Political problems of China

The People's Republic of China claims that the island of Taiwan is part of its territory, but the Republic of China (which was the government that controlled all of China from 1911 to 1949) still claims the land as theirs, and does still control Taiwan.

See also: Political status of Taiwan and People's Liberation Army

Many people say the government stops people from having freedom of speech, freedom of religion and other political rights that people in other countries have. China still has one-party rule, and is not a democracy.

See also: State Council of the People's Republic of China and Ministry of Public Security (China)

Anti-secession protest in 2010

Territorial disputes

The following territories are claimed by China and by another country or more.

The name of the disputed territory, 尖閣 (in Romaji: Senkaku), being pronounced.

• certain islands with Japan (in Japanese Kanji: 尖閣諸島) (in Simplified Chinese characters: 钓鱼岛) (in Traditional Chinese characters: 釣魚臺)
• Nansha Archipelago (with Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines)
• Xisha Archipelago (with Taiwan and Vietnam)

In mid-2020, Rajnath Singh had to negotiate with the Chinese on the left.

• South Tibet - parts of Arunachal Pradesh (with India)
• Aksai Chin - part of Kashmir (with India)

See also: 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish

In spring 2022, Chinese foreign minister visited India.

Lost territories (Unequal treaties)

Unequal treaties were forced onto Asian countries when European imperialism reached Asia. The list includes claims from both the People's Republic of China and Republic of China, as well as unofficial historical claims. Note: Japan's and Korea's unequal treaties have been resolved since the end of WWII.

• Mongolia (lost to independence)
• Tuva (lost to Russian Empire)
• Outer Manchuria (lost to Russian Empire)
• Kyrgyzstan (lost to Russian Empire)
• parts of Kazakhstan (lost to Russian Empire)
• parts of Myanmar (lost to British Empire)
• Bhutan (lost to British Empire)

There is not a clear explanation as to why Meng Wanzhou had both Hong Kong and PRC passports.

See also: Citizenship

• Hong Kong (lost to British Empire) (returned to China with effect from 1 July 1997 under the Sino-British Joint Declaration)
• Macau (lost to Portuguese Empire) (transferred to China on 20 December 1999)
• Tonkin & Northern Annam (lost to French Empire)
• Ryukyu Islands (lost to Japanese Empire)

Catastrophes/ disasters

• Great Chinese Famine
• November 2022 Ürümqi fire
• April 2025 fire at a restaurant in Liaoyang, Liaoning

extreme weather

Henan in 2021

• 1931 China floods
• 2008 floods in the south
• 2011 floods along the Yangtze River
• 2023 floods
• Landslide in the south from 2024 onwards

earthquake

Qinghai in 2022

• 1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake
• 1976 Tangshan earthquake
• 2008 Sichuan earthquake
• 2013 Lushan earthquake
• 2017 Jiuzhaigou earthquake
• 2022 Luding earthquake
• 2025 Tibet earthquake

public health

2016 HIV map

This video (spring 2023) features Shen Hongbing (沈洪兵) talking about the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Human immunodeficiency virus
• COVID-19 lockdowns

transport

• 1994 China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303
• 2011 Wenzhou train collision
• 2015 sinking of the "Dongfang zhi Xing (东方之星)" ship
• 2022 China Eastern flight 5735
• May 2025 tourist boat accident in Guizhou

chemicals

Tianjin in 2015

• 2015 Tianjin explosions
• 2019 Xiangshui chemical plant explosion

• May 2025 chemical plant explosion in Shandong

Livelihood

A lot of the drinkable milk, which turns out to be problematic, were all of a sudden removed from the supermarket shelves in 2008.

As early as January 2016, observers point out that many buildings in Chinese cities are empty (nobody really lives there). Despite low demand, developers would make apartment and other types of new buildings anyways.

Beijing government says that the Chinese population is over one billion and four hundred million (1,400,000,000) but western experts and analysts are skeptical about this.

Chinese abroad/ overseas Chinese/ global image

a controversial bookstore in Hong Kong, January 2016

Kovrig and Spavor

• 2014 Vietnam anti-China protests
• Belt and Road Initiative
• Angela Gui is critical of China, because a Chinese court decided in February 2020 that her father Gui Minhai (桂民海) is guilty of "illegally providing intelligence overseas". Someone abducted Mr Gui in 2015. Had Mr Gui not been abducted, he would have sold the Xi and His Six Women (習近平和他的六個女人) book. As the book was prevented from publishing, Xi Jinping's reputation was protected. The Swedish is trying to get Mr Gui out of China.
• The Chinese and South Koreans disagreed on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense issue. Due to the unfriendly attitude of the Chinese, and due to the China's ban on Korean culture and products (2016 - 2023) (限韩令 or 禁韩令), there is anti-China sentiment in Korea.

See also: South Korea defence deploys THAAD launchers.

• In mid-2018, Mahathir Mohamad won the election because the Malays were angry about the corruption originating from China.
• From 2019 onwards, protests in Turkey. The issue being raised was China's Uyghur ethnic minority.
• As early as July 2020, the Canadians believe that China should let Korvig and Spavor (detained in China for months) go home.
• In 2024, studying at the Harvard University, about 20% of foreign students are from China.
• A tall building in Bangkok fell on March 28, 2025 causing more than 90 people to die. The Chinese built it.

Protest

Shanghai, late November 2022

• 1976 Tiananmen incident
• 2022 COVID-19 protests

Rumour, Gossip and Scandal of the Leaders

Tie Ning at the age of 60.

In 1982, Xi Jinping was 29 years old. Xi was attracted to Tie Ning (铁凝) (born in September 1957) (25+ years old), a beautiful woman. The interviewee gave a vague reason as to why the romance between Xi and Tie did not go well. Xi married Peng Liyuan (彭丽媛) five years later in 1987, whereas Tie married Hua Sheng (华生) in 2007. In October 2024, Tie attended the presidential event in Mexico City on behalf of China.

In May 2024, when Chinese leaders met European leaders, a photo was taken. Describing the photo, from left to right, there was something unusual:-

• Xi Jinping
• Wang Yi
• Hua Chunying
• a wheelchair
• an unidentified young man.

Related pages

During the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, many countries (blue) did not send diplomat to Beijing.

• 1989 Tiananmen Square protests
• Censorship and propaganda
• Falun Gong
• List of Chinese dissidents
• List of websites blocked in mainland China
• Movies banned in China
• Oppression and persecution
• One-child policy
• Repression of Uyghurs in China
• Sino-Japanese War