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James Palmer

Deputy Editor [email protected]

James Palmer is a deputy editor at Foreign Policy and writes FP’s weekly China Brief newsletter. Palmer is the author of The Bloody White Baron: The Extraordinary Story of the Russian Nobleman Who Became the Last Khan of Mongolia and The Death of Mao: The Tangshan Earthquake and the Birth of the New China. He won the Shiva Naipaul prize for travel writing in 2003.

Articles by James Palmer

A boy rides a scooter as he walks with his mother on March 10 in Beijing.

China’s New Normal

China Brief

March 11, 2020, 2:38 PM

A staff member checks the temperature of a customer at the entrance of a supermarket in Beijing on Feb. 29.

What Does Beijing Believe About the Coronavirus?

China Brief

March 4, 2020, 4:54 PM

U.S. President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar meet with pharmaceutical executives to discuss the coronavirus.

Beijing Knows Who to Blame for the Virus: America

Argument

March 2, 2020, 8:44 PM

A Chinese security guard checks the temperature of people entering a residential building on Feb. 26 in Beijing.

After Virus Peak, Beijing Tries to Get Back on Track

China Brief

February 26, 2020, 1:25 PM

A family looks out the window of their home on the outskirts of Wuhan, China, on Jan. 27 amid the coronavirus outbreak.

How to Prepare for a Coronavirus Lockdown

Argument

February 25, 2020, 6:18 PM

A disinfection professional wears protective gear at the National Assembly in Seoul on Feb. 24.

Get Ready for Closed Borders and Crashing Markets

Argument

February 24, 2020, 5:55 PM

Members of a neighborhood committee wear protective masks as they control the entrance to a narrow street on Feb. 19 in Beijing.

Are China’s Coronavirus Figures Reliable?

China Brief

February 19, 2020, 3:18 PM

A Vietnamese woman carries her child to receive free protective face masks at a makeshift distribution center amid concerns of a coronavirus outbreak in Hanoi on Feb. 8.

As Numbers Soar, Here’s Everything We Don’t Know About the Coronavirus

Argument

February 12, 2020, 4:43 PM

A Chinese guard wears a protective mask as he sleeps in a chair near a footbridge on Feb. 12 in Beijing.

Has the Coronavirus Reached Its Peak in China?

China Brief

February 12, 2020, 3:35 PM

Chinese doctor Li Wenliang

Wuhan Gets Its First Virus Martyr

Argument

February 6, 2020, 1:55 PM

Workers prepare the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center to serve as a temporary hospital for new coronavirus patients in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 4.

China Is Under Lockdown

China Brief

February 5, 2020, 3:45 PM

This picture taken on November 7, 2018 shows a woman mixing medicine in the pharmacy of the Yueyang Hospital, part of the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, in Shanghai.

Chinese Media Is Selling Snake Oil to Fight the Wuhan Virus

Argument

February 3, 2020, 5:12 PM

Medical workers hold a strike near Queen Mary Hospital to demand the government shut the city's border with China to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in Hong Kong on Feb. 3.

Chinese Officials Can’t Help Lying About the Wuhan Virus

Argument

February 3, 2020, 2:50 PM

Investors look at a screen showing stock market movements at a securities company in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province on Feb. 3.

Knock-On Effects of China’s Coronavirus May Be Worse Than Thought

Report

Keith Johnson, James Palmer

February 3, 2020, 10:06 AM

A courier delivers supplies to the Wuhan Union Hospital on Jan. 29 in Wuhan, China.

How Is China Handling the Wuhan Virus Outbreak?

China Brief

January 29, 2020, 4:52 PM

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