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China Is on China’s Side…but Whose Side Is That Exactly?

By Lukas Fiala China is on China’s side. That was the verdict of a GCC China expert cited in Jonathan Fulton’s excellent China-MENA newsletter this week. Despite Beijing’s veto of Bahrain’s UNSC proposal and reports of Chinese shipments of ...
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Related Posts

China’s Foreign Policy Faces a Dual Test as It Challenges U.S. Power and Manages Turbulence at Home

By Lukas Fiala Earlier this week, I was asked to reflect on the main drivers of Chinese foreign policy in the coming months and into next year, in the context of the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine.

The Limits of China’s “Wait and See” Approach in the Iran War

By Lukas Fiala Lots of ink has been spilled about the war in Iran and its implications for China in the Middle East and the Global South at large. One narrative suggests that despite oil market disruptions and political instability across ...

China’s Global Power Looks Different When Its Partners Are in Crisis

By Felix Brender 王哲謙 On January 3, 2026, U.S. forces executed a dramatic operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, abruptly removing the central figure of a regime that had been one of Beijing’s most emblematic strategic partners in Latin ...

In 2026 China–India Ties Will Primarily Be Shaped at Home, Not by the U.S.

By Saniya Kulkarni and Lukas Fiala The tentative normalisation of Sino-Indian relations over the last year has sometimes been attributed to President Trump’s heavy-handed approach to trade policy, especially his "liberation day" tariff announcements. Going into 2026, however, it remains the ...
A 2015 Speech for a 2026 Crisis
Nicholas Burns. Image - Harvard University
Former U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, on Saturday delivered the opening address at the Harvard College China Forum, where he presented the case for deeper engagement between the two major powers. The speech would have been great if it were 2015. ...

China Is on China’s Side…but Whose Side Is That Exactly?

By Lukas Fiala China is on China’s side. That was the verdict of a GCC China expert cited in Jonathan Fulton’s excellent China-MENA newsletter this week. Despite Beijing’s veto of Bahrain’s UNSC proposal and reports of Chinese shipments of ...

China’s Foreign Policy Faces a Dual Test as It Challenges U.S. Power and Manages Turbulence at Home

By Lukas Fiala Earlier this week, I was asked to reflect on the main drivers of Chinese foreign policy in the coming months and into next year, in the context of the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine.

The Limits of China’s “Wait and See” Approach in the Iran War

By Lukas Fiala Lots of ink has been spilled about the war in Iran and its implications for China in the Middle East and the Global South at large. One narrative suggests that despite oil market disruptions and political instability across ...

China’s Global Power Looks Different When Its Partners Are in Crisis

By Felix Brender 王哲謙 On January 3, 2026, U.S. forces executed a dramatic operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, abruptly removing the central figure of a regime that had been one of Beijing’s most emblematic strategic partners in Latin ...

In 2026 China–India Ties Will Primarily Be Shaped at Home, Not by the U.S.

By Saniya Kulkarni and Lukas Fiala The tentative normalisation of Sino-Indian relations over the last year has sometimes been attributed to President Trump’s heavy-handed approach to trade policy, especially his "liberation day" tariff announcements. Going into 2026, however, it remains the ...

Why Greenland is the New Front in the U.S.–China Resource Rivalry

By Lukas Fiala After a showcase of U.S. military might in Venezuela, the longstanding back-and-forth about a potential U.S. intervention in Greenland continues apace. With President Trump announcing earlier this week that the U.S. would acquire Greenland “one way or ...

What the U.S. Strategy Debate Gets Wrong About China

By Lukas Fiala Over the last week, all of us have pored over the latest U.S. National Security Strategy. As many have pointed out, one of the most striking developments is the shift towards recognising the Western Hemisphere as a primary ...

At African Studies Gathering, Critiques of China Grow Louder… And More African

By Felix Brender 王哲謙 Some of North America’s (and perhaps the world’s) leading Africanists gathered last week in Atlanta for the African Studies Association’s Annual Meeting. As ever, China loomed large on the agenda. What was new, however, was not ...

An Exhibition of ‘Civilizations’ in Beijing, and the Narrative China Is Quietly Writing

By Felix Brender 王哲謙 The Where Civilizations Meet exhibition at Beijing’s National Museum of China drew to a close this month. Showcasing artifacts from member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, it was, at least on the surface, a celebration ...

It’s Time to Reflect on China’s Global Economic Role (Again)

By Lukas FIala Whenever the AidData team at William & Mary publishes one of their landmark reports, it’s time for us to sit down, read and think. And with the publication of their latest findings this week, they’ve given us a ...

A Post-American Shift Complicates Growth Strategies for the Global South

by Lukas Fiala and Chris Alden From the BRICS to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), members of recently expanding international fora are quick to point to a multipolar order as a hopeful imaginary of post-Western internationalism.

UN Celebrates Chinese Peacekeepers in South Sudan Even as Questions Linger Over What Was Achieved

By Felix Brender 王哲謙 When seven hundred members of China’s 11th Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion were awarded the United Nations Peace Medal of Honour in Juba on 23 October 2025, Chinese media celebrated. State broadcaster Xinhua framed the event as proof of ...
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