Category: Geopolitics
China’s Imports of Iranian Oil Rise as U.S. Eyes Sanctions
China bought an average of 1.05 million barrels of Iranian oil per day for the first ten months of the year, as Iran’s output keeps growing. The data from the shipping tracker Vortexa shows that Chinese imports are the highest since 2018, when the U.S. imposed sanctions against Iran. ...
Israeli Media Reaction to China’s Stance on the Israel-Hamas War
By Amanda Chen As the Israel Defense Forces’ Operation Iron Swords continues in the Gaza Strip, a month after Hamas’ surprise terror attack on southern Israel on October 7, this edition of the ChinaMed Observer delves into the Israeli media’s response ...
U.S. Commits Half a Billion Dollars to Sri Lankan Port To Take On China
The United States will lend $553 million for a new deep-water shipping container facility in Sri Lanka’s Port of Colombo. The project will be the largest undertaken by the U.S. foreign development agency, the Development Finance Corporation (DFC), as it challenges China’s ...
Hal Brands on the Politics of “America’s Absurd Pledge to Defend a Decaying Rust Bucket”
The confrontation between China and the Philippines over disputed territory in the South China Sea is getting very little attention in the United States, where everyone is much more focused on the war in Gaza and former President Donald Trump's ongoing trial in New York.
U.S. Leads Multilateral Military Drills in Philippines as China Tensions Simmer
Troops from the Philippines, the U.S., Japan, and South Korea are set to conduct a series of joint training exercises across the Philippines as tensions between China and other countries in the region remain on edge. The UK will join as an ...
U.S.-China Meeting on Middle East
Chinese special envoy to the Middle East Zhai Jun met with Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China. They discussed the Gaza crisis and the wider situation in the Middle East, according to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. (CGTN)
Three Pacific Islands Leaders to Skip Annual Bloc Summit Amid China-U.S. Rivalry
The leaders of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands will not attend this week's annual Pacific Islands Forum, hampering the consensus-based group’s efforts to project unity as China and the United States jockey for influence in the region. The three ...
Why Biden’s Use of ‘Debt Trap’ Was so Awkward
This weekend, U.S. President Joe Biden made clear that, no matter how often it’s debunked, the “debt trap” will never die. Without recapping the entire debate, the talking point implies that Global South countries work with China because they’re ill-informed or have ...
Biden Renews Debt Trap Allegation Against China Even Though the Charge Has Been Widely Debunked
U.S. President Joe Biden resurfaced the widely discredited debt trap accusation against China as part of a larger effort to differentiate Washington's economic engagement strategy in the Western Hemisphere from that of Beijing's. The president made the claim on Friday during his ...
All it Takes is a Simple Google Search to Confirm the China Debt Trap Meme Isn’t Real
President Joe Biden's latest reference to Chinese "debt traps" is part of a broader pattern among high-level U.S. legislative, government and military officials to level the charge against China's lending practices. It's odd that they continue to make the claim since it's been ...
Why the Repeated Claims of Chinese Debt Trap Diplomacy is So Damaging to U.S. Foreign Policy
U.S. President Joe Biden’s comment to leaders from the Americas that: “I want to make sure that our closest neighbors know they have a real choice between debt-trap diplomacy and high-quality transparent approaches to infrastructure and to development,” was only a passing moment.
Japan Bolsters Closest-Ever Security Ties With Philipines as China Rattles Region
Japan and the Philippines agreed to begin talks to allow Japanese troop deployments on Filipino soil, as China’s actions in the region drive the two partners into their closest-ever security ties. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s weekend trip to meet with ...