China Decides

The world’s other superpower is having its own “election” this week. And if all goes according to plan, on Nov. 14 nine (or seven) men (and possibly one woman) will stride across the stage in Beijing’s massive Great Hall of the People as the new members of the Politburo Standing Committee, China’s most powerful decision-making body. They will wave, clap, and smile confidently, signaling to the world the inevitability of their leadership and hiding the messy reality of decades of infighting and moral compromise by which they climbed their way to the top. And their optimism will mask the reality of a China that is facing some of the most severe and daunting challenges in its modern history.

• National Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
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• Apocalypse Mao
  By Christina Larson

• Human Rights Now
  By Sophie Richardson

• Inside China’s Smoke-Filled Room
  By Willy Lam

• Xi Jinping’s Challenge
  By Kenneth Lieberthal

• Party Congress Diary, Day 3
  By Kathleen E. McLaughlin

• China’s Other Transition
  By Dean Cheng

• What China’s Generals Fear
  By John Garnaut

• Kafka in Beijing
  By John Garnaut

• My Strange Visit to Hu Jintao’s Hometown
  By Isaac Stone Fish

• Hu Jintao’s Legacy
  By Kerry Brown

• Reform or Perish
  By Michael Pettis

• Xi’s Got Issues
  By Geoff Dyer

• What Do Rural Chinese Villagers Think of Their New Bosses?
  By Trefor Moss

• What China’s Generals Fear
  By John Garnaut

• Men In Black
  By Nels Frye

• Fashion Tips From the Politburo
  An FP Slide Show

• Kafka in Beijing
  By John Garnaut

• Xi Jinping’s Challenge
  By Kenneth Lieberthal

• Party Congress Diary, Day 6
  By Kathleen E. McLaughlin

• China’s Other Transition
  By Dean Cheng

• Inside China’s Smoke-Filled Room
  By Willy Lam

• My Strange Visit to Hu Jintao’s Hometown
  By Isaac Stone Fish

• Hu Jintao’s Legacy
  By Kerry Brown

• Reform or Perish
  By Michael Pettis

• The Hu Era, in Pictures
  An FP Slide Show

• Everything You Think You Know About China Is Wrong
  

• Xi Jinping Is An Empty Suit
  By Yu Jie

• China’s One Percent
  An FP Slide Show

• What if U.S. Political Reporters Covered the Chinese “Election”?
  

• Why the China Model Is Running Out of Gas
  

• The Rise of Chinese Cities
  An FP Special Report

• Why Chinese Leaders Don’t Swim Anymore
  

• The Weird And Wonderful World of Chinese Bureaucracy Novels