Category: Diplomacy
U.S. South America and Caribbean Commander Raises Alarm About China’s Influence
Gen. Laura Richardson, the head of the U.S. Army’s Southern Command, which oversees Central and South America, and the Caribbean, says China is enlarging its presence in the Western hemisphere. In a football metaphor-strewn interview with Newsweek, Richardson said: "They're on ...
Where Will China’s Next Naval Base Be? New Report Lays Out the Options
Amid worries in Washington about the expansion of China’s global military reach, a new report by AidData, a research lab at the College of William and Mary, identifies eight locations for possible future bases. Recent reports that a pier at the Ream ...
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi Visits Türkiye After BRICS Meetings
China’s newly-returned Foreign Minister Wang Yi followed his recent trip to BRICS meetings in South Africa with a stopover in potential future BRICS member Türkiye. Wang met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. They didn’t hold press ...
Decoding Qin Gang’s Demotion: “He’s Either Dying or Under Discipline”
One month after Qin Gang made his last public appearance as foreign minister, China's top legislative body removed him from the post on Tuesday and re-appointed the country's most senior foreign policy official Wang Yi to the position. Despite rampant speculation over ...
Türkiye’s Parliament Rejects Special Committee to Investigate Uyghur Human Rights Ahead of Wang Visit
The Turkish Parliament's Human Rights Committee blocked a plan to create a new sub-committee to investigate allegations of human rights violations of China's minority Uyghur population in Xinjiang. Instead, lawmakers opted to assign the issue to an existing sub-committee focused on ...
Cambodia’s Unopposed Election Signals Unchanged Relationship with China
The Cambodian government lauded the results of the weekend’s landslide victory for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. The choice was clear - it was essentially a one-horse race, with long-time Prime Minister Hun Sen’s party winning 120 out of 125 seats. The victory arguably signals stability in the long ...
Chinese-Funded Naval Base in Cambodia Looks Strikingly Familiar
Cambodia’s Chinese-built Ream naval base is reportedly nearing completion. The base has long been controversial, with U.S. defense officials charging that it could serve as a Chinese naval base. Satellite images show that a pier that could house an aircraft ...
Graph of the Day: How Chinese Demand Is Shifting the Global Soybean Market from the U.S. to Brazil
China is now the largest buyer of Brazil’s soybean crop, as part of a move away from U.S. exports. Chinese buyers have consistently bought large quantities of Brazilian soybeans but are now even putting in orders for delivery in October, traditionally a quiet time in Brazil’s soybean ...
Security, Infrastructure Lending Top Agenda of Wang Yi’s Four-Nation African Tour
The Communist Party of China's (CPC) top foreign policy official Wang Yi arrived in Johannesburg on Monday to represent Beijing in a two-day gathering of national security advisors from the five BRICS countries. This week's meeting in South Africa aims to ...
Who’s in Charge of China’s Foreign Policy, the Party or the State?
It's been 29 days since anyone saw Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in public. Why he's gone missing is anyone's guess. No one outside of a small number of elite Chinese leaders really knows what's going on, so beware of any speculation you read on Twitter or ...
Russian, Indian Media Claim Retired Chinese Diplomat Yang Jiechi to Resurface in South Africa for BRICS Gathering
Major Indian and Russian media outlets circulated an unusual story over the weekend that veteran Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi will come out of retirement to meet with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on the sidelines of this week's BRICS security gathering in Johannesburg to discuss the worsening Sino-Indian border ...
Japanese Foreign Minister to Embark on Six-Nation Tour of South Asia and Africa
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will head out this week on a six-nation Asian and African tour to discuss Tokyo's vision for Global South cooperation. Hayashi said at a press conference on Friday that he will first go to India and ...