China's 'One China' principle vs. the US 'One China' policy

A brief video explainer on the US 'One China' policy

Wondering what the "One China" policy means? This four-minute explainer video delves into which nations recognize Beijing as the seat of the Chinese government and which recognize Taiwan as such. Meanwhile, the United States of America views Beijing as the true government while maintaining relations with Taiwan, including selling them arms to protect themselves.

How China's 'one country, two systems' works

"One country, two systems" is a principle put forth by the People's Republic of China as its approach toward formerly independent regions like Hong Kong and Macau. Supposedly promising administrative independence, China has not always been consistent in its application. Currently, it plans to offer the same arrangement with Taiwan. Learn more in this brief video.

How Taiwan residents view China and the US

There is widespread support in Taiwan for increased economic and political ties with the US, compared to China. This deep dive of data from the Pew Research Center breaks down how various segments of Taiwan's population perceive the US and China individually and among other Asia-Pacific countries.

A short history of the China-Taiwan conflict

The relationship between China and Taiwan is a fraught one, and has been for well over a century. US involvement has only raised the stakes between the independent island country, also known as the Republic of China, and the larger country on the mainland. Here's a breakdown of the conflict between China and Taiwan over the years.

China's latest statement on why it wants to 'reunify' with Taiwan

"The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era" is a white paper released by the People's Republic of China in 2022. It outlines the Chinese government's reasons for reclaiming/reunifying with the island nation of Taiwan in a series of detailed points. The full text of the document can be found here.

Trade between the US and China has increased in recent decades

After China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the trade partnership between the US and China bloomed. But it's not without pros and cons, including lower prices for US consumers and higher profits for US corporations alongside the loss of American jobs due to import competition and multinational companies moving overseas.

China's relationship to the rules-based order is contested

In this piece, Paul Gewirtz, a professor of constitutional law at Yale Law School, argues that China has been a beneficiary, a rule-bender, and an increasingly assertive challenger of the rules-based order, aiming to revise norms it sees as reflecting Western rather than universal values.

The world is shifting from unipolarity toward a multipolar order

The post-Cold War world was briefly unipolar after 1991, with the US standing alone as a global superpower following decades of US-Soviet bipolarity. Analysts increasingly describe today's order as multipolar, with China, Russia, the US, and regional powers all competing for influence.

See who sat where at the US-China state dinner and why

This graphic maps the seating arrangements at the May 2026 dinner, showing how Chinese banquet etiquette shaped the placement of officials and executives from both delegations, along with details on the food served.

Hardline China critics in the US worry that China's Belt and Road Initiative is a Trojan horse for military expansion efforts

The Belt and Road Initiative, initially launched in 2013 to develop trade routes throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, has evolved into a larger infrastructure development initiative in developing countries. The BRI is backed by the Silk Road Fund, which is administered by the two most prominent Chinese sovereign wealth funds.

The Monroe Doctrine promoted 4 core principles

Monroe outlined four positions: the US would not interfere in European conflicts; it would not disturb existing European colonies in the Americas; the Western Hemisphere was closed to new colonization; and any European attempt to control an independent American republic would be regarded as a threat to US security.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

'Chin chin' is a Mandarin toast that became popular in Europe

The phrase roughly translates to “please, please” and became popular in Europe after the Renaissance, when travelers, missionaries, and merchants returned from China with some of the customs they’d witnessed. Ironically, it’s rarely used in China today.

How former President Nixon's visit to China shifted geopolitics

While Richard Nixon may be best remembered for Watergate and the disintegration of his presidency, his visit to China in 1972 stands as a triumph of his administration. Learn about the president's visit to Beijing (then referred to as Peking), his methods and approach, and the subsequent opening of diplomatic ties with China.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was America's first major immigration restriction

The act, signed in 1882, barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States, marking the first significant restriction on free immigration. This overview examines 19th-century Chinese immigration, rising anti-Chinese sentiment, and the diplomatic implications of exclusionary legislation.

The Lunar New Year was widely celebrated until Mao Zedong and the Communist Party

In the 1960s, Mao ushered in the Cultural Revolution, an attempt to make China a more modern, industrialized nation. In keeping with this, he banned traditional holiday customs in favor of “revolutionary” actions like chanting Communist Party slogans and engaging in a “self-criticism” ceremony. These changes weren’t very popular and were quickly reversed after Mao’s death.

What's the difference between QQ, WeChat, and Weixin?

Tencent owns QQ, Weixin, and WeChat—three separate apps serving different users. QQ launched in 1999 as a youth-focused messenger. Weixin (for China) and WeChat (international) are technically the same app, but split to comply with regional regulations, especially around data and payments.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

Understanding the structure of the Chinese phonetic alphabet

Translating Chinese names from Chinese to English characters is a complex process, one in which the original name’s meaning can become muddled. This article uses graphics to explain the structure of Hanyu Pinyin, the most commonly used Chinese phonetic alphabet. Visualize how the Pinyin romanization system can lead to name ambiguity, and therefore make it challenging to identify individuals based solely on Pinyin.

The dragon has been central to Chinese culture since ancient times

One of the most recognizable symbols in Chinese culture, the dragon is known as a mighty yet often benevolent creature. The dragon is capable of interacting with gods in the heavens; it can turn invisible, shape-shift, and control the weather. These features made the mythological creature hugely significant to the Chinese people because if they could summon dragons, other aspects of their life could improve.

Modern Ukraine—caught between Europe and Russia

"Ukraine" has been translated by some scholars as meaning "borderlands". Indeed the country lies perfectly between Europe and Russia, while hosting a diverse collection of people of differing languages, cultures, and ethnicities, feeling affinity for those on the other sides of the country's borders. This article explores how this affects the actions and reactions of Ukrainians during the current conflict.

War-making authority is divided between Congress and the president in the Constitution

Article I grants Congress the power to declare war and fund the military, while Article II makes the president commander in chief. However, the Constitution does not clearly delineate where one authority ends and the other begins, creating a tension that has never been fully resolved.

The US is one of two countries that abide by a predetermined borrowing limit

When the Treasury hits this “debt ceiling,” Congress has to pass a bill increasing the borrowing threshold. Failure to do so may lead to a financial crisis.

Whole and universal life insurance are two types of permanent life insurance

While they both stick with you for your whole life, they vary when it comes to added benefits, overall cost, and changes you can make to an active policy. The biggest difference between the two is that universal insurance lets you make changes to an active policy, whereas whole insurance is fixed.

Read the language in the Constitution that protects religious freedom in the US

The First Amendment's religion clauses include two provisions: the establishment clause and the free exercise clause. These two parts prevent the government from endorsing any specific religion and from interfering with the free practice of religion.

A breakdown of net neutrality, including its benefits and disadvantages

The principle dictates that all internet traffic should be treated equally by internet service providers and that they cannot block, slow, or charge more fees for access to specific webpages. This would help ensure equal access to the internet and prevent larger companies from paying to prioritize access to their content, but it would require greater government intervention.

The US Pacific strategy sought control of key islands to close in on Japan

The US adopted a two-pronged "island hopping" campaign across the Central and Southwest Pacific from 1943–44, deliberately targeting strategically crucial but less-defended islands. This allowed forces to bypass heavily fortified Japanese strongholds and build airfields for bombers aimed at Japan, drastically accelerating the path toward Tokyo while conserving manpower and resources.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

While the sun's gravity keeps the planets in orbit, their gravity also pulls on the sun, causing it and everything else in the solar system to orbit around a mutual balance point called the barycenter—the true center of the solar system.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Three Ebola species are responsible for most large outbreaks of the disease, yet the only approved Ebola vaccine is known to work against just one of them.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Poison ivy's characteristic rash is caused by an allergic response to an oily compound in the plant called urushiol.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.