Since 1988, China has undergone one of the largest, but least understood experiments in grassroots democracy. Across 600,000 villages in China, with almost a million elections, some three million officials have been elected. The Chinese government believes that this is a step towards democracy with Chinese characteristics'. But to many involved in them, the elections have been mired by corruption, vote-rigging and cronyism. This book looks at the history of these elections, how they arose, what they have achieved and where they might be going, exploring the specific experience of elections by...

By 2030, China's cities will be home to 1 billion people - one in every eight people on earth. What kind of lives will China's urban billion lead? And what will China's cities be like?
Over the past thirty years, China's urban population expanded by 500 million people, and is on track to swell by a further 300 million by 2030. Hundreds of millions of these new urban residents are rural migrants, who lead second-class lives without access to urban benefits. Even those lucky citizens who live in modern tower blocks must put up with clogged roads, polluted skies and cityscapes of...

The mineral-rich mountains of Tibet are landscapes of solitude, where the greatest yogis withdrew from society to deeply realise the nature of the human mind. Those sacred landscapes and pilgrimage routes are now officially designated as mineral extraction enclaves.
Tibet until now has not linked meaningfully to the Chinese economy, and mining on a significant scale has been minimal. China's 12th Five-Year Plan for 2011 onwards however is due to change all of this, with massive investment in world scale mining of copper, gold, silver, chromium and lithium for the world's factory, with...

A century ago, Chinese feminists fighting for the emancipation of women helped spark the Republican Revolution, which overthrew the Qing empire. After China's Communist revolution of 1949, Chairman Mao famously proclaimed that "women hold up half the sky." In the early years of the People's Republic, the Communist Party sought to transform gender relations with expansive initiatives such as assigning urban women jobs in the planned economy. Yet those gains are now being eroded in China's post-socialist era. Contrary to many claims made in the mainstream media, women in China have experienced...

In the early years of the People s Republic of China, the Communist Party sought to transform gender relations, but those gains have been steadily eroded in recent decades during China s transition to a post-socialist era. In fact, women in China have experienced a dramatic rollback of rights and gains relative to men. In Leftover Women, journalist Leta Hong-Fincher exposesshocking levels of structural discrimination against women and highlights the broader damage this has caused to China s economy, politics, and development.
Drawing on cutting-edge data from a Sina Weibo survey...

Since the World War II, Thailand has positioned itself as a key strategic ally of the United States, serving as a bulwark against communism in Southeast Asia and as a base for American troops during the Vietnam War. In return, the United States has provided millions of dollars in military and economic aid, while staunchly supporting the country's despotic regimes. However, recent decades have seen a striking reversal in Thailand's foreign relations, with China, once a sworn enemy, now treated as a valued ally by the Thai junta. This shift reflects China's growing status as a world power, and...

Since the World War II, Thailand has positioned itself as a key strategic ally of the United States, serving as a bulwark against communism in Southeast Asia and as a base for American troops during the Vietnam War. In return, the United States has provided millions of dollars in military and economic aid, while staunchly supporting the country's despotic regimes. However, recent decades have seen a striking reversal in Thailand's foreign relations, with China, once a sworn enemy, now treated as a valued ally by the Thai junta. This shift reflects China's growing status as a world power, and...