Journal of International Studies

It almost looks as if they did it on purpose. Immediately after the Third Plenum of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, a terse statement was released about wannabe reforms. Western corporate media screamed their dissatisfaction (actually concealing great satisfaction that stereotypes about China were about to stay safe and sound). Then the suggestion that more reform plans would follow in a week put a bug in  laowai  (foreigners') ears, and finally a comprehensive roadmap for radical change was published.  At the beginning of the weekend, foreign media in China rushed to write about the abolition of forced labor camps ( laojiao ), lands given to the peasants, the end of the one-child policy, the birth of a private banking system, the reduction of crimes punishable by death, reform of the residence system ( hukou ) and more.  The meaning of such momentous and diverse reforms can be summarized in one particular way: China is pushing...

Recent news reports underscore the need for progress on transparency if reforms are to really succeed.

The third plenum of Chinese Communist Party Congresses is often the time when the country’s rulers introduce major policy shifts. The Eighteenth Party Congress in November and, crucially, implementation over time of policies announced there offers the U.S. an opportunity to reassess China, to see whether top leaders Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang are interested in pursuing reform or will hew to the course of their predecessors. This opportunity could be wasted if the persistent myths that have long plagued American views of China are not dispelled. The key myths feature overstating Chinese economic prowess and understating clashing security interests between the China and the U.S. Myth #1: China is well on its way to surpassing the U.S. economically Reality: China is far from surpassing the U.S. and can do so only if helped by our failures. This is the generative myth, from which the others flow. In less than a generation, the world economy is supposed to have a new leader. Chi...

"The focus of the restructuring of the economic system ... is to allow the market [forces] to play a 'decisive role' in the allocation of resources."  That's it? The whole world was breathlessly waiting - and this is what the world got: an enigma enveloped in a riddle inside a Chinese box, in the form of a cryptic communique issued by the long-awaited Third Plenum of the 18th Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s Central Committee.  To know who is ultimately responsible for this - the first serious policy blueprint unveiled by the new Chinese leadership of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang - one just needs a glimpse at the photo: these are the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the men who really rule China. And what's at stake could not be more serious; no less than the  strategic choices  addressing China's inevitable ascension to the status of world's number one economy.  One should always remember how the ...