China is taking a more confident and active role in the international human rights system, even as the United States pulls back, writes Ted Piccone of the Brookings Institution.
Under President Xi Jinping, China has devoted massive resources to burnish its global image and focus overwhelming media attention on its leader. Now, "Xi Jinping is the message," observes one expert.
He says China is trying to undermine President Trump by using front groups and propaganda in an effort to beat back the president's agenda in the midterm elections.
In a rare interview, Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to the U.S., talks to NPR's Steve Inskeep about trade, better understanding President Trump and China's social credit system.
China's Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai tells NPR his country is "ready to make a deal" with the United States, if they could find a trustworthy partner in Washington.
China's leaders try to muzzle free expression beyond their borders, inside liberal democracies, when speech contradicts the Communist Party line on issues like the status of Tibet and Taiwan.
It started when the boy band New F4 was featured on the annual back-to-school special that every primary and middle school student must watch and discuss.
In 2012, a Justice Department probe shut down law firms that helped Chinese asylum-seekers fabricate or inflate claims of persecution. The clients were left alone, but now 13,500 may have to leave.