The list of military "provocations" grows longer: outlandish territorial claims in the South China Sea, and vilification of Hillary Clinton who has the temerity to challenge them; installation of more than 1,000 ballistic weapons aimed at Taiwan; confrontation on the high seas with Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines; year-on-year military...

China was founded to ensure survival, not as an Earthly manifestation of God's moral covenant with Man, the latter blessed with a divine right to pursue happiness. Indigenous schools of Chinese philosophy -- Daoism, Confucianism, and Legalism -- are mechanistic, concerned with values as a means to an end --...

In the narrowest sense, a superpower has the military might to force the world to acquiesce to hegemonic resolve (for example, the Soviet Union). Then there are economic superpowers that influence capital flows and global growth rates. When they struggle, the world does too. Finally, there are soft superpowers, nations...

The relationship between the people and the Chinese government is, to say the least, ambivalent. The country's wealthiest citizens scurry to obtain foreign passports as a hedge against future uncertainty. As evidenced by populist outrage after the Wenzhou train disaster, the little guy rails against bureaucratic corruption, particularly when his...

China's relationship with food is a window into basic instincts. The country's cuisine is a manifestation of a civilization that has never taken survival for granted. An understanding of what and how Chinese want to eat is a quick way to know China. With the ever popular dim sum of...

The growth of China's consumer e-commerce sector is breathtaking, doubling year on year. On-line shopping is more than a trend; it is a phenomenon. But it took a while for things to take off. It was not until two fundamentally Chinese business essentials were addressed -- the benefits and reassurance...

It seems many of the big Chinese ad agencies are not headed up by Chinese people. Why is this the case? Did Westerners bring the "advertising industry" with them?

The first clients who advertised big -- i.e., with any degree of professionalism -- were the large FMCG companies such as...

Everything that registers on China's international -- and, for that matter, domestic -- radar does so because it, directly or indirectly, impacts stability. Pragmatic to the core, the PRC cherishes one thing above all else: order. Stability has always been, and remains today, the platform on which progress is constructed....

Who could have imagined? Ten years ago, the only automobiles seen on the streets of coastal cities were non-descript black sedans and shoddy Volkswagen Jetta taxis. Today, China's highways are overflowing with cars of every shape, size and color. While foreign brands still dominate the market -- with many produced...

After thirteen years on the mainland, I have learned there are two types of expatriates: "China friendly" and "China unfriendly." One is either drawn to the country's warmth and ambition or repulsed by shoddiness and lack of civility. If you're in the latter camp, get back on the plane; the...

The Chinese have always had a grudging admiration for Barack Obama. After the death of Osama bin Laden, a global black sheep, their respect will be significantly less unequivocal. In record time, his "justice" speech was faithfully translated by state-controlled media; tomorrow it will be looped on CCTV. Obama is,...

Japan, heretofore a land unto itself, soothed by a unique combination of geographic isolation and Zen-Buddhist equanimity, has discovered the world can be kind. If the nation's leaders take this opportunity to encourage citizens to "open up," to emerge from their spiritual shell, Japan will become more confident, more productive...

There is a lot of truth in Amy Chua's self-congratulatory Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Chinese moms, today and in the past, will stop at practically nothing to ensure their children are armed with weapons required to defeat kiddie competition and obliterate barriers of future financial success. That said,...

China's technologically liberated consumers are ready for a digital commercial revolution. But manufacturers and their communications partners -- advertising agencies, both digital and traditional, as well as media companies -- are letting them down by not approaching the sector strategically.

Liberation for Everyman

It is difficult to overstate the...

While accurate numbers are hard to come by, a 2008 estimate says that Second Wives account for a third of the country's consumption of luxury products. There is a tension between what is officially and socially accepted, however. This contentious consumer group must be viewed in light of...

What is Chinese culture? Now and forever, perpetual yet shape-shifting,in modern and ancient guises, the Chinese worldview can be distilled down to three inter-related Truths: a) a fatalistic, cyclical view of time and space characterized by meticulous interconnectivity of things big and small, b) a morally-relativistic universe in which the...

Contemporary Chinese society, still Confucian to the core, is driven by: 1) the need for societal acknowledgment and 2) diffused insecurity. Mainland consumer behavior, characterized by status projection and risk avoidance, reflects these truths.

Status and Public Consumption. The Chinese consumer, pulled between conformism and ambition, regard brands as...

Chinese society is racing forward but it is not cracking up or spinning off its axis. The traditional pillars of individual identity -- the family and the nation -- remain robust.

True, there are stresses -- "spiritual pollution" -- that disorient and make people feel "less safe" than 10...

Just because China has embraced Christmas does not mean the country is becoming Western. Looks can be deceiving.

Christmas tunes play on radio stations. Every Grade A and Grade B office building in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou is decked out with holiday displays. Christmas music is piped into elevators...

China's recent passive-aggressive behavior on the world stage is unfortunate but not unexpected. President Obama is handling the PRC's non-collaboration with great skill and savvy. He realizes the Middle Kingdom's ancient cultural imperatives and contemporary geo-political objectives dictate a balance of caution and steely firmness. If he stays the course,...