China
How China may react to Trump’s threat and bluster
Donald Trump will return to the White House having set out his foreign policy approach for the next four years. US voters have chosen a leader who adheres to an “America First” principle, where US interests come first, and...
Trump tariffs threaten to torpedo the yuan
Since Donald Trump’s November 5 election win, the Chinese yuan has traded below the central bank’s fixing rate. That suggests markets are bracing for a weaker yuan as the former and future US president prepares to ignite massive new...
Did Prabowo just yield to China in the North Natuna Sea?
JAKARTA – President Prabowo Subianto has dazed and confused many foreign policy observers with an apparent dramatic shift in Indonesia’s South China Sea policy while in Beijing. Indonesia Foreign Ministry officials were caught off guard, if not shocked, after...
India giving RCEP free trade pact a needful second look
“India should be a part of RCEP and CPTPP,” according to B V R Subrahmanyam, CEO of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, the Indian government’s top public policy think tank and nodal agency for catalyzing economic...
Laser wars: US-China in drone-killing, directed-energy arms race
The US and China are locked in a high-stakes race to master drone-killing technology, with both superpowers aiming to outgun drone swarms that promise to reshape the future of warfare. This month, The War Zone reported that China’s directed-energy...
TSMC’s 7nm chip ban targets China’s AI chipmakers
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest chip contract manufacturer, will reportedly stop shipping 7 nanometer and below semiconductors to Chinese customers that make artificial intelligence (AI) chips or graphic processing units (GPUs). The decision, effective from November...
Blood on the tracks of India’s railways
A system is only as effective as your level of commitment to it Audrely Moralez The statement above emphasizes the vital importance of personal engagement in a system’s effectiveness, no matter how sophisticated or well-organized it may be. India...
New Cold War driving hot new nuclear arms race
The world’s nuclear giants are flexing their muscles in new long-range missile tests as the high-stakes game of deterrence and dominance enters a dangerous New Cold War phase. The US, Russia and China recently showcased their nuclear capabilities...
Ethnic slurs, Bo Yang, The Ugly Chinaman and national character
Here’s to the Chinaman, wise and oldHere’s to the Eskimo, brave and coldHere’s to the Jew in the holy landHere’s to the Arab in his caravanHere’s to the African, strong and proud Todd rundgren What the heck is a...
Wishful Chinese see possible Trump 2.0 window to resolve Taiwan
The victory of Donald Trump in the United States presidential election on November 5 is no good news to Sino-US trade relations but may open a window for the discussion of China’s reunification with Taiwan, according to some Chinese...
China’s $1.4 trillion debt swap girds for Trump tariffs to come
As signal-boosting gestures go, the US$1.4 trillion debt swap package China announced today (November 8) could be more pivotal for Xi Jinping’s economy than meets the eye. The move to refinance local government debt, approved by the Standing Committee...
Trump 2.0: a grand bargain with Putin and hard pivot to China
With a resounding victory in the US presidential election, Donald Trump can now claim a sweeping mandate to implement his agenda, both foreign and domestic. Crucially, the result shows you should never bet against self-interest, either for politicians or...
US lacks the planes to win an air war with China
The US Air Force is caught between a rock of ever-tightening budgets and a hard place of rising calls for innovation and modernization as China races ahead with advanced fighter jets and a fast-expanding fleet. This month, Air &...
EU-China tit-for-tat tariffs aren’t really a trade war
Sino-European commercial relations are going through a rough patch. Beijing is suing the European Union (EU) at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over Brussels’ decision to impose heavy tariffs on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) imported from China. But while...
How China plans to rule the world in AI
This article was originally published by Pacific Forum. It is republished with permission. In 2017, while speaking to some students about the dangers of any country monopolizing developments in artificial intelligence, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin declared: “Whoever becomes the...
China’s surging lead in the EV battery circular economy
As the electric vehicle (EV) market surges worldwide, battery recycling and circular economy initiatives have become essential to the global green transition. China, already a dominant player in EV battery production, is now expanding its reach into the battery...
For China, a Harris presidency would be the lesser of two evils
This article was originally published by Pacific Forum. It is republished with permission. “Are we adversaries, or partners?” President Xi Jinping queried President Joe Biden during their meeting last November at the Filoli Estate, a grand country house and...
Would Trump truly scrap the CHIPS Act?
I wasn’t planning to write another post about Trump and China. But then a student journalist named Luke Radel asked House Speaker Mike Johnson whether he and Trump will repeal the CHIPS Act if Trump wins the election, and Johnson...
Smart Dragon: Taiwan’s new unmanned sub breathes fire at China
Taiwan’s new unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), known as Huilong or the Smart Dragon, has come to light in new imagery showing expanded combat potential for the submarine type, including twin torpedo tubes, The War Zone reported. The War Zone...
Taiwan partnership priorities for the next US president
This article was originally published by Pacific Forum. It is republished with permission. Amid concerns of backsliding, as in past transitions, the new US president’s overall priority regarding Taiwan will be to communicate clearly and promptly about progress in...
China boxed out of high-NA lithography race to 1nm chips
Taiwan’s TSMC is likely to be the second chip-making company after Intel to receive the semiconductor industry’s most advanced lithography tool as the race to 1-nanometer chips gathers pace. According to a Nikkei Asia report, the world’s leading integrated...
China claims its radars closing in on US stealth fighters
China’s latest simulations reveal a US stealth jet vulnerability as its radars can detect F-22s and F-35s at striking distances, a potential seismic technology development as tensions mount around Taiwan and in the South China Sea. This month, South...
How Chinese media see Trump vs Harris on election eve
This Tuesday’s US presidential election will decide whether Washington’s China policy stays its current course under a Kamala Harris presidency or veers in new, unknown directions under a Donald Trump 2.0 administration, Chinese media reports say. Chinese pundits and...
S Korea’s crucial quest to break tungsten ties with China
The Sangdong tungsten mine in South Korea holds one of the world’s largest single-mine tungsten reserves. After closing in the early 1990s—largely due to cheaper Chinese tungsten flooding world markets and undermining South Korea’s price competitiveness—the mine is set...
From Cold War 2.0 to World War 3.0
When I wrote “Cold War 2.0”, some 18 months ago, Vladimir Putin was deep into his invasion of Ukraine and Xi Jinping was menacing the Philippines in the South China Sea and Taiwan with gray-zone military punishment drills. When...