Category: The Economist

Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Skipping rope is a big deal in China. Children must be good at it to become eligible for scholarships. Most provinces include skipping tests (measuring skips per minute) in their versions of the high-school entrance exam, known as the zhongkao. In the south-western province of Yunnan, for example, elite skippers can score 11 points on the exam, where the maximum total is 700. That may not sound like much, but…

Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the <audio> element. When Xi Jinping looks out at the world, he seems to see history’s arc bending his way. As war in Ukraine slides towards a frozen stalemate, and intensifying horrors stalk the Middle East, Communist Party leaders sound confident that they know how to solve such crises, and that most of the world agrees with them. China puts its trust in interests coldly weighed and balanced, and in economic development. It…

AT FIRST GLANCE, the burger appears like any other. But on closer inspection, something is different. Pressed between the buns is not a patty of minced beef, but morsels of roasted duck. The buns themselves are wrinkled and slightly charred. They are hand-rolled and made using traditional pastry-making techniques, says Tastien, the fast-food chain serving up this meal. If duck isn’t your thing, other options include fish-fragrant shredded pork and mapo tofu. Though not technically a hamburger, Tastien’s ads declare, “The Chinese hamburger is here!” It appears to be popular.…

Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the <audio> element. As China’s rulers tell it, the Communist Party must control Taiwan to make the whole country safe and strong. “Unification brings strength while division leads to chaos,” says the State Council, China’s cabinet. “This is a law of history.” Actually, the party’s obsession with Taiwan is a political choice. After 1991 China signed a series of treaties fixing its borders with the Soviet Union and Russia, in effect ceding over…

CHINA’S LEADERS have no qualms about using intimidation and force to stay in power. But the Communist Party also claims that it deserves to rule because it governs well and has the support of the public. Officials point to decades of impressive economic growth—and to a series of opinion surveys that researchers at Harvard University conducted between 2003 and 2016. In the last such survey, over 90% of Chinese people expressed satisfaction with the party. “Such high approval ratings are beyond the wildest dreams of American politicians,” boasted Hua Chunying,…

OVER THE past three decades China’s legal system has been gradually improving, albeit from a low base. The Communist Party still dominates the system: Xi Jinping, China’s leader, denounces judicial independence as a dangerous foreign idea. Suspected criminals who end up in court are found guilty 99% of the time. But analysts reckon the quality of judges on the civil and commercial side has got better and corruption has decreased. The World Bank has a rule-of-law measure that uses indicators like property rights and judicial independence. In 2006 China was…

Most online commentators in China support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At the same time they criticise Russia’s failure to achieve a swift victory. They accuse the West of prolonging the conflict by supporting Ukraine’s army, but also fault Russia for its military weakness. Corruption has crippled its fighting ability, they often conclude, despite all its spending in recent years on better kit. It is taboo in China to cast aspersions on the war-readiness of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). But amid reports that it is also struggling with graft as…

FOREIGN SPIES are lurking everywhere! So says the Chinese government. Officials were ruffled by the CIA’s claim, made last year, that it was rebuilding its spy networks in China a decade after most of its sources disappeared. But China’s reaction seems defined more by paranoia than vigilance. The national intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), wants the entire population to be on the lookout for spies. To improve public awareness, the ministry has launched an online comic strip called “Shenyin Special Investigation Squad”. It will feature heart-pounding action,…

CHINA CENTRAL TELEVISION, the flagship network of the country’s propaganda machine, has a new hit on its hands. “Blossoms Shanghai”, a big-budget melodrama in 30 parts, has enjoyed huge audiences since its first episode aired on December 27th. The show’s success—boosted by approving coverage in official and commercial media outlets—is at once unexpected and revealing. It is a surprise because its heroes are swashbuckling capitalists in the Shanghai of the early 1990s. A hard-living bunch, they cut deals, swap stock tips and scheme against rivals over an endless succession of…

THERE IS NO doubt which party the Chinese government favours in Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections on January 13th. Officials in Beijing see the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which takes a defiant stance towards China, as a gang of separatists standing in the way of Taiwan’s unification with the mainland. The Kuomintang (KMT) party, on the other hand, is much more friendly towards China. The island faces a choice between “prosperity and recession” and between “peace and war”, say Chinese officials. The people of Taiwan see things differently. They…