Many observers have downplayed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Moscow last week to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, saying it did little for Moscow. Others argued that it even sealed Russia’s fate as a vassal of China, whose domination of their partnership is now “complete.” But this might be short-sighted.
Last week’s congressional hearing on the alleged security risk posed by TikTok put into stark contrast the gap between the app’s fans and critics. The push in Washington to ban the social media app comes against the backdrop of increasing U.S.-China tensions over technology and the economic and political influence it generates.
In recent years, Beijing’s strong foothold in Latin America has caused anxiety in Washington, particularly amid the recent resurgence of left-wing governments in South America. But although Beijing has made considerable gains in the region at Washington’s expense, claims about China’s influence there might be overstated.
President Xi Jinping was in Moscow this week, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit comes just weeks after Beijing released a 12-point position paper on a political settlement to what it calls the “Ukraine Crisis.” But expectations that China is going to help broker a breakthrough in the near term are low.
Last week, Honduras became the latest country to sever its diplomatic relations with Taiwan and instead recognize the People’s Republic of China. Taiwan has a choice: continue watching countries get picked off one by one due to Beijing’s checkbook diplomacy, or work with its allies to find a new way to relate to the world.
As was widely expected, China’s rubber-stamp parliament reappointed Xi Jinping for an unprecedented third term as president of the People’s Republic of China on Friday. The highly choreographed pageant was another glimpse into just how successfully he has managed to tighten his grip on power since his rise to power in 2012.
Many observers believed that the United States’ efforts to reorient its strategic focus to the Indo-Pacific region amid China’s resurgence had hit a snag when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. But for now, Washington may actually be accelerating its long-sought rebalance, recalibrating the center of gravity of U.S. foreign policy.
Ever since the unveiling of OpenAI’s ChatGPT program, the field of AI has taken center stage in the competition over cutting-edge technology. And its impact on geopolitical contests, particularly in the political and military spheres, has the potential to be just as significant as its impact on business pursuits.
Since taking office last year, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has worked to improve ties with both the U.S. and China, in part by trying to focus their energies on managing North Korea. But pressure is now mounting on Seoul to clarify where it stands in terms of its readiness to help defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.
Increasingly, diasporas are powerful constituencies in their countries of origin. Despite their physical distance, they influence homeland politics and can also be instrumental in shaping relations between their countries of origin and residence. Yet, home and host government attitudes toward diasporas are decidedly mixed.
The global food system accounts for a whopping 31 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and changing the way we eat is increasingly seen as essential to fighting climate change. So how can governments nudge the transformation of something as big and complex as the global food system in order to reduce its climate impacts?
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and her Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, signed a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” between the two countries late last year. But the display of diplomatic pomp at the announcement obscured the complex and often fractious partnership between the two countries.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 upended international politics, and seriously affected China’s strategic calculations. Beijing is now scrambling to limit the fallout of the conflict on its core strategic and economic interests, and with the prospects of a clear Russian victory waning by the day, China faces a dilemma.