Tea Leaf Nation

A news article published in early May suggests that reform may be in the works for China’s long-standing petitioning system, also known as the Letters and Visits system, which is often associated with scandals involving cruelty and inhumanity. On May 9, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported that in March, the State Bureau for Letters and [...]

[Note: The following is a Tea Leaf Nation op-ed, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the editors.] On November 29, 2012, at the end of his visit to “The Road to Revival” exhibition, which showcased China’s achievements in modern and contemporary history despite foreign invasions and exploitation, the newly appointed General Secretary of [...]

Has the previously inscrutable leader of China, Xi Jinping, begun to show his true colors? A recent editorial on Guangming Daily, one of the Communist Party’s mouthpiece newspapers, revealed that in a January meeting, the new Chinese leader had pointed out: Had Deng Xiaoping completely repudiated Mao Zedong in 1981, would our Party have been [...]

Surviving as a journalist under China’s strict censorship regime is no picnic, but recent moves by the Chinese government have made it clear that lives of journalists in China will more likely get harder. Chinese journalists are some of the most active users on China’s social media — not only can they uncover hidden stories [...]

Xi Jinping, where were you the night of March 1? Yesterday, both domestic and foreign news outlets were reporting that the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping had taken a ride in a taxi cab that night; Hong Kong paper Ta Kung Pao broke the news on April 18, which was then [...]

Coming in the wake of an increasingly petulant North Korea threatening to rain fire and brimstone over East Asia and beyond, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s first official visit to China was only ever going to be about one issue: getting North Korea’s closest thing to an ally to take a tougher stance against [...]

Almost exactly a decade since the outbreak of SARS, the epidemic originating in Guangdong that killed almost 800 people worldwide, China is again in the grips of fear of a super bug. The H7N9 strain of avian flu has jumped to humans and, as of April 2, killed at least three and sickened about a [...]

This article also appears on ChinaFile, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. Xi Jinping, the newly appointed Chinese President, unfolded his presidency with a grand foreign tour to Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of the Congo. While this series of state visits unequivocally underscored China’s diplomatic emphasis on its neighboring power and traditional [...]

Whatever serious political signals that Xi Jinping’s first trip abroad as China’s new leader may have sent, Chinese Web users have recently focused on someone else: their new First Lady. Everything about Peng Liyuan seems to have fascinated users of Chinese social media, from Ms. Peng’s designed-in-China clothes and handbags to her mannerisms to her [...]

This article also appears on The Atlantic, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. Has China just become a country run by lawyers? That does appear to be the case at first blush. Three newly-minted top leaders all have legal degrees. President Xi Jinping has an LLD from Tsinghua University, Prime Minister Li Keqiang has an LLB [...]

Far from the Sistine Chapel, another world leader emerged from a rite steeped in tradition, protocol and ceremony. “When white smoke comes out of the chapel, a pope is elected. When green smoke comes out of one’s ancestral tomb, a leader is elected,” tweeted @水刹那 on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter. The “green smoke” comment refers the Chinese [...]

Before the public shaming begins in court, Zhao Hongxia, whose sex tape led to the downfall of eleven Chinese executives and officials last December, wanted to remind the country that she was also a mother and wife. “Right now I only care about whether pictures of my husband and son have been exposed in public,” [...]