In terms of geopolitical optics, this week was nothing short of a banquet. It served up at least two sets of images that seem to crystallize our historical moment and that will live on in the Wikipedia of history as shorthand for where the world was in 2025.
One is the waves of uncannily synchronized soldiers and a bewildering array of high-tech weaponry gliding down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue. The ...
Category: Politics
China Condemns U.S.–UK Taiwan Strait Transit, Tracks Warships
China’s military on Friday condemned the sailing of U.S. and British warships through the Taiwan Strait, saying it ordered naval and air forces to monitor and warn the two ships. The U.S. destroyer Higgins and the UK frigate HMS ...
Vanuatu Pushes Back on China-Excluding Deal with Australia
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had to cancel the signing of a landmark treaty with Vanuatu because it would limit the Pacific island state’s infrastructure cooperation with China. The Nakamal Agreement would see Australia allocate AU$500 million (about US$330.3 million) for ...
India-China Reset? Modi and Xi Test a Fragile Rapprochement
The reset between India and China appears to be holding. Nearly two weeks after President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tianjin, five years of frigid ties between the two Asian ...
Kenya Caught Uncomfortably Between the U.S. and China
The Kenyan government is under mounting pressure from the United States over its close ties with China. Influential lawmakers in Washington are furious over comments made by President William Ruto during a visit to Beijing earlier this year, where he said ...
SCO Summit Review: Xi, Modi & Putin Present a United Front
This week's Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin signaled China’s ambition to redefine global governance. Leaders from more than 20 countries endorsed the Tianjin Declaration, pressing for a multipolar order, tighter security cooperation, and expanded economic integration.
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Putin Tells Xi China-Russia Ties Are at ‘Unprecedented Level’
Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday that their countries' ties were at an "unprecedented level" during talks in Beijing ahead of a massive military parade. World leaders, including North Korea's Kim Jong Un, are gathering in China's ...
Stop Calling the Lobito Corridor a U.S. Gambit Against China
There’s a lazy but geopolitically irresistible allure in branding Angola’s Lobito Corridor as a U.S. bid to blunt China’s influence in Africa and the region’s mineral supply chains. I get why the framing sticks: it’s neat, dramatic, and easy to sell. ...
China Slams Vietnam Over Island-Building in South China Sea
China condemned Vietnam over a report it had sped up island-building in an area of the disputed South China Sea that Beijing claims as its own. "China firmly opposes the relevant country’s construction activities on islands and reefs they have illegally ...
China Says Summit to Provide Stability, Counter ‘Hegemonism’
China slammed "hegemonism and power politics" on Friday as it touted an upcoming summit it is hosting for more than 20 world leaders as promoting stability and peace. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit will be held in the northern city of ...
China and India Move Cautiously Toward Rapprochement, but Rivalries Endure
The resumption of trade at three border outposts, the establishment of bilateral working groups to help mitigate tensions over disputed territory, and mutual support for one another in hosting upcoming BRICS summits were just some of the achievements reached during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s high-level trip ...
The New Normal in China-India Relations and Multipolarity in Asia
By Saniya Kulkarni Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi concluded a two-day visit to New Delhi after talks with Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This visit is another step towards the normalization of relations between the two ...
China Slams Germany for ‘Hyping’ Regional Tensions in Asia
China lashed out at Germany on Monday, warning Berlin against "inciting confrontation and hyping up tensions" after its foreign minister said Beijing was "increasingly aggressive" in the Asia-Pacific region. During a visit to Japan, Johann Wadephul said China had made repeated ...