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Chris Buckley
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 20, 2022
From 'zero-COVID' to no plan: Behind China’s pandemic U-turn
Xi's own formula for beating back COVID may have inadvertently set China up for this jolting and potentially devastating turn.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 1, 2022
For China’s leader, another dilemma: How to mourn Jiang Zemin
Paying tribute to Jiang while preventing him from becoming a symbolic cudgel against the current regime will be a challenge for Xi Jinping in the coming weeks
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 24, 2022
China’s leader now wields formidable power. Who will say no to him?
Xi Jinping has created a new ruling elite packed with loyalist officials primed to elevate his agenda of bolstering national security and of turning China into a technological great power.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 23, 2022
China hangs on Xi’s every word. His silence also speaks volumes.
At the important Communist Party congress last week, the Chinese leader didn't mention two long-repeated maxims. To many, it's a warning of the turbulent times ahead.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 22, 2022
China's Xi expands his power by elevating loyalists and forcing out moderates
Evidence of Xi's even tighter hold over the party came on Saturday, when the Communist Party congress approved a new membership list for the Central Committee.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 7, 2022
In turbulent times, Xi builds a security fortress for China, and himself
Taiwan, COVID-19, “color revolutions,” the classroom: everywhere, China's leader sees threats that foreign forces can exploit, and he has enlisted the whole nation to defend against them.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 21, 2022
Red flags for forced labor found in China’s car battery supply chain
The previously unreported connection between critical minerals and forced labor in Xinjiang could prove trouble for industries like the global auto sector, which relies heavily on China.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 5, 2022
Mourning Tiananmen’s victims, and the Hong Kong that was
Since 2020, when Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong, the local government has essentially banned public commemorations of the 1989 killings.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 2, 2022
Inside China’s 'zero-COVID' fortress, Xi admits no doubts
As the lockdown of Shanghai and outbreaks in Beijing and elsewhere batter the economy, China's leader keeps a distance from the politically charged issue.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 5, 2022
Bristling against the West, China rallies domestic sympathy for Russia
While Russia batters Ukraine, officials in China have been meeting to study a Communist Party-produced documentary that extols President Vladimir Putin of Russia as a hero.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 23, 2022
China takes a back seat in international diplomacy over Ukraine
Despite calls from other world leaders to play a more proactive role in ending the conflict, China has instead tried to keep its distance.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 15, 2022
China sees at least one winner emerging from Ukraine war: China
With a strategy to shield itself from the worst economic and diplomatic consequences it could face, China seeks to benefit from geopolitical shifts once the smoke clears.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 26, 2022
‘Abrupt changes’: China caught in a bind over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Beijing has presented itself as a defender of sovereign independence. But its reluctance to denounce Moscow's aggression forces it into an awkward position.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 15, 2022
A succession drama, Chinese style, starring Xi Jinping
Nobody knows how long Xi wants to stay in power, or when and how he will appoint a political heir. Keeping everyone guessing is 'Xi's political genius.'
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 10, 2022
Speedskating's one constant: Friction between China and South Korea
The rivalry between the two countries took another turn when South Korea's Hwang Dae-heon won the men's 1,500-meter race after a Chinese rival was disqualified.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 30, 2022
Living by the code: In China, COVID-era controls may outlast the virus
Beijing already had a vast ability to track its 1.4 billion citizens before the pandemic — now that monitoring is far more expansive.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 9, 2022
Trial looms after seaside gathering of Chinese activists
Once commonplace, get-togethers among Chinese rights campaigners have become increasingly risky under Xi Jinping's hard-line rule.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 19, 2021
First known COVID-19 case was vendor at Wuhan market, scientist claims
The report will revive the debate over whether the pandemic started with a spillover from wildlife sold at the market, a leak from a Wuhan virology lab or some other way.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 1, 2021
Xi hasn’t left China in 21 months. COVID-19 may be only part of the reason.
Xi Jinping's lack of face time with world leaders signals a turn inward on domestic issues and a reluctance to compromise on the global stage.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 29, 2021
Nuclear-powered submarines for Australia? Maybe not so fast.
Complications could slow or sink the whole endeavor, leaving gaps in defenses and questions about security promises kept.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?