Category: china
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Taiwan’s 2024 election
The 1984 Sino – British agreement that Britain and China had over the status of Hong Kong, and the agreement that there would be one nation and two systems, has galvanised the elections in Taiwan. Furthermore, the questions concerning identity and independence is also being reflected by the war in Ukraine, and the difficulties that…
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Xi’s G20 excuses
Xi Jinping has disappeared and he is not going to India for the G20 next week. Is there more intrigue or is it a matter of tension between India and China that excuses him from the summit. But like everything in China, you just do not know what the truth is, just a matter of…
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The disappearing Foreign Minister
It’s been 29 days since Qin Gang disappeared, the Chinese Foreign Minister has not been seen since meeting envoys from Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Russia. Meetings were missed that made his disappearance noticeable, for instance Josep Borrell, the foreign minister of the European Union, Janet Yelland of the US Treasury and also a failure to…
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Blinken did a hell of a job
“Blinken did a hell of a job,” said Biden, when talking about his Secretary of States visit to China. “I had a candid, substantive meetings. We must make sure that competition does not move into conflict,” said Blinken. The US has moved on from the last meeting between Biden and Xi Jinping, which took part…
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The Cold War 2 and the global South
In an interview with the Hoover Institute, Niall Ferguson argued that Cold War 2 had begun. In the interview he quoted Henry Kissinger, who three years ago argued that the technical arguments that had evolved meant that the West was in foothills of a cold war, but today, because of the war in Ukraine and…
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Europe’s vision of China
Ursula Von de Leyen, the leader of the European Commission argues that ‘China is becoming more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad.’ She says that China has turned the page on an era of reform and opening and ‘is moving into an era of security control.’ This is certainly different from the language that has…
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Power politics
Beijing has made an argument for the cessation of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. But underlying it are a number of issues that will not end the war at the present moment. IN their plan they argue for an immediate end to the fighting and for peace talks to begin. But that would leave Ukraine…
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President Xi’s visit to Russia
China has argued in their twelve point peace plan that territorial integrity is paramount. They argue that the war should end and that the integrity of Ukraine should be respected under the United Nations recognition of its borders. Putin argues that the war will continue because he has now signed agreements with China for trade.…
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Does China have a say in Ukraine
China has a role in the conflict in Ukraine, but surprisingly it is a role determined by the values that it shares with Russia. China is now Russia’s largest client for gas and oil production. The market is now valued at $250 billion, but when compared to the trade Russia had with Europe, it is…
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Lost in silence
Two months after spontaneous protests broke out in response to a deadly fire in Urumqi, China, against the draconian laws underpinning the pandemic controls, a number of peaceful protesters are being held in detention on charges of picking quarrels or provoking trouble and gathering in a crowd to disrupt public order. Human rights groups have…
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