They straggle into the city center in groups of four and five throughout the morning, impervious to the constant downpour that soaks their clothing, some using crutches to walk. By mid-morning, some 300 Chinese petitioners, hailing from every corner of Henan Province, and possibly elsewhere, have...

In November 2012, the Communist Party of China completed its latest once-in-a-decade leadership transition during its 18 th National Congress. In his report to the Congress, outgoing president Hu Jintao issued the Party’s prescription for incoming president Xi Jinping to administer China: the Party...

Officials in the ancient town of Shifang, in Sichuan Province, could never have imagined that their launch party would have turned out so badly. But then they only had themselves to blame when they quietly approved a US$1.6 billion molybdenum-copper alloy factory, not thinking it necessary to...