Photo of the Day: Henry Kissinger meets Li Keqiang

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Kevin Lees

So this is pretty amazing. Henry Kissinger, the U.S. secretary of state and national security adviser who paved the way for U.S. president Richard M. Nixon’s historic visit in February 1972 and thereafter, the normalization of U.S.-Chinese relations, met with Li Keqiang (李克强), the new premier of the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday: [Li] said China [...]

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Xi’s just not that into you

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Kevin Lees

Add The People’s Daily to the cadres of those who hate Valentine’s Day, according to the South China Morning Post. But don’t blame it on curmudgeonry, blame it on corruption — apparently, Cupid and cupidity go hand in hand: A four-paragraph story in People’s Daily said Valentine’s Day had become a hatchery of decadent ideology, indulgent lifestyle, fraud [...]

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Happy Chinese New Year!

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Kevin Lees

It is now, of course, the Year of the Snake, as people of Chinese descent across the world today mark the Lunar New Year.  But, for world politics, the Chinese new year will bring the formal inauguration in March of Xi Jinping (习近平) as the next president of the People’s Republic of China, completing the transition [...]

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Park Guen-hye becomes South Korea’s first female president

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Kevin Lees

Back in July, I suggested that  Park Guen-hye (박근혜) of the Saenuri Party (새누리당 or the ‘Saenuri-dang’, the New Frontier Party) was defying gravity in her race for South Korea’s presidency, and I listed five reasons why: She’d rebranded her party from the Grand National Party into the ‘New Frontier’ Party. She then led the Saenuri [...]

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Time names Barack Obama Person of the Year. Is that too US-centric?

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Kevin Lees

So Time Magazine’s decision to anoint a Person of the Year since 1927, for reasons unknown, holds a rapt audience among folks in the United States, myself included. This year (oh the suspense!), Time chose U.S. president Barack Obama.  In those 85 years, of course, Time has chosen every U.S. president (except Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and poor Gerald [...]

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Fifth Generation: Who is Xi Jinping?

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Kevin Lees

This is the seventh and final post in a series examining the Chinese leaders named to the Politburo Standing Committee during the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党) that concluded November 14.  Prior installments on Zhang Gaoli here, Zhang Dejiang here, Liu Yunshan here, Yu Zhengsheng here, Wang Qishan here and likely future premier Li Keqiang here.  In many ways, there’s not much I can add [...]

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Fifth Generation: Who is Li Keqiang?

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Kevin Lees

This is the sixth in a series of posts examining the Chinese leaders named to the Politburo Standing Committee during the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党) that concluded November 14.  Prior installments on Zhang Gaoli here, Zhang Dejiang here, Liu Yunshan here, Yu Zhengsheng here and Wang Qishan here. Unless something incredibly drastic happens in the coming months, Li Keqiang (李克强) seems likely to [...]

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It’s official: China’s new Politburo Standing Committee

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Kevin Lees

As predicted last week: the new Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party is as follows:  Xi Jinping (习近平), who is expected to become the president of the People’s Republic of China, the general secretary of the Party and ‘paramount leader’, and a ‘princeling’ whose father was a Party dignitary; Li Keqiang (李克强), who is expected [...]

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The role of women in the CCP: just so much ‘beautiful scenery’?

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Kevin Lees

The 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党) concluded today, but the photo above comes from a plucky photo essay at China People’s Daily, entitled ‘Beautiful Scenery,’ and depicts 14 photos of women delighting at various moments during the Congress. As stated in the slideshow: ‘beautiful ritual girls, female reporters and delegates to the [...]

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Fifth Generation: Who is Wang Qishan?

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Kevin Lees

This is the fifth in a series of posts examining the Chinese leaders expected to be named to the Politburo Standing Committee during the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党) that kicked off November 8.  Prior installments on Zhang Gaoli here, Zhang Dejiang here, Liu Yunshan here and Yu Zhengsheng here. Of all the potential new members of the Politburo Standing Committee, [...]

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Amid the CCP handover of power to Xi Jinping, ethnic Tibetan issue remains a thorny problem

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Kevin Lees

The first thing you notice about Qinghai province is that it’s rather desolate — more Utah than Alaska, and the first thing you notice about Rebkong is that it’s a dusty town far away from even the provincial capital.  A world away from the center of Qinghai, itself a world away from Beijing. I visited [...]

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Fifth Generation: Who is Yu Zhengsheng?

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Kevin Lees

This is the fourth in a series of posts examining the Chinese leaders expected to be named to the Politburo Standing Committee during the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党) that kicked off November 8.  Prior installments on Zhang Gaoli here, Zhang Dejiang here and Liu Yunshan here. Today, we continue our look at the expected members of the Party’s [...]

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Fifth Generation: Who is Liu Yunshan?

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Kevin Lees

This is the third in a series of posts examining the Chinese leaders expected to be named to the Politburo Standing Committee during the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党) that kicked off November 8.  Prior installments on Zhang Gaoli here and Zhang Dejiang here. Liu Yunshun  (刘云山), more than almost any other person [...]

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Fifth Generation: Who is Zhang Dejiang?

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Kevin Lees

This is the second in a series of posts examining the Chinese leaders expected to be named to the Politburo Standing Committee during the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党) that kicked off November 8. Yesterday, I examined the background and career of Zhang Gaoli (张高丽), the Party secretary in the municipality of Tianjin. [...]

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Fifth Generation: Who is Zhang Gaoli?

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Kevin Lees

This is the first in a series of posts examining the Chinese leaders expected to be named to the Politburo Standing Committee during the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党) that kicked off November 8. With the apparent finalization of the seven members (reduced from nine) of the new Politburo Standing Committee, it [...]

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