Category: Geopolitics
Is Myanmar a Good Testing Ground for How Far India Will Go to Counter China’s Influence?
By Saniya Kulkarni There have been developments in the China-Myanmar relationship since the first visit of former Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Bagan following the coup in 2021. When we last wrote of this visit, Chinese support of the military ...
China’s Low-Key Response to the Niger Coup
The Chinese government has been noticeably quiet in response to the turbulent events in Niger where President Mohamed Bazoum was deposed last month in a military coup. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has issued three pro-forma ...
China and the Philippines Navigate Tricky Mix of Warm Economic Ties and Icy Politics
While the dispute between China and the Philippines around territorial claims in the South China Sea keeps escalating, economic relations between the two are “business as usual.” However, the growing disagreement could cause economic complications for Manila. The current fight centers around a WWII-era warship, ...
Backgrounder: How India-China Relations Are Shaping Multilateral Bodies
India and China's fractious relationship reaches far beyond their disputed border. It influences politics in countries like the Maldives, where candidates in the upcoming presidential election are frequently defined according to their China/India alignment. The tensions are also reshaping multilateral organizations. India ...
Tensions Surge Between China and the Philippines Over WWII Warship at the Center of Territorial Dispute
The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) immediately dismissed China's call to remove a decommissioned World War II-era warship, the BRP Sierra Madre, from a disputed shoal in the South China Sea that Manila claims is anchored well within the country's territorial waters.
China Releases New Video That Aims to Counter Claims It Attacked the Philippine Supply Vessel
The China Coast Guard released a new video on Tuesday that aims to bolster its assertions that it did not strike the Philippine supply vessel with a direct blast of water but instead merely used the blast to keep it from entering what it deems as Chinese territorial ...
Some 40 Countries Want to Join the BRICS Group, But Not Mexico, Says President
Applying to join the BRICS club has become increasingly fashionable among developing countries, with 40 states expressing interest in becoming a member of the China-initiated club -- but not Mexico. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Tuesday that he has nothing ...
China Demands the Philippines Remove WWII Wreck
The government of the Philippines summoned the Chinese ambassador to account for an incident earlier this week in which a Chinese coast guard vessel sprayed a Philippine fishing boat with a water cannon. Meanwhile, Beijing is demanding that the Philippines tow away BRP ...
Tensions Flare in South China Sea Following China’s Use of Water Cannon Against Unarmed Philippine Navy Supply Boat
The Philippine military condemned the Chinese Coast Guard's use of a water cannon against a much smaller unarmed supply boat that took place in disputed waters in the South China Sea on Saturday. The use of a cannon to block the ...
China’s Use of a Water Canon Against Philippines Vessels Was Planned in Advance to Set an Example for Others, Says U.S. Analyst
The following is an excerpt from an article written by Ray Powell, director of the Project Myoushu at Stanford University's Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, that tracks Chinese maritime activity in the South China Sea. Powell spent more than 30 ...
China Coast Guard: Philippines Hyping South China Sea Issue at the Behest of Its “American Father”
The China Coast Guard (CCG) published its side of the story in a post on WeChat on Sunday that blasted the Philippines for unnecessarily "hyping" what happened. It appears the tactic of the Philippine Coast Guard to quickly release videos and photos ...
Guessing China’s Military Basing Ambitions
By Lukas Fiala Occasionally, a new report reignites the debate over where China might place its next military base. And just in time for the PLA’s 96th anniversary on Tuesday this week a recent study from AidData sheds new light on the topic. ...