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Dec. 31 – Over the last week, China Briefing has published several specially-commissioned pieces written by well-known China writers to summarize the key events of 2012 and points to look forward to in 2013. The complete series is summarized and hyper-linked below for your convenience.
2012: A Year in Review by Malcolm Moore
Malcolm is the senior Beijing correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. In this piece, he discusses the implications of the Bo Xilai scandal, the once-a-decade leadership transition, and several government ministerial mergers he feels could take place in 2013. Continue reading
Dec. 28 – In a year that has contained ample political nuances, from the fallout over Bo Xilai to the territorial disputes involving several islands, much that went on under the radar will, I feel, have rather more profound consequences. While media roared over the spats with Vietnam and Japan, perhaps rather more monumental changes were being honed on the anvils of Asian diplomacy. Indeed, 2012 was a banner year for the rather more subtle, yet continuing assimilation of China into Asian and international trade flows. It has gone unnoticed by many, yet the repositioning of China is already well under way. But first, let’s just look back in order to peek into the future. 
Dec. 27 – A few months ago, I got an email from a Chinese acquaintance asking me for help. Doctors had diagnosed his friend’s elderly mother with lung cancer; the prescribed medication was known to be reliable, and cheaper if obtained from India.
Dec. 26 – When Sina Weibo was first established in 2009, its founder had to persuade celebrities to join the network in order to attract attention. In just three years, its popularity has exploded, with more than 300 million registered users in a nation with 540 million connected to the Internet. Often referred to as China’s Twitter, Sina Weibo, along with similar services offered by other Chinese web portals, has transformed Chinese social interactions in ways few had anticipated, and there is no better example of this than the eventful year of 2012. 
Dec. 25 – The November accession of new figures to the very top political posts in the People’s Republic of China, and the re-election of U.S. President Barack Obama, have naturally given rise to a deluge of pregnant speculation over the future of U.S.-China relations and the future roles each country will play on the global front.
Dec. 24 – The year of the dragon, according to Chinese belief, is often unpredictable and bewildering. And so it has proved. We saw extraordinary escapes, unexplained disappearances, the downfall of a prominent politician, and riot-causing regional spats.
