Category: Politics
Biden’s National Security Strategy Formalizes New Cold War
The Biden administration’s newly released National Security Strategy sketched a dark vision of the 2020s as a decade when “he terms of geopolitical competition between the major powers will be set.” The release of the strategy document was delayed due to the Ukraine invasion. It incorporates many ...
Xi’s Agenda Troubled by Miscalculations: Top Singapore Diplomat
As strategic competition between China and the United States intensifies, Beijing enters its momentous 20th Party Congress (kicking off on Sunday) saddled with three big foreign policy mistakes. So argues Singapore's former top diplomat, Ambassador Bilahari Kausikan, in an entertaining interview with ...
The SCO Reaches the Mediterranean
By Leonardo Bruni Iran joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has led to a flurry of analyses from across the wider Mediterranean. Divergent perspectives emerge between foreign media coverage, which emphasize international security implications, and what domestic Iranian media reports that ...
Somalia Voted With China’s Critics at the UN Human Rights Council to Initiate a Debate on Xinjiang. But Why?
Somalia was a standout last week when it was the only African country and the only Muslim-majority country to back a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council that called for a debate over China's human rights policies in Xinjiang.
Xinjiang Human Rights Council Vote Prompts Spirited Debate in Asia Over Why Governments Backed China
The two Asian governments with the world's largest Muslim populations, Indonesia and India, have been on the defensive in recent days for their vote last Thursday at the United Nations Human Rights Council to block a discussion over Chinese human rights policies in Xinjiang. ...
After Months of Delay, China Finally Begins Debt Restructuring Talks With Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe informed the country's parliament late last week that China had finally agreed to begin long-desired debt restructuring talks. During a recent visit to Tokyo, President Wickremesinghe also called on Japan, Sri Lanka's other main creditor in addition to China and ...
Locating the Global South in China’s Party Congress
By Lukas Fiala and Hugo Jones We’re fairly accustomed to observing how the issue of China feeds into elections across global south countries. China is a political football, often framed as a problem that needs to be dealt with and low-hanging ...
China and India’s Bumpy Road to An “Asian Century”
China and India must find ways of tolerating each other’s military rise to ensure the dawn of an “Asian Century.” So argued Zhou Bo, a former official in China’s Ministry of Defense and currently a researcher at the Center for Strategic ...
Solomon Islands Explains It Wanted China References Stripped From U.S.-Pacific Island Countries’ Accord
The Solomon Islands caused a bit of a stir last month at a summit in Washington, D.C. when it refused to sign an initial draft of an accord between the U.S. and more than a dozen Pacific nations. Now, we know why.
China Sends High-Level Public Security Bureau Official to DR Congo For Talks on How to Better Protect Chinese Nationals
The Chinese government recently dispatched a high-ranking member of the powerful Ministry of Public Security (MPS) to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for talks with security officials on how to better protect Chinese nationals in the country. Liu Jiingjie, head ...
U.S. Effort to Catch Up With China in the South Pacific Gets Off to Bumpy Start
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday welcomed leaders from 11 South Pacific island nations to the White House for a two-day summit that is widely seen as a critical part of Washington's effort to match China's growing influence in the region. ...
China’s Envoy to Nairobi Meets With Head of Kenya’s New Ruling Party
A meeting this week between the general secretary of Kenya's new ruling party, the United Democratic Alliance, and China's envoy to Nairobi provides a fresh reminder of the dual roles that Chinese ambassadors play in their assigned countries. Zhou Pingjiang represents ...