Financial Times reportst that Chinese authorities are cracking down on academic fraud after an international medical journal retracted 107 Chinese-authored papers from the past five years, in the biggest case to date of fake peer reviews to endorse research. Springer, publisher of the journal Tumor Biology, said the retractions were made because the peer review process — in which an independent academic recommends a paper for publication — had been "deliberately compromised by fabricated peer reviewer reports". China's ministry of science and technology said this week that the incident had "seriously harmed the international reputation of our country's scientific research and the dignity of Chinese scientists at large". It vowed a "no tolerance" approach to academic fraud. The government pledged to investigate the papers' authors and may strip them of their academic roles. All grant funding to the academics involved has been halted.

Shin Kawashima, a professor of international relations at the University of Tokyo writes on the Inquirer that China is taking a relatively cautious stance on the disputes involving the South China Sea . t is currently undertaking military reforms, and toward the end of 2016 Vice Adm. Yuan Yubai was appointed commanding officer of the Southern Theater Command, which is responsible for the South China Sea. Although China was expected to advance more aggressively into the waters, it is taking a moderate stance. One of the factors resides in the White House...China seems to want to establish a solid relationship with the United States before formulating other policies. Before establishing that solid relationship, China is expected to avoid making any major decisions that could increase the variables, although it may execute policies to some extent. Another factor is the domestic situation in China. As is well known, the year 2017 is the key year for Chinese President Xi Jinping. His top political priority is carrying out a reshuffle of personnel in the autumn without any problems and consolidating power in his second term. On the diplomatic front, he would like to stage major events every month until the autumn to emphasize the results achieved in the first half of his administration. To that end, he will not cause any trouble for some time to come. He will not take any bold steps until at least July, when China and the United States are expected to agree on economic issues.