Month: October 2023
Related Posts
WEEK IN REVIEW: Insurgent Group in Myanmar Reportedly Seized Another Key Border Crossing With China
An insurgent group in Myanmar has reportedly seized another key border crossing with China, further eroding the ruling junta’s control of the northeastern Shan State. Beijing remains concerned about factional fighting in Myanmar spilling over the border and has even deployed PLA troops on the Chinese side. (DIPLOMAT) ...
Related Posts
Latin America’s Diplomacy: Balancing EU and China With Mercosur
By Alvaro Mendez and Chris Alden The negotiations for the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have spanned over two decades and are now facing renewed delays. This prolonged process is a crucial moment in Latin America's trade policy, especially as Brazilian ...
The Africa-China 2023 Year in Review
2023 was a transformative year for China’s ties with Africa. Chinese investment, trade, and diplomatic engagement were either flat or declined sharply over the past year, highlighting how this once-vibrant relationship is now entering a new, more austere period.
China Cuts Off Vital Lifeline to Argentina, Recalls Ambassador
The younger generation loves to say — with saltier wording — “You mess around and find out.” Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei — who while campaigning used fierce anti-China rhetoric — has apparently messed around and found out.
Australia Refuses to Send Ships to Red Sea
The Australian government has reportedly indicated that it won’t send ships to join the U.S.-led Operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea. The operation is aimed at containing attacks from Yemeni Houthi militias on commercial shipping and to keep sea lanes open. Defence ...
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance fires a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile in support of Operation Epic Fury, at an undisclosed location, February 28, 2026. U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS
By Sophie Wushuang Yi Operation Epic Fury has given Chinese military planners something no simulation can replicate: a live stress-test of American high-end warfighting capacity in a prolonged, high-intensity conflict against a determined regional power. The more consequential question is not whether the ...
China, UAE Calls Emergency UN Security Council Meeting On Gaza
China co-sponsored the call by the United Arab Emirates for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday to seek a binding resolution calling for a humanitarian pause in Gaza. During the meeting, China’s representative at the UN, Zhang Jun, criticized ...
China Steps Up Middle East Diplomacy in Multi-Front Push
China’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun, met with Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi on Monday to discuss the conflict in Gaza. This is the newest in a series of meetings about the crisis with diplomats across the region. ...
Philippines Denies Chinese Air and Sea Deployments Pushed It From Disputed Shoal
The Philippines and China are trading conflicting accusations following yet another encounter in the South China Sea. On Monday, a Philippine Navy ship sailed near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, prompting China to dispatch air and naval forces of the People’s Liberation ...
Philippines Fights ‘Pro-Beijing Narratives’ as South China Sea Spats Swell
A Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson criticized domestic communities he said are pushing false narratives about the country's territorial conflict with China. Commodore Jay Tarriela pointed out what he called three misleading claims that he says support China’s agenda and have gained prominence ...
China’s Maritime Dispute With the Philippines is Primarily a Problem With the U.S., Says Professor
The surge in maritime tensions between the Philippines and China that began in February is largely due to the United States instigating its ally in Manila, according to Wu Shicun, director of the South China Sea Research Center at Xiamen University. ...
China Dismisses U.S. Trade Rep’s Moves to Build Alternate Critical Mineral Supply Chains
The Communist Party of China (CPC) said any efforts by the U.S. and its partners to reduce their dependence on Chinese critical resources used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries is "futile and will backfire." The CPC's typically acerbic comments came ...
A Billion Dollar Copper/Cobalt Mine is Up For Grabs in the DR Congo, Providing Rare Opening For the U.S. to Get in the Market
For the first time in seven years, the United States can re-enter the all-important critical resources mining sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where China is the dominant actor. The persistently low price of cobalt, a metal used to ...
Lithium Rush: The Risks and Rewards of a China-Led Commodity Boom for Latin America and the Caribbean’s Transition Materials
By Zara C. Albright At last week’s Belt and Road Forum, China announced the creation of the Green Investment and Finance Partnership (GIFP), part of the $100 billion in new financing for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), aimed at ...
China Is Playing the Long Game in the Middle East: Analysts
China was one of 121 countries that voted for a UN General Assembly resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza on Friday. The vote positioned it against Israel and its key ally, the U.S. Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, accused the countries voting for the ...
China Meets with Iran and Saudi Arabia Amid Israel Crisis
Chinese delegates recently spoke with key allies to discuss the spiraling crisis in the Middle East. Chinese Premier Li Qiang met Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhberon on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday. It was the first meeting since the fighting in Israel ...
Marooned Filipino Ship Becomes Center of South China Sea Flashpoint
The deterioration of an aging Filipino ship grounded in the South China Sea is becoming the center of an already concerning global flashpoint between China, the Philippines, and the U.S. No one knows just how fast the BRP Sierra Madre is falling ...
Multilateral Support for the Philippines Could Alter Course of Conflict With Beijing in South China Sea
If conflict were to break out in the South China Sea, the Philippines faces a much larger and more sophisticated military in China, which now has the world’s biggest naval fleet. That has put a growing focus on support Manila might ...