The Washington Post reports reports: "On Monday evening, a municipal crackdown on street vendors selling Chinese new year treats -- including fish balls, a local favorite -- devolved into violencein the heart of Hong Kong....The clashes were the worst outbreak of violence since the 2014 Umbrella Revolution brought tens of thousands of Hong Kong people to the streets to vent anger over China's growing influence in the city and to call for full and fair elections....Questions about law enforcement have been at the forefront since the disappearance of five booksellers in Hong Kong specializing in gossipy reads about China's Communist Party elite."
Foreign Policy reports: "Nothing says soft power like 540 dancing robots and 29 neon drones. These were the backup dancers in one of the most notable acts from this year's Chinese New Year Gala, a marathon variety show with patriotic and cultural themes that aired live on Feb. 7 on state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). Keyed to China's Spring Festival holiday, it's the biggest annual television event in the world: In 2015, an estimated 690 million tuned in to watch, compared with only 114 million viewers for the 2015 Super Bowl, which broke U.S. television records....Whiffs of change in China's political climate can often be detected in the show's state-approved content....This year, the Chinese government's emphasis on state-directed innovation made a cameo. In 2015, as its economic grew more slowly than in previous years and traditional manufacturing industries headed for a possible hard landing, the central government has pushed hard to ramp up the innovation quotient in China's robotics, computing, and other tech sectors.
The New York Times reports: "Yan Xuetong, the director of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing, argues for a more assertive foreign policy for China in his latest book, 'The Transition of World Power: Political Leadership and Strategic Competition.' In the book, which the Chinese state news media has reviewed favorably, he advocates what he calls moral realism as a rising China challenges the United States for world leadership....Mr. Yan, 64, holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and in 2008 was listed among the world's top 100 public intellectuals by Foreign Policy magazine. In an interview, he explained why it is time for China to cut back on economic aid to other countries, why North Korea is not China's ally and why he sees rivalry but not war with the United States."