China’s leadership, state media, and foreign policy analysts consider the U.S. a declining but dangerous power. That assessment has remained durable since Michael Swaine analyzed views in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in his 2021 essay for China Leadership Monitor , though the frequency of that assessment has fluctuated. The resilience of such views in the PRC press reflects genuine assessments of U.S. internal contradictions, the Chinese Communist Party’s Leninist pre

Toward the end of 2021 China unveiled a new framing, “The party’s overall strategy for solving the Taiwan issue in the new era,” to summarize General Secretary Xi Jinping’s policy toward Taiwan since 2013. A close examination of statements by top Chinese leaders and senior officials responsible for the Taiwan portfolio shows that the “overall strategy,” for the most part, deviates little from the policy of Xi’s predecessors. However, the “new” components of the “overall strat

The proposal for the 15 th  Five-Year Plan (FYP), approved by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party at its 4 th  plenum in late October 2025, is substantively similar to the proposal for the 14 th FYP. The most important message conveyed in this document is that the party will continue to pursue the security-centered development strategy unveiled in October 2020. Based on the more pessimistic assessments of China’s external environment, the proposal for the ne

China’s elevation of “national security” to a priority has redefined the military’s role in protecting the country. With the National Security Commission assuming responsibility for managing external dangers, the role of the People’s Liberation Army has shifted to one of support. The military remains responsible for ensuring combat readiness and nuclear deterrence, but its contribution to national security consists primarily of non-war actions to augment civilian-led efforts.

Ching Kwan Lee. Forever Hong Kong: A Global City's Decolonization Struggle. Harvard University Press, August 12, 2025. 344 pp....