It is difficult to overstate the scale of Mr. Xi’s anti-corruption campaign. Between 2012 and 2025, some 7.011 million party members were disciplined or dismissed. By Manoj Kewalramani Access the full piece here

How much can we really understand about Chinese politics from the outside, and how much has become genuinely unknowable? A senior general, who is a close confidant of Xi Jinping; a family friend for whom retirement norms were reportedly bent. Present one day, gone the next, with no explanation that outsiders can independently verify. That is the puzzle at the heart of China-watching today. Some things remain remarkably legible: the direction of policy, the priorities of the l

One of the enduring puzzles about China is how a country of its size is actually governed. We often talk about “Beijing” as though it were a single actor with a coherent strategy, but behind every policy announcement lies an immense bureaucracy, competing incentives, negotiations across different levels of government, and millions of officials whose decisions ultimately determine whether central directives succeed or fail. Understanding China’s political economy therefore req

The historic May 2026 summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Beijing has sent ripples across the geopolitical landscape. While the establishment of a "constructive relationship of strategic stability" and new bilateral Boards of Trade suggest a cautious attempt to manage competition, the underlying shift raises deep, structural questions for the Indo-Pacific. For New Delhi, this potential thaw between Washington and Beijing is not just a spectator sport, it carries dir

China’s recent white paper outlines a transformation of the norms beneath the international order. By Manoj Kewalramani Access the full piece here

Xi dealt with Trump as his equal, pitting Beijing’s grand strategic concerns against Washington’s transactionalism. Yes, both sides outwardly agreed on some issues. But Beijing is playing a long game. By Manoj Kewalramani Read the full piece here

Chinese state media is depicting the summit as an opportunity for the United States to accept that the “right way” for the two powers to engage is as equals. By David Pierson & Berry Wang Access the full piece here

We are living through a moment of tremendous transformation. The post-Cold War order is over, and what replaces it is not yet clear. What is clear, however, is that the two countries with the most power to shape that answer are the United States and China. How they manage their competition—in fact, whether they can manage it at all—is a defining question of our era. That question was tested last year, as the two sides skirmished over trade and technology. It will be tested ag

The Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, signed into law by Chinese President Xi Jinping, will come into effect July 1, 2026. It will allow the communist government to legally pursue sinicisation, the systemic process of aligning religious beliefs, ethnic identities, and cultural practices. By Tenzin Norzom Access the full piece here

We often hear from Beijing that the world today is undergoing “changes unseen in a century,” and that opportunities and risks coexist. But what does the external environment actually look like from inside the Chinese system? If you were a policymaker or analyst in Beijing, how would you read the balance between threat and opportunity? In addition, who are the people that influence the thinking about China’s foreign policy? Is it entirely top-down? Or is there room for policy

The tariff war unleashed by Donald Trump targeting America’s allies, partners, and rivals jeopardised whatever little consensus that was beginning to take shape to counter China’s industrial overcapacity. By Amit Kumar, Manoj Kewalramani Read the full piece here

Xi Jinping will restructure the party to his ends while Mao was even ready to destroy it. By Surya Gangadharan

China looms large in our modern world — and yes, is misunderstood, or not understood at all. Manoj Kewalramani joins Amit Varma in episode 435 of The Seen and the Unseen to put together a primer on China, from ancient times through all the kingdoms through Mao and Deng to Xi and this present moment. Access the full podcast here

After five years of tensions, India–China relations have entered a phase of cautious and fragile re-engagement. The meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi with President Xi Jinping in Kazan in 2024 and Tianjin in 2025 signal a shared desire to stabilise bilateral ties. These gestures are unlikely to ease the deeper structural faultlines. Key among these is the asymmetry in the balance of power between the two countries, along with their respective relationships with th

The advent of Donald Trump as US president resulted in a disruptive 2025. China not only weathered the storm, it also indicated that it sees itself as the inheritor and reformer of the post-war institutional order. By Manoj Kewalramani To read the full piece, click here

Late in October, the Communist Party of China concluded the Fourth Plenary session of the 20th Central Committee. Plenums as critically important gatherings of the Party’s elite. This one outlined the vision for China’s overall development for the next five years. The nutshell version of the long document that was issued was that Xi Jinping’s leadership has taken China down the right path of development and amassing power. So, we should expect more of that—more continuity in