For a decade, former Chongqing mayor Huang Qifan stood out as a political survivor while colleague after close colleague fell in China’s far-reaching anti-corruption campaign. Throughout that time, including his seven years as the megacity’s mayor from 2009 to 2016, Huang was seen as a “tumbler” in Chinese politics – a weighted doll that wobbles but never falls over. The nickname was well-deserved – he served under six municipal Communist Party secretaries, watching two of them – Bo Xilai and...

For a decade, former Chongqing mayor Huang Qifan stood out as a political survivor while colleague after close colleague fell in China’s far-reaching anti-corruption campaign. Throughout that time, including his seven years as the megacity’s mayor from 2009 to 2016, Huang was seen as a “tumbler” in Chinese politics – a weighted doll that wobbles but never falls over. The nickname was well-deserved – he served under six municipal Communist Party secretaries, watching two of them – Bo Xilai and...

Senior American diplomats, administration officials and Indo-Pacific military commanders met in Tokyo earlier this month in what one source called an “unusual” gathering ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned visit to China in November. People familiar with the meeting said it represented an evolution of a long-standing practice in which US ambassadors stationed across Asia and the Pacific gathered to exchange intelligence, coordinate diplomatic reporting and align regional priorities. The...

Senior American diplomats, administration officials and Indo-Pacific military commanders met in Tokyo earlier this month in what one source called an “unusual” gathering ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned visit to China in November. People familiar with the meeting said it represented an evolution of a long-standing practice in which US ambassadors stationed across Asia and the Pacific gathered to exchange intelligence, coordinate diplomatic reporting and align regional priorities. The...