Under China's "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong residents enjoy greater freedom and autonomy than people in mainland China, including freedoms of speech, press, and religion. China has stated it intends to allow Hong Kong residents to elect their Chief Executive by universal suffrage for the first time in 2017 and to elect Hong Kong's Legislative Council by universal suffrage in 2020. As Hong Kong's government contemplates electoral reform in the run-up to the 2017 election, concerns are growing that China's central government will attempt to control the election by allowing only...

The vast majority of toys bought and sold in the United States are made in China. In November, the labor rights NGO, China Labor Watch, issued a report alleging poor working conditions at four Chinese factories that manufacture toys for several major toy companies and retailers. According to Labor Watch's most recent report, some factory workers are temporary workers and students, who make as little as $1.23 an hour, and some work more than 100 hours of overtime a month, in blatant violation of China's overtime laws. These young people often live in crowded dorms, sometimes 18 people to a...

Sixty-two million households in the U.S. have a pet. We raise 83 million dogs, and 96 million cats. Many of us raise our animals almost like members of our families. It's troubling that we still do not know seven years in what's causing the deaths and illnesses of thousands of dogs. Recently major pet stores have announced they would stop selling dog and cat treats made in China following the deaths of 1,000 dogs, which may be linked to pet treats from China. Last year 2013], the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) declared that China is eligible to export processed cooked chicken to the...

The People's Republic of China made a promise to the international community and to the people of Hong Kong that they would enjoy certain freedoms and could freely elect their leaders. It is those freedoms and autonomy that have ensured Hong Kong's stability and prosperity. But now the People's Republic of China is backtracking on these promises. The desire of the people of Hong Kong for freedom and for democracy is genuine. The slow erosion of press freedoms and the rule of law, the setbacks to Hong Kong's democratic developments, and Beijing's less than subtle oversight of Hong Kong are the...

China's one-child policy is state-sponsored violence against women and children. In 2015, the one-child policy marked its 35th anniversary. It has been called the world's largest social experiment and has had tragic effects on Chinese families and society. Coercive population control policies are also the cause of a demographic time bomb. China has a rapidly aging population, a shrinking labor force, and a dramatic gender imbalance that drives regional human trafficking problems and potentially higher levels of crime and societal instability. China's central government has started to gently...

Twenty-six years ago, the world watched as millions of Chinese gathered to peacefully demand political reform and democratic openness. The hopes and promises of those heady days ended with wanton violence, tears, bloodshed, arrests, and exile. Mothers lost sons, fathers lost daughters, and China lost an idealistic generation to the tanks that rolled down Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Tiananmen Square has come to symbolize the persistent and brutal lengths the Chinese Communist Party will go to remain in power. This event has done more to negatively shape global perceptions of China than...