China limited its GDP growth for 2023 to a modest 5 percent at the opening of the National People’s Congress this weekend. Political analyst Victor Shih explains the background of this lower-than-expected ambition in the Guardian.Read More →
Strategic analyst Victor Shih, author of Coalitions of the Weak, (2022), looks at China’s sudden exit from its contested zero-Covid policy. Was it because of the protests, was it planned before, and what does it mean for the country’s domestic policies and economics? A discussion at the New Yorker on how decisions at the top-level take place.Read More →
China is taking a short breath from the anti-Covid protests and comes to terms with the effect of the sudden relaxation of the zero-Covid measures. Political analyst Victor Shih takes a step back at KQED and looks at the fallout of the protests in the short term.Read More →
China’s leaders face unprecedented protest against its rigid anti-covid policy after earlier this week ten deaths in Urumqi were to blame for that. Political analyst Victor Shih sees China’s Communist Party walking on a tight rope, he says in the Hindustan Times.Read More →
China’s economy is not doing as well as it used to do, but hiding the financial data during the recent Party Congress was a bad move, says financial analyst Victor Shih, author of Coalitions of the Weak, at ANI. “The very likely reason the numbers were delayed was the State Council leaders were afraid the numbers would detract from the triumphant tone of the party congress,” he added.Read More →
China analyst Victor Shih, author of Coalitions of the Weak, discusses with Bill Bishop and Cindy Yu at China Whispers on how the move from collective leadership to a centralized power might change policies in China after the 20th Communist Party Conference including the current line-up of the leadership, zero-covid and Taiwan.Read More →
Political analyst Victor Shih looks at China’s new leadership after what he calls a “norm-busting” meeting of the Chinese Communist Party, and who is who at the new line up, for CNN. And where are the women leaders and upcoming new top-leaders?Read More →
The nomination of Li Qiang as the number two of China’s Communist Party was one of few surprises at the 20th CCP conference last week, says political analyst Victor Shih at CNN. Li Qiang, Shanghai’s party chief, was responsible for the city’s much-discussed two-month corona lock-down.Read More →
At China’s top leadership, it was always possible for different political agendas to exist next to each other. But since 2012 next to Xi Jinping – up for his unprecedented third term as CCP party secretary – very few variations in leadership style have been given room, says political analyst Victor Shih at the ABC. The retirement of premier Li Keqiang finalizes Xi’s powerful position, he adds. China’s next premier is likely to be a good friend of Xi, while women and ethnic minorities make little chance.Read More →
Political analyst Victor Shih, author of the recently released book Coalitions of the Weak, looks – weeks ahead of the 20th Party Congress, at defining moments in the history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the Centre of Geopolitics.Read More →
China has a longstanding tradition of bailing out large debtors using huge asset management companies (AMCs). But today they cannot solve the country’s real estate problems, says political and financial analyst Victor Shih to the Japan Times. “Any state injection into the AMCs could add further strain to the nation’s finances,” says Victor ShihRead More →
Tense relations between China and the US, a pandemic, and limited access to the country are firmly limiting a new generation of China hands to explore a career in the second economy of the world, says China professor Victor Shih in the South China Morning Post. “China was [once] seen as a kind of land of opportunity for young foreigners. That is no longer the case,” said Shih, Read More →