Chinese Vice President Han Zheng Meets Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Sidelines of Qatar Summit

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari briefly on Wednesday for a bilateral session on the sidelines of the World Summit for Social Development in Qatar. The two sides exchanged the usual pleasantries, with each side 

China’s Shadow Looms Over Trump’s Summit With Central Asian Leaders

U.S. President Donald Trump will host all five Central Asian leaders in Washington on Thursday, marking the first time they have been gathered together. This comes just a few months after they held separate summits with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

U.S. Defense Chief Lauds China Ties, Then Sounds Alarm Over Beijing’s Aggression at ASEAN Meeting

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth conveyed two seemingly contradictory messages on China during his discussions with his Southeast Asian counterparts during the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM) in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. On the one hand, Hegseth was downright effusive ...

South Korea Hosts Xi as Chinese Leader Rekindles Fraught Ties

By Claire Lee South Korean President Lee Jae Myung hosted Xi Jinping for their first meeting on Saturday as the Chinese head of state took center stage and reforged old ties at an Asian summit from which U.S. leader Donald Trump ...

ASEAN Heading Into Tense New Era as Philippines Takes the Helm

The Philippines became the new chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this week, taking over from Malaysia. The shift marks a new phase that could see the 11-member body become more embroiled in U.S.-China geopolitics. Manila is expected ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The Pain of Un-Polarity

“THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!”
This post by U.S. President Donald Trump in the run-up to his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week may end up leaving a more lasting mark than the actual summit he attended.

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China and ASEAN Sign Updated Free Trade Deal

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed an updated free trade agreement on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. Negotiations on upgrading their earlier trade agreement started in 2022. The ASEAN-China Free Trade ...

As Trump Departs, China’s Li Qiang Steps In to Champion Free Trade at ASEAN Summit

Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang arrived in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, on Monday to take part in the ASEAN leaders' summit that started over the weekend. Li's arrival came one day after U.S. President Donald Trump left Malaysia to continue his ...

Pacific Leaders Agree New Summit Rules After China, Taiwan Bans

By Ben Strang Pacific Island leaders agreed on Friday to a new framework that would allow nations to join a key regional forum as strategic partners, after accusations that China was influencing regional decision-making. The ...

Tianjin Summit in Review: The Winner Takes It All (But Not Much)

By Felix Brender 王哲謙 “We should continue to unequivocally oppose hegemonism and power politics, practice true multilateralism,” Xi declared in Tianjin last week. Yet for many of the leaders in the room, multilateralism appears to chiefly mean “more of me” ...

BRICS Criticize Tariffs at Muted Online Summit

The leaders of the BRICS countries gathered online on Monday for a summit at the invitation of Brazil, the current leader of the bloc. The gathering saw some sharp criticism of U.S.-led trade disruptions, but the tone was more muted than last week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) ...

BRICS Leaders Denounce Protectionism, Tariff ‘Blackmail’

Leaders of the 11-member BRICS bloc railed against economic protectionism and "tariff blackmail" during a virtual meeting Monday held amid a damaging trade war with US President Donald Trump. The group of emerging economies met via videoconference at the initiative of ...

China is the ‘Elephant in the Room’ at Fraught Pacific Islands Summit

By Ben Strang Pacific Islands leaders are meeting in the Solomons this week for an influential summit clouded by differences over China's mounting influence in the region that risks scuppering regional cooperation. Alongside its 18 ...
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