Willy Lam

Xia is a Xi loyalist from the days when both worked together in Zhejiang. He has made a career out of repressing underground Christians, and his repressive action has been as a model for Uyghur internment camps. For analysts, Xia will implement a very repressive policy in Hong Kong, using methods already adopted in Tibet and Xinjiang.

China’s crackdown intensifies through more police surveillance. Chen wants fewer mosques and tighter controls over the young. For him, the ethnic conflict can be settled through greater development in agriculture and textile manufacturing. The authorities intensify their efforts against terrorism, but attacks continue unabated. (Courtesy of the Jamestown Foundation)

The fight against corruption is solidifying an alliance between Xi Jinping and Wang Qishang. But we are also witnessing the birth of two new factions in the rugged scenery of the Communist Party. The fight against corruption, which pushes people to applaud Xi, is consuming aspects of the "rule of law." The expert on Chinese politics Willy Lam, courtesy of the Jamestown Foundation (translation by AsiaNews).

A new geopolitical order seems to be taking shape in the Asia-Pacific region. On one side is China, Russia, and North Korea; on the other, the United States, South Korea, Japan and the nations of Southeast Asia. Beijing is trying to impose alliances on its neighbors using also the weapon of economic benefits. However, many countries in the region precisely fear China’s growing power. Courtesy of the Jamestown Foundation.

Show trials, televised confessions extorted under duress, and facile patriotism are a throwback to the Cultural Revolution. The United States and the West are accused of using human rights to "bring chaos" to China. Lawyers, activists, liberal editors are fired and arrested. Xi Jinping goes back on his promises and factional war in the party continues. Courtesy of the Jamestown Foundation.

As the next Party Congress approaches, conflicts between the Xi line and that of the liberals, the Youth League, the Shanghai Gang, are apparent in mainstream media. Meanwhile Xi maintains his grip on absolute power, just like Mao. An expert analysis by Willy Lam, on Chinese politics and society courtesy of the Jamestown Foundation.

The great expert of Chinese politics looks at the ongoing power struggles within the leading group between Xi Jinping’s clique and those of Hu Jintao’s League and Jiang Zemin’s Shanghai clique. Zhejiang, where Xi worked from 2002 to 2007, has become the new breeding ground for future Sixth Generation leaders, even if they have no special qualities.

The senior China expert looks at the developing split inside the Politburo due to Xi Jinping’s heavy-handed crackdown and rising personality cult (à la Mao). Divisions are sinking financial policy and slowing down necessary reforms. Courtesy of the Jamestown Foundation.

The institutional reforms launched by Deng Xiaoping to avoid a repeat of the horrors of Maoism have been thrown overboard by the current supreme leader, now to all intents and purposes the "central core of leadership." Ahead of the next CCP Congress, he refuses to recognize or inform those who should succeed him. In order to stay in power until 2027. The beginning of the deification of Xi: Those who shake his hand, don’t wash it for a week. Analysis of the leading expert on China, courtesy of the Jamestown Foundation.

On the 50th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s disastrous ideological campaign, his successor accumulates power, builds a cult of personality that is unprecedented in modern times, and targets any "foreign influences" that might "destabilize" China. The brutal persecution of Christians is clear evidence of that. His underlings’ obsequiousness does not bode well for the future. A leading expert on China looks at the situation, courtesy of the Jamestown Foundation.

The Chinese leader’s visit to the United States and the United Nations did not produce concrete results. However, for Chinese media - and to some extent international media – it was a milestone. The president wanted to distract the average Chinese from the country’s economic problems. Although he partly succeeded, he did not bring home anything significant. What follows is an analysis by the great China expert, courtesy of the Jamestown Foundation.

China’s president believes in a conspiracy, and charged his closest allies with the investigation. His relations with the still-powerful former President Jiang Zemin and military leaders are still conflictual. The parade on September 3 "crowned" him as the country’s new leader but doubts remain about his real power. What follows is an analysis by a great China expert, courtesy of the Jamestown Foundation.