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 and controls Taiwan.

The government stops people from having freedom of speech, freedom of religion and other political rights that people in other countries have. China is a dictatorship, not a democracy.

Territorial disputes

The following territories are claimed by China and at least one other country:

• 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)

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

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.

Japan's and Korea's unequal treaties have been resolved since the end of World War II.

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

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

Work and money

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

The Chinese government states that the Chinese population is over 1,400,000,000, but Western experts and analysts are skeptical about that. A low estimate, of the number of people in China, is about 350 million.

Since May 2025, a scandal involving well-sold Chinese tampons got people's attention. It contained too much thiourea (致癌物超標). Around 30 women have thyroid cancer.

Chinese in other countries

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Uyghur genocide.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to the fallen building.

• Mid-2000 British finding more than 50 Chinese dead bodies locked in a lorry.

• 2013 Belt and Road Initiative

• April 2014 - Vietnam engaging 16 Chinese, who had entered the country illegally. During the shootout or gunfight, many people were injured or died.

• 2014 Vietnam anti-Chinese protests

• From July 2015 protests in Turkey raising the issue of China's Uyghur ethnic minority.

• Angela Gui is critical of China, where a 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. He was about to sell Xi and His Six Women (習近平和他的六個女人). As the book was prevented from publishing, Xi Jinping's reputation was protected. Sweden is trying to get Mr Gui out of China.
• February 2016 British say that Lee Bo (李波), who is detained in China, was a holder of British passport and that they are willing to help him.

See also: South Korea defence deploys THAAD launchers (Wikinews).

• The Chinese and South Koreans disagreed on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense issue. China's unfriendly attitude and ban on Korean culture and products (2016-2023) (限韩令 or 禁韩令) cause anti-Chinese sentiment in Korea.
• In mid-2018, Mahathir Mohamad won the election because the Malays were angry about corruption that originates from China.

• Since August 2018, the (non-civilian) usage of Huawei and ZTE equipment in US federal government has stopped becuse of an important executive order by the US president.
• As early as July 2020, Canada believed that China should let Michael Korvig and Michael Spavor, who were detained in China for months, go home.

• In October 2022, the UNHRC decided not to hold a debate on the Xinjiang internment camps and the related human rights issues; 11 "member state" abstained (failed to vote).

• In 2022, the issue of the dual nationality of Eileen Gu (谷爱凌) caught people's attention, as she switched from "Team United States" to "Team China" in a sports competition. It is deduced or inferred that she has both American and Chinese citizenships.

Quotations related to Eileen Gu at Wikiquote

• In 2023, more than 37,000 Chinese were arrested at the border between the United States and Mexico. Because of boat accident, 8 Chinese died off the coast.

• In 2024, about 20% of foreign students at Harvard Universit are from China.
• A tall building in Bangkok, Thailand, fell on March 28, 2025, killing more than 90. The Chinese built it.

Protests

• 1976 Tiananmen incident

• 1986 Chinese student demonstrations (八六学潮)

• 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre

• Anti-World Trade Organization protests by Koreans in Hong Kong - 2005

• 2009 Shishou incident

• 2014 and 2019 Hong Kong protests

• 2018 Jasic incident

• 2022 Henan banks protests

• 2022 COVID-19 protests in China

Rumour, gossip, and scandal about leaders

In 1982, Xi Jinping (divorced) 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, and Tie married Hua Sheng (华生) in 2007. In October 2024, Tie attended the presidential event in Mexico City on behalf of China. In June 2025, Tie visited Argentina and Brazil.

The leaders' health condition is usually regarded as state secrets. In May 2024, when Chinese and European leaders met, a photo was taken. Describing the photo, from left to right, there was something unusual:

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

Politicians being sanctioned

The US decided to sanction many people in August 2020 on the issue of the end of the autonomy of Hong Kong, including

1. Carrie Lam
2. John Lee

Related pages

• Censorship and propaganda.
• Falun Gong and repression of Uyghurs in China.
• List of Hong Kong people
• List of websites blocked in mainland China and movies banned in China.
• Oppression and persecution.
• One-child policy and economy of China.
• Sino-Japanese War

References