Beijing has varied in its response to the increasing popularity of Christianity in China. Doug Bandow describes the historical ways in which Christianity has interacted with sovereignty, and states that the Beijing government would best respond in a way that uses increased religious faith to encourage peaceful social progress.

While American governmental influence in Hollywood is not negligible, it still pales in comparison to Chinese governmental influence in the film business. There are groups in both countries that would like film to serve the interests of state, just as there are stubbornly independent filmmakers in both countries as well. From Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper (2014) to the popular Chinese TV show, Empress of China (2014), Cunningham explores the relationships between state censorship, and glorified sex and violence.

Strained relations between the Uyghur community in Xinjiang and the Chinese government have led to increasing instability, which hinders China’s larger goals to increase trade with Central Asia and the Middle East. China's New Silk Road strategy may provide an opportunity for the CCP and Uyghur leaders to strike an uneasy bargain, albeit one that can halt the cycle of repression and retaliatory violence.

The KMT and the DPP will soon unveil candidates for the top executive job in Taiwan, and politics will revolve around the 2016 election. Both Beijing and Washington are hoping that the people of Taiwan will elect a leader that supports stable cross-strait relations and peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific.

Xi has said on multiple occasions that the next steps of China’s reforms will be tough. But the decisiveness and resolution he has displayed in handling corrupt officials such as Zhou have won him public confidence.

There are important points, applicable also in U.S.-China relations, to be noted in the presumed North Korean hacking attack on Sony Pictures, precipitated by the latter’s film “The Interview,” which treats as a spoof a CIA conspiracy to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

As the Chinese government prepares to put the disgraced former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang on trial in 2015, the question on the minds of most observers is whether the courtroom proceedings against Zhou will adhere to both Chinese criminal procedures and the well-established legal principle of fairness.

Chinese students now make up 31% of the foreign students on American campuses, a trend that has financially boosted U.S. higher education. However, many Chinese students face structural and social difficulties, and school administrations have proven ineffective in responding. The improvement of Chinese student’s well-being requires increased interaction from all parties.

China’s decision to ban coal-fired power plants in Beijing by 2020 marks a big advance in battling climate change. Stewart Taggard argues that this is the first step in a long march toward wider application of ‘energy by wire.’

A Chinese company has successfully developed a new anti-malarial drug, Artequick, and has begun testing its efficacy in the Comoros, a three-nation island with a long history of the parasite. Early positive results have excited researchers for the new medications’ ability to rid malaria in a host’s body, rather than target mosquitos.