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Minxin Pei
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2018
The limits of Beijing's charm offensive
While China's neighbors will undoubtedly welcome any respite from Chinese belligerence, they will not be fooled by sweet talk — or even sweet trade deals.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2018
Why Beijing is losing the new cold war
China is increasingly entrenched in an unsustainable arms race with the U.S.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2018
China's summer of discontent
Far from a rejuvenated hegemon poised to reshape the global economy, Xi's China has been exposed as a giant with feet of clay.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2017
China's 'double-freeze' con
By raising the double-freeze solution, China put the ball in America's court, and placed the onus for resolving the crisis squarely on Trump's shoulders.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2017
Did dissident Liu Xiaobo die for nothing?
Far from a sign of strength, the Chinese regime's mistreatment of Liu Xiaobo amounted to an indication of its weakness, insecurity and fear.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 26, 2017
The TPP's second act
India and Japan are demonstrating that Asia's major powers can frustrate Chinese ambitions without the U.S.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2017
China needs a new grand strategy in Trump era
Donald Trump's presidency has already upended the key assumptions underpinning China's post-Cold War grand strategy.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2016
The siren song of 'strongmania'
The embrace of political strongmen reflects widespread ignorance of the nature and consequences of populist rule.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2016
The West's decline would also harm China
It makes little sense that Beijing is so pleased about the struggles of China's most valuable trading partners.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2016
The return of fear-based governance in China
With China's international influence growing by the day, the revival of totalitarian scare tactics there has far-reaching — and deeply unsettling — implications for Asia and the world.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2015
China's one-child calamity
The abolition of China's 35-year-old one-child policy closes one of the darkest chapters in the country's history.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2015
The Soviet Union's lessons for China's purges
To achieve his goal of consolidating Communist Party rule in China, President Xi Jinping needs to secure the PLA's unimpeachable loyalty — and that requires the purge of unreliable or corrupt officers.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2015
'Singapore model' all too often misunderstood
The true secret of Lee Kuan Yew's political genius was not his skillful use of repressive practices, such as launching lawsuits against the media or his political opponents. Lee's revolutionary tack was to use democratic institutions and the rule of law to curb the predatory appetite of his country's ruling elite.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2015
China's war on Western values
The Chinese leadership's fight against liberalism and 'Western values' — such as its intensified Internet censorship and the jailing of human rights lawyers — is directly undermining its efforts to root out official corruption, promote innovation and deepen engagement with the outside world.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2014
Down with Dengism, an obstacle to progress
While former leader Deng Xiaoping — whose birth 110 years ago was recently celebrated in China — deserves appreciation for having brought China back from the abyss of Maoism, his approach, 'Dengism,' is now impeding the country's economic prospects.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 6, 2014
Hunting tigers won't ensure reform in China
To effect change in China, Xi Jinping must built a coalition capable of advancing his declared goal of reviving pro-market reforms.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2014
The CCP defied doomsayers, but how will it last?
The problem now facing the Chinese Communist Party is that most of the factors that enabled it to survive since the Tiananmen incident 25 years ago either have already disappeared or are about to. For all practical purposes, pro-market reforms are dead, as a kleptocracy of government officials, their families and well-connected businessmen has colonized the Chinese state.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2014
China rocked by fallen tiger, shaken dragon
It wasn't clear whether Chinese President Xi Jingping would actually prosecute Zhou Yongkang — thus breaking the Communist Party's unwritten rule of immunity for retired members of the Politburo Standing Committee — until the Chinese media revealed shocking details of corruption involving Zhou's family and former subordinates.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2014
Xi Jinping facing three key challenges in 2014
Chinese President Xi Jinping has tightened the Communist Party's control over ideology, cracked down on official corruption, repressed dissent and championed a more nationalistic foreign policy. The world will soon find out whether this politically conservative course is intended to ease unusally bold economic reforms.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2013
Why Bo Xilai stole the show instead of the CCP
Bo Xilai may be heading to jail, but he retains some chance of political rehabilitation should things change dramatically in China.

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