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Frank Ching
Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based writer who has covered developments in China for several decades. He opened The Wall Street Journal’s Bureau in Beijing after the U.S. and China established diplomatic relations in 1979, becoming one of the first American reporters to be based in China since 1949.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 16, 2015
China won't win friends by flexing its muscles
While China has trumpeted its desire for peace, its Sept. 3 display of military prowess is bound to spur concerns in other capitals.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2015
Human rights will loom large in Xi's U.S. visit
If Washington now shifts to reciprocity as an instrument as part of a tougher stance toward China, it will substantially strengthen its hand, not only in human rights but in other areas as well.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 18, 2015
Abe's address fails to achieve desired closure
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's speech did not succeed in providing a sense of closure. In some ways it reopens old arguments, implying that Japan was not really responsible for its role in the war.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2015
Beijing's chilling new national security law
China's new national security law is worrying on several levels, both because of what it says and because of what is left ambiguous.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2015
New twist in Hong Kong's democracy movement
Not only do many young people in Hong Kong no longer care about building democracy in China, they don't even care about China.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 14, 2015
South China Sea standoff
Beijing must be feeling the pressure from the U.S. to stop its campaign of turning tiny reefs in the South China Sea into artificial islands capable of military use.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2015
Default to 'Chinese characteristics' has limits
How will China define 'major country diplomacy' so as to benefit both sides? There will be little interest in this type of diplomacy if Beijing attempts to qualify it as having 'Chinese characteristics.'
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2014
Is Beijing breaching the Joint Declaration?
Thirty years ago this month, Britain and China signed the declaration on the Question of Hong Kong under which London agreed to restore Hong Kong to China in 1997 and Beijing agreed to allow it a 'high degree of autonomy' until 2047. But China's deputy ambassador seems to be asserting that the declaration is now void.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 14, 2014
Japan can't afford to remain isolated in the region
Japan cannot afford to remain isolated in its own neighborhood. It's high time that it mended fences with China and South Korea.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2014
Hong Kong a growing thorn in Sino-American relations
Just as China and the U.S. are preparing for another Xi Jinping-Barack Obama summit, this time in Beijing for the annual APEC leaders meeting, China is stepping up charges that Washington is secretly supporting student-led pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2014
Structure self with propriety, Confucius said
When President Xi Jinping addressed the International Confucian Association to mark the 2,565th anniversary of the birth of Confucius, he did not remind listeners that Mao Zedong had launched a nationwide campaign to flame the philosopher.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2014
Will China's tough stance backfire in Hong Kong?
The Beijing government may think that by blocking Hong Kong's progress toward the democratic election of a chief executive, it is safeguarding both the region's and the nation's economic interests. But it is quite likely to have the opposite effect.
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2014
China plays down GDP size
China's government does not sound comfortable with new World Bank figures indicating that China will overtake the U.S. this year and become the No. 1 economy.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2014
Heavy metal contaminants stalk China's farms
China released a report in April disclosing that much of its arable land is contaminated with heavy metals that are entering the food chain. It doesn't bode well for consumers and suggests that China increasingly will have to import food.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2014
Sino-American trade and investment friction
In recent years, U.S. exports to China have been growing faster than Chinese exports to the U.S. Similarly Chinese investment in the U.S. is growing faster than U.S. investment in China. Trade frictions are inevitable.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2013
Cameron eats humble pie in China
British Prime Minister David Cameron was feted by China's leaders during his recent three-day trip to the country, but much of his diet consisted of humble pie.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2013
China girds to open sectors to foreign investors
It appears that China's leaders are cautiously preparing to let foreign investors enter any industry other than those on a 'negative list.'
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2013
U.S. media pay high price for Chinese censorship
While car tires and chicken meat get the attention of American trade officials, blatant instances of Chinese censorship have led to dire consequences for the U.S. media sector.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2013
Taiwan opposition leery of China trade accord
The opposition DPP generally understands the economic realities facing Taiwan, but it is apprehensive of the political perils of a closer trade and services partnership with China.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2013
Does China's left turn indicate reforms ahead?
Some analysts believe that China's turn to the left and its crackdown on democratic ideas are tactical moves that foreshadow the launch of major reforms later this fall.

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