Reports of Brendan O’Reilly
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China’s expanding space program
China started its manned space program four decades after the United States, but it is making great strides while the American effort stagnates. Beijing has long-term plans for a manned lunar base and is testing antisatellite weapons at record altitudes. There appears to be little will in Washington to commit ...
China’s options for ending North Korea’s nuclear program
If the North Korean regime continues to develop its nuclear strike capabilities, South Korea and Japan may feel compelled to acquire their own weapons of mass destruction, while China will lose its strategic edge in northeast Asia. Beijing has a few options to prevent such a scenario.
China’s coming pension crisis
China’s population is aging rapidly, a trend that will put huge strain on its economy and pension system. China is not the only country with this problem, but it is much poorer than many of its Western counterparts facing similar challenges. The government is working on measures to address the ...
China modifies its lending strategy to Africa and Latin America
China has overtaken the IMF and the World Bank as the biggest provider of loans to African and Latin American governments. But that could soon change as slower Chinese growth and huge investments in Eurasian transportation networks have crimped Beijing’s finances. The inevitable cutbacks will strain what has been a ...
Risks for China’s energy strategy
China faces three big challenges in its energy strategy: reducing pollution, mitigating the negative effects of climate change and securing overland supply. The country has made huge investments to achieve its goals, but macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties could yet derail Beijing’s plans. In the end, China is likely to be ...
Xi’s power plays will determine China’s future
Chinese President Xi Jinping is consolidating power at a strikingly effective rate. His anticorruption drive has not only managed to gain him popularity, he has also used it to eliminate political opponents. But his success raises questions about what direction he plans to take China and whether he intends to ...
China lacks the wherewithal to adjust to demographic decline
Within a decade, China will enter a difficult stretch. As its population begins to shrink and rapidly turn gray, the country will experience monumental strains in its economic, social and political systems. Beijing will try to tackle the challenge with fewer resources than China’s richer neighbors in the Far East ...
China’s next big test: reforming state-owned firms
China’s state-owned enterprises dominate huge swaths of the economy, but their outlook is grim. Rapidly growing debts from politically driven loans, risky real estate deals and lower investment returns imperil their future and that of the entire Chinese economy. Many will be privatized, merged, or otherwise dissolved within the next ...
