Beijing, Brussels and Washington appear stuck in an uncomfortable diplomatic love triangle. China may think it’s the new apple of the EU’s eye, but in the end Europe will stick with its old flame, America

Though the reforms that the US demands are also to China’s benefit, both leaders, and the political and economic systems they represent, are so far apart in ideology that an agreement can only come about through compromise. But whose compromise?

It’s bad news for those blue skies: in a year of sensitive political anniversaries, stability obsessed Beijing is likely to prioritise economic growth over its ‘three critical battles’ against financial risks, pollution and poverty

Hong Kong’s economy grew 3 per cent last year compared with Shenzhen’s 7.6 per cent growth, but for the likes of per capita income and social, cultural and educational development the former British colony is still on top.

Vietnam’s role as host of the high-profile summit has consolidated its friendship with the US, further boosting its standing in Southeast Asian affairs.

The 40th anniversary of the Sino-Vietnamese war is passing largely unnoticed in China, where commemorative activity has been banned – but Vietnam bitterly recalls the conflict that sent it into America’s embrace.

Beijing is trying to achieve two opposing goals – reducing debt and boosting GDP. Amid economic headwinds, something must give

A slowdown in growth is to be expected given China’s economic restructuring. Overreacting and jeopardising that restructuring will bring short-term gain, but long-term pain

Beijing’s massive investment in the corrupt Maduro regime has been a mistake. China has failed to save Venezuela from economic collapse, and serious questions are being asked about Beijing’s sensitivity in managing geopolitical risks.

When you’re a communist nation with ties to both the world’s leading democracy and its most repressive regime, it’s hard even for China to oppose your credentials as host

The latest figures confirm the worst fears of China’s policymakers as Trump’s tariffs take hold, trade with the US deteriorates and domestic sentiment weakens

A resolution to the problem of a nuclear North Korea would be a diplomatic win that would serve Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un well, and might soften US-China rhetoric on trade, Taiwan and the South China Sea.

After 40 years of peace efforts since Beijing’s ‘Message to compatriots in Taiwan’, the president’s forceful words show threat of conflict has only grown

Beijing has a packed calendar of commemorative events, many of which are politically charged or divisive. For a nation moving forward, it’s time to acknowledge the difficult past

Beijing’s proposal to stabilise trade and markets only betrays its lack of confidence in the economic outlook. To ensure stability, it should restore confidence by committing to market reform and political restructuring.

The annual Central Economic Work Conference, which concluded last week, declared a major shift in focus from the 2017 deleveraging campaign towards a more growth-oriented policy easing.

As the Western Five Eyes intelligence services ramp up their war on China’s 5G giants Huawei and ZTE, Asian countries will be forced into unpalatable choices

Washington and Beijing may have smoothed over tensions for now, but they are destined to remain the world’s chief political adversaries

Taiwan’s referendum last month makes it the undisputed champion of direct democracy in the region, with inevitable implications on its domestic politics and already tense cross-strait relations.

The city and county polls have seen the mainland-friendly Kuomintang resoundingly defeat the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party.

Imagine a dragon and an elephant fighting in your living room and you have an idea of how US-China friction soured the Apec summit in Papua New Guinea. And worse is yet to come

The US and China have become incompatible in the Trump years. But the relationship is more complicated than that, and the two countries do not have to be on a collision course.

Widespread anti-China sentiment across the US political spectrum means there’s little chance of the trade war ending any time soon

Market liberalisation is Beijing’s only realistic option to turn around flagging growth in the world’s second-largest economy

The Japanese leader Shinzo Abe’s meetings with India’s Narendra Modi and China’s Xi Jinping were just days apart, but the mood was very different

Cary Huang says the trade war has pushed China and Japan closer together but the Japanese prime minister’s trip to Beijing did not address fundamental differences between the two countries.

If the final stage of geopolitical rivalry is military confrontation, the starting pistol may already have been fired

Taipei seems happy to exploit Sino-American tensions for its diplomatic struggle with Beijing. Perhaps it should cast its mind back to the 1960s – when the US openly debated nuclear war over its islands.