand its carrier navy
On or about 25 April 2009, the incomplete former Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag made its first voyage in Chinese waters. From its berth in Dalian...
11-Jun-2009
*Red alert - China modernises its nuclear missile force
Beijing is now deploying or developing up to five intercontinental nuclear-armed ballistic missiles in what amounts to China's most ambitious increase in intercontinental ballistic missile...
14-May-2009