https://www.scmp.com/rss/320005/feed Emanuele Scimia is an independent journalist and foreign affairs analyst. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Emanuele Scimia Emanuele Scimia In recent months, the European Union has been more Trumpian on China, renouncing part of its free-trade DNA in favour of increasingly protectionist policies. Just like its role model in Washington, the EU has tried to exact geopolitical and economic concessions from Beijing by escalating to de-escalate – a brinkmanship approach that seems to come straight from US President Donald Trump’s playbook in his trade war against China. But the recent trade detente reached by Trump and Chinese President... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3331532/us-china-trade-truce-raises-hopes-eu-china-reset?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3331532/us-china-trade-truce-raises-hopes-eu-china-reset?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Nov 2025 12:30:15 +0000 US President Donald Trump appears to be doing his best to make an alignment between the European Union and China possible. It is a paradox, given that Washington and Europe have a long-standing alliance but that, essentially, is what is emerging. Trump has slapped fresh US trade tariffs on China and promised the EU would be next in the firing line, prompting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to respond that the bloc would retaliate if targeted. Like the Chinese leadership, EU... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3297510/despite-trump-threat-china-eu-alignment-remains-challenge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3297510/despite-trump-threat-china-eu-alignment-remains-challenge?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Feb 2025 21:30:08 +0000 After Russia and Iran’s regional power projection, China’s diplomacy is the most visible victim of the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad at the hands of a coalition of rebel forces led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The list of participants at an international summit on Syria held in Jordan last Saturday manifestly marked a blow to Beijing’s ambitions to increase its diplomatic standing on the world stage. The meeting’s line-up in Amman included Arab diplomats, US Secretary... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3291346/fall-syrias-assad-narrows-chinas-diplomatic-space-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3291346/fall-syrias-assad-narrows-chinas-diplomatic-space-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Dec 2024 21:30:09 +0000 Israel’s air strikes on Iran and military incursions into southern Lebanon against local Islamic militant group Hezbollah are visible defeats for US diplomacy aimed at de-escalation in the Middle East. China is getting involved, too, but it is still not a credible alternative to the United States as a mediating power in world crises. In separate phone calls with his Israeli and Iranian counterparts, Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza and... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3284154/combined-china-and-us-pressure-could-get-warring-sides-talk-peace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3284154/combined-china-and-us-pressure-could-get-warring-sides-talk-peace?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Oct 2024 21:30:08 +0000 Israel’s air strikes on Iran and military incursions into southern Lebanon against local Islamic militant group Hezbollah are visible defeats for US diplomacy aimed at de-escalation in the Middle East. China is getting involved, too, but it is still not a credible alternative to the United States as a mediating power in world crises. In separate phone calls with his Israeli and Iranian counterparts, Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza and... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3284282/combined-china-and-us-pressure-could-get-warring-sides-talk-peace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3284282/combined-china-and-us-pressure-could-get-warring-sides-talk-peace?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Oct 2024 06:50:00 +0000 China’s “divide and rule” approach to the European Union suffered a heavy blow after a vote by member states on October 4 allowed the European Commission to move forward with applying tariffs of up to 45 per cent on electric vehicles (EVs) produced in China. The political pressure applied by Beijing managed to break the consensus within the EU and also succeeded in driving a wedge between Germany and France, the two powers at the core of the European economy. However, it failed to muster enough... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3281535/how-ev-tariffs-broke-eu-consensus-and-chinas-divide-and-rule-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3281535/how-ev-tariffs-broke-eu-consensus-and-chinas-divide-and-rule-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Oct 2024 21:30:08 +0000 At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on July 4, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasised that “the international landscape is undergoing rapid transformation”, a euphemistic way of saying that the post-Cold War international order dominated by the United States is coming to an end, to be replaced by “an equal and orderly multipolar world”. De-dollarisation of the global economy has been cited by some as one of the main changes in international power play as... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3269716/why-chinas-gains-multipolarity-have-yet-outpace-us-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3269716/why-chinas-gains-multipolarity-have-yet-outpace-us-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jul 2024 21:30:08 +0000 The Chinese and the American militaries are behaving in ways that inevitably result in each country seeing the moves of the other as provocative. The positive dialogue they say they are promoting does not seem able to reverse that trend. What happened last week was quite illustrative of the real state of relations between China and the United States. Four armed Chinese coastguard ships entered disputed waters in the East China Sea near the Diaoyu Islands, which Japan calls the Senkaku Islands.... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3266280/if-us-china-arms-build-continues-apace-demons-war-will-prevail?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3266280/if-us-china-arms-build-continues-apace-demons-war-will-prevail?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Jun 2024 21:30:08 +0000 The trilateral summit last Thursday between the United States, Japan and the Philippines had the semblance of a Trump-proof exercise. Incumbent administrations in Washington, Tokyo and Manila needed to secure one pillar of the anti-China system of alliances that US President Joe Biden has painstakingly rebuilt and reinforced after four years of Donald Trump’s presidency marked by tensions and disagreements with US allies and partners in the Western Pacific. Polls give Trump a fair chance of... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3258958/why-biden-racing-build-trump-proof-us-alliance-system?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3258958/why-biden-racing-build-trump-proof-us-alliance-system?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Apr 2024 12:30:17 +0000 Geopolitical overexposure could force China to continue accepting the status quo across the Taiwan Strait for the foreseeable future, regardless of whether incumbent vice-president William Lai Ching-te – whom Beijing considers a separatist – wins the island’s presidential election on January 13. Beijing has festering troubles with the Philippines in the South China Sea and must cope with long-running strife between the Myanmar military and anti-coup rebels at its southwestern border. Plus, like... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3247857/how-multiple-global-challenges-may-limit-beijings-options-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3247857/how-multiple-global-challenges-may-limit-beijings-options-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jan 2024 11:30:12 +0000 Last month’s meeting between the foreign ministers of South Korea, China and Japan, coming after the Biden-Xi summit near San Francisco, signalled an easing of tensions in the region and was hailed as the latest sign of detente in the West Pacific. But the military and security actions of regional actors in recent days tells a different story: of an “armed thaw” between China and the US-led Western camp. At the November 26 meeting in Busan, top diplomats from China, Japan and South Korea said... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3243586/speaking-softly-big-sticks-reality-us-china-detente?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3243586/speaking-softly-big-sticks-reality-us-china-detente?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Dec 2023 21:30:08 +0000 China should coordinate with the United States to de-escalate Israel’s war against Hamas, even at the risk of irritating strategic partners in Russia and Iran. For a commercial powerhouse such as China, the advantages of cooperation with Washington for stability in the Middle East far outweigh those of trying to capitalise on a scenario in which the US remains stuck in two wars. The idea that the current course of geopolitical events is a strategic windfall for China in its competition with the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3239094/china-should-cooperate-us-de-escalate-israel-gaza-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3239094/china-should-cooperate-us-de-escalate-israel-gaza-war?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Oct 2023 21:30:08 +0000 It seems China is losing the capacity to influence matters inside Europe. Faced with economic headwinds, and possibly concerned about losing European investors in such troubled times, Chinese leaders are sending mixed messages about the European Union’s increasingly muscular approach to bilateral trade. “Our relationship needs rebalancing to be mutually beneficial, based on transparency, fairness, predictability and reciprocity,” EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis said on September 25 during a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3236630/europes-hardball-tactics-trade-put-china-bind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3236630/europes-hardball-tactics-trade-put-china-bind?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Oct 2023 21:30:21 +0000 The G20 leaders’ failure to condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine could have given Chinese President Xi Jinping, who did not attend the summit meeting, the sense of a good result: the sense that the Sino-Russian “no-limits friendship”, supported by friends from the Global South, dealt a blow to the United States and its allies. It didn’t. Although the G20 meeting in India might well have signalled a significant shift of geopolitical power away from advanced economies to developing countries, it... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3234400/amid-us-china-rivalry-rest-world-will-simply-try-maximise-their-gain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3234400/amid-us-china-rivalry-rest-world-will-simply-try-maximise-their-gain?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Sep 2023 13:15:18 +0000 The announcement last week by leaders of the United States, Japan and South Korea of a mechanism for trilateral consultation and coordination – in response to threats to any of their countries “from whatever source” – seems to be the embryo of a “mini-Nato” in East Asia. This move means China will not sleep peacefully. Beijing sees the deepening of Japanese-South Korean ties as part of the US strategy to contain its rise through a vast network of alliances and partnerships. Consider, for... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3231906/deepening-cooperation-between-us-japan-and-south-korea-provides-economic-and-strategic-hedge-against?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3231906/deepening-cooperation-between-us-japan-and-south-korea-provides-economic-and-strategic-hedge-against?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Aug 2023 22:00:14 +0000 At a China-France dialogue in Beijing last month, Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng expressed hope that France “will stabilise the tone of friendly cooperation” with the European Union. This comes as French President Emmanuel Macron tries to promote Europe’s strategic autonomy amid the great power contest between the US and China. Beijing’s promise of increased economic cooperation suggests it wants help from Paris to repair its deteriorating ties with the EU. But the manoeuvre could fail if China... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3230091/why-china-should-tread-carefully-around-french-interests-africa-and-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3230091/why-china-should-tread-carefully-around-french-interests-africa-and-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Aug 2023 16:30:10 +0000 Looking beneath the veneer of rhetoric in Germany’s new China strategy, which accuses Beijing of following a more “assertive” conduct in world affairs, one sees that the strategy is really an act of political balancing short on concrete policies. The German blueprint went down badly with the Chinese government, with a spokesman saying it “goes against the trend of the time and will only exacerbate the division of the world”. It could not be otherwise. Beijing cannot tolerate being depicted as a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3228266/germanys-china-strategy-reflects-countrys-delicate-balancing-act?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3228266/germanys-china-strategy-reflects-countrys-delicate-balancing-act?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jul 2023 17:00:09 +0000 The aborted mutiny in Russia by the Wagner private mercenary group, led by its chief and financier Yevgeny Prigozhin, sent a clear signal to Chinese President Xi Jinping: China’s “no limits” partnership with a revisionist Russia under Vladimir Putin, devised by the two sides as a counterweight against the United States and its Western allies, is a risky bet. The Ukraine war has been degrading Russia’s geopolitical, military and economic potential. As many observers expected, the reverberations... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3225795/wagner-mutiny-shows-chinas-no-limits-partnership-russia-risky-bet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3225795/wagner-mutiny-shows-chinas-no-limits-partnership-russia-risky-bet?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jun 2023 16:30:11 +0000 War-torn Sudan, where a fragile ceasefire is in place, could offer China and the West an opportunity for cooperation to stabilise the greater Horn of Africa. Geopolitical tensions between the two camps have skyrocketed in recent years, and they need a common interest to start resetting relations. There is reason to believe this cooperation could be fruitful as China, the United States and Europe have already worked together successfully for years in their united fight against piracy in the Gulf... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3221632/why-us-china-anti-piracy-efforts-offer-hope-cooperation-ending-sudan-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3221632/why-us-china-anti-piracy-efforts-offer-hope-cooperation-ending-sudan-war?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 May 2023 17:30:18 +0000 Cohabitation with China and the United States is proving increasingly complex for Europe, which is trying to learn from Southeast Asian nations the sophisticated art of surviving between the two great-power rivals. The scheme is long-tested but risky: one must balance the interests of Beijing and Washington in a way that is acceptable to both. Singapore has a strong security partnership with the US, which can access the Lion City’s air and naval bases on a rotational basis. At the same time,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3219239/europe-struggling-replicate-southeast-asias-us-china-balancing-act?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3219239/europe-struggling-replicate-southeast-asias-us-china-balancing-act?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 May 2023 08:30:10 +0000 China scored a great diplomatic point by brokering a surprising agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore formal ties after seven years. It signals that the Chinese are cutting their teeth for more ambitious endeavours, such as a concrete initiative to resolve Russia’s war against Ukraine. Some view Beijing’s recent 12-point peace plan for the crisis as lacking substance, but Friday’s deal adds weight to China’s Global Security Initiative, a recently published document that lays out how... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3213443/china-peace-broker-will-find-ukraine-war-far-bigger-test-saudi-iran-stand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3213443/china-peace-broker-will-find-ukraine-war-far-bigger-test-saudi-iran-stand?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Mar 2023 19:30:11 +0000 The European Union wants strategic autonomy on microchips, from design to production. But despite its expressed interest in developing economic and technological ties with Taiwan – as seen in the December 18-21 visit by a delegation from the European Parliament’s international trade committee – a deal to build Taiwanese semiconductor plants in Europe is still a long way off. At the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Thailand, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3204131/why-eu-taiwan-chip-foundry-deal-may-not-be-such-bad-thing-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3204131/why-eu-taiwan-chip-foundry-deal-may-not-be-such-bad-thing-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Dec 2022 00:15:14 +0000 When it comes to the division of labour in the post-Soviet space, the set-up with China as the main economic player and Russia as the dominant military actor remains the optimum geopolitical scenario for President Xi Jinping as he grapples with the Taiwan issue and mounting economic troubles. But, with the Russian army struggling to control some 116,000 sq km of occupied territory in Ukraine, top Chinese officials should seriously consider whether the Kremlin is still able to ensure stability... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3194943/weakened-russia-leaves-china-security-gaps-central-asia-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3194943/weakened-russia-leaves-china-security-gaps-central-asia-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Oct 2022 19:30:17 +0000 Pacific island nations continue to send negative signals or buy time on China’s bid to strike a security pact with them. This suggests that a strategic debacle may be in the offing for China, which risks losing the opportunity to hit the United States in what seems to be its soft underbelly along the Pacific Rim. On June 17, during an official visit to New Zealand, Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said South Pacific countries could deal with their own security affairs without the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3182494/why-china-should-brace-itself-pacific-rebuff?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3182494/why-china-should-brace-itself-pacific-rebuff?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jun 2022 17:30:17 +0000 When Chinese vice foreign minister Le Yucheng met Russian ambassador Andrey Denisov last week, he hailed the Sino-Russian partnership with words that sounded positively eerie to those in Europe: “No matter how the international landscape may change, China will continue to strengthen strategic coordination with Russia for win-win cooperation.” Beijing’s ambiguity towards Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its repeated threats about Taiwan are breaking apart the consensus China has worked hard to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3175707/how-beijings-stance-russia-and-its-taiwan-threats-are-hurting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3175707/how-beijings-stance-russia-and-its-taiwan-threats-are-hurting?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Apr 2022 17:30:19 +0000 Emanuele Scimia Emanuele Scimia With the prospect of taking Taiwan in mind, it is likely that China is making note of the problems Russia is facing in its invasion of Ukraine. However, this should not be Beijing’s main preoccupation. War plans often do not pass the battleground test, and despite this Russian President Vladimir Putin might still win his reckless war. What China should actually pay attention to is the miracle performed by the Kremlin’s aggressiveness. It has brought together the United States and its European... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3168771/reaction-russias-ukraine-invasion-should-give-china-pause-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3168771/reaction-russias-ukraine-invasion-should-give-china-pause-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Mar 2022 17:30:13 +0000 Apart from issuing travel bans to and from China, the European Union and its member states have not hesitated to help the Chinese authorities tackle the spread of the coronavirus – something Beijing has publicly acknowledged. But do not misunderstand, cooperation on the Covid-19 outbreak will not spark closer Sino-European relations. If anything, the EU could be tempted to seize on China’s difficulties to exact trade and investment concessions. At the annual Munich Security Conference on... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3051931/why-cooperation-coronavirus-epidemic-wont-help-upgrade-china-eu?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3051931/why-cooperation-coronavirus-epidemic-wont-help-upgrade-china-eu?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Feb 2020 17:00:07 +0000 The killing on Friday of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani by the United States was very bad news for China.  Tehran’s inevitable response will further deteriorate the geopolitical situation in the Persian Gulf region, which serves much of Chinese oil needs and is an essential element of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative. Beijing said the US drone strike against the Iranian general, who headed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force and was responsible for Iran’s... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/qasem-soleimani-assassination-highlights-china-not-major-player-middle-east/article/3044993?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/qasem-soleimani-assassination-highlights-china-not-major-player-middle-east/article/3044993?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jan 2020 10:34:29 +0000 The killing on Friday of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani by the United States was very bad news for China. Tehran’s inevitable response will further deteriorate the geopolitical situation in the Persian Gulf region, which serves much of Chinese oil needs and is an essential element of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative. Beijing said the US drone strike against the Iranian general, who headed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force and was responsible for Iran’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3044822/killing-irans-qassem-soleimani-reality-check-chinas-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3044822/killing-irans-qassem-soleimani-reality-check-chinas-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Jan 2020 15:00:16 +0000 The political and social crisis in Hong Kong is a tough nut to crack for the new European Commission, which began work on December 1, led by President Ursula von der Leyen. Although the European Union is concerned about Chinese policy towards Hong Kong, it is unlikely to push for legislation similar to the United States’ Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, given that such a move could imperil its fruitful relationship with the special administrative region.  But things could change if the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3041598/europe-no-pushover-if-china-doesnt-back-eu-might-take-tough-stance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3041598/europe-no-pushover-if-china-doesnt-back-eu-might-take-tough-stance?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Dec 2019 03:00:13 +0000 As he scrambled to help French businesses win lucrative contracts and protect the European Union’s commercial interests ahead of a possible solution to the trade war between China and the United States, President Emmanuel Macron of France was careful not to publicly raise objections to Chinese policy in the South China Sea during his recent trip to Shanghai and Beijing. Unsurprisingly, a French declaration released at the end of Macron’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 6... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3036790/gauge-frances-south-china-sea-intentions-look-what-it-does-not-what?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3036790/gauge-frances-south-china-sea-intentions-look-what-it-does-not-what?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Nov 2019 22:30:13 +0000 Chinese advances in the South Pacific are firmly in the sights of the United States. And it could not be otherwise, as the Pacific island nations are an essential component of the US strategy to tackle China’s growing military clout.  Beijing looks increasingly at ease in the region. At the third China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development Cooperation Forum, in Samoa last week, Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua presided over the signing of a programme of eight measures to contribute to the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3034599/us-wants-expanded-partnerships-pacific-contain-chinas-rise-do-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3034599/us-wants-expanded-partnerships-pacific-contain-chinas-rise-do-its?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Oct 2019 03:00:10 +0000 China will soon be in good company as a target of US President Donald Trump’s maximum trade pressure campaign. An October 2 ruling by the World Trade Organisation will allow the United States to impose tariffs on imported goods worth US$7.5 billion from the European Union from October 18, paving the way for a tit-for-tat commercial battle between the two sides of the Atlantic.  The question is now whether the mounting EU-US trade war will prompt Europe to join forces with China. Unsolved... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3032007/will-trumps-tariffs-forge-new-eu-china-alliance-not-unless-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3032007/will-trumps-tariffs-forge-new-eu-china-alliance-not-unless-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Oct 2019 22:00:09 +0000 The United States bluntly accuses China of using investments and concessional loans to align recipient countries with its geopolitical agenda. Recent cruise and drone attacks on critical Saudi oil installations, which Riyadh and Washington have blamed on Iran, actually tell a completely different story – at least as far as the Middle East is concerned. The Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s massive infrastructure plan to improve connectivity and boost trade across Eurasia... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3029978/chinas-belt-and-road-projects-are-not-enough-give-it-sway-middle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3029978/chinas-belt-and-road-projects-are-not-enough-give-it-sway-middle?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Sep 2019 03:00:11 +0000 German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s exhortation that the crisis in Hong Kong should be resolved through peaceful means, and within the existing constitutional framework, provoked a sharp response from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during their meeting in Beijing last Friday. Li warned the West not to interfere with the city’s (and so China’s) affairs. The anti-government protests gripping Hong Kong come as relations between Europe and China are already strained over everything from territorial... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3026381/hong-kong-protests-have-dented-eu-china-ties-threat-global?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3026381/hong-kong-protests-have-dented-eu-china-ties-threat-global?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Sep 2019 06:00:07 +0000 The United States’ withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty has raised fears of a new arms race among the world’s great powers. Andrea L. Thompson, the US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, confirmed last week that Washington was consulting its mutual defence treaty allies Australia, South Korea and Japan as it moves forward with plans to position medium- and intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific. The target of the deployment... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3023778/does-us-really-need-land-based-missiles-asia-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3023778/does-us-really-need-land-based-missiles-asia-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Aug 2019 17:00:08 +0000 After the ministerial meeting between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Bangkok on Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed Cambodia’s denial that it was allowing China to build a military installation on its soil. But speculation is rife about the Chinese getting exclusive access to a naval base in Cambodia for up to 30 years under a secret agreement. If recent reports prove correct, the Chinese will secure a permanent or semi-permanent military... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3021172/cambodia-us-china-rivalrys-latest-front-talk-base-access-alarms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3021172/cambodia-us-china-rivalrys-latest-front-talk-base-access-alarms?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Aug 2019 19:00:06 +0000 China does not want a conflict between the United States and Iran, and continues to call for restraint as the two parties are locked in a dispute over the nature of the Iranian nuclear programme. However, despite their good relations with Tehran, the Chinese could consider the creation of a US-led military escort force for shipping in the Persian Gulf as the lesser of two evils. Safe navigation across the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf of Oman to the Persian Gulf, and where about a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3018642/prevent-war-iran-china-could-endorse-us-led-gulf-military-escort?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3018642/prevent-war-iran-china-could-endorse-us-led-gulf-military-escort?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jul 2019 21:00:12 +0000 The United States is becoming increasingly obsessed with Chinese activities in commercial seaports of allied countries because of the risk they would pose to its navy. Nonetheless, calls for European allies to avoid backing China’s global maritime ambitions and the Belt and Road Initiative continue to fall on deaf ears.  At last week’s Transport Logistic fair in Munich, the Italian port of Genoa signed a cooperation agreement with the Chinese port of Shenzhen, the world’s fourth-largest... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3015214/europe-continues-welcome-chinese-investment-its-ports-despite-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3015214/europe-continues-welcome-chinese-investment-its-ports-despite-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jun 2019 15:00:09 +0000 US President Donald Trump has sent warships and other military assets to the Persian Gulf to intimidate the Iranian regime. He may have not grasped that this decision could negatively affect the power relationship with China. The Trump administration said the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and the amphibious transport dock USS Arlington in the region was aimed at protecting American military and commercial interests from potential threats from Iran. However, it did... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3010714/trumps-intimidation-iran-us-navy-movements-persian-gulf?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3010714/trumps-intimidation-iran-us-navy-movements-persian-gulf?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 May 2019 19:00:12 +0000 Thanks to its cutting-edge 5G technology, China has the opportunity to open cracks in the security architecture of the Western camp – the United States and its European allies, but also the Indo-Pacific countries that, in one way or another, are part of America’s global military system.  Amid espionage worries, US leaders have repeatedly warned that Huawei’s 5G equipment for next-generation communications networks presents a security threat, given the Chinese telecoms giant’s links with China’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3006743/chinas-5g-tech-may-do-more-revolutionise-communications-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3006743/chinas-5g-tech-may-do-more-revolutionise-communications-it?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Apr 2019 18:00:08 +0000 French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker sounded a conciliatory tone on Tuesday during a joint meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Paris.  The EU is ready to cooperate with China on many fronts, especially on promoting multilateralism, which is being challenged by US President Donald Trump’s trade protectionism and erratic diplomacy. But European leaders also noted that the “strategic” cooperation between the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3003463/eus-china-strategy-puts-european-unity-test?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3003463/eus-china-strategy-puts-european-unity-test?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Mar 2019 15:00:11 +0000 During a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina last Saturday, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump agreed to a truce in the trade war escalation between their two countries. The chances for a comprehensive agreement with the United States were remote, and China’s charm offensive to rally support in Europe in the lead-up to the multilateral gathering in Buenos Aires was a sign of its desire to hedge against Trump’s anti-free-trade instincts.  In his... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2176453/china-and-eu-are-unlikely-become-allies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2176453/china-and-eu-are-unlikely-become-allies?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Dec 2018 09:00:15 +0000 In its annual report to Congress on China’s military strength, released last Thursday, the US Department of Defence emphasised the increasing Chinese capability to project power in forward areas. On top of concerns that Chinese bombers might attack American and allied installations in the Pacific, the Pentagon highlighted the growing ability of the Chinese navy to operate on the high seas. According to the report, the Chinese continued to conduct naval operations in western and southern Pacific... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2160782/wary-eye-chinas-maritime-expansion-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2160782/wary-eye-chinas-maritime-expansion-us?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Aug 2018 18:00:56 +0000 China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations now have a single text to negotiate a code of conduct in the South China Sea, where four Asean member countries – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – are locked in territorial disputes with Beijing. The announcement, which came on Thursday during the Asean-China ministerial meeting, was hailed as a milestone by both sides. However, the concerned parties are a long way from reaching a consensus on a final document, and the United... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2158455/south-china-sea-progress-between-china-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2158455/south-china-sea-progress-between-china-and?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Aug 2018 20:00:45 +0000 According to recent media reports, foreign shipbuilders have offered Taiwan hull designs for its indigenous defence submarine programme. Taiwanese Defence Minister Yen Teh-fa dismissed similar rumours in May, denying that 200 US naval specialists would take part in the submarine project. It is unlikely that the United States, Japan, India or Europe will risk damaging ties with China by providing Taipei with submarine technology.  This is particularly true of countries in Europe. It is not by... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2155881/taiwans-dream-having-its-own-submarine-fleet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2155881/taiwans-dream-having-its-own-submarine-fleet?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Jul 2018 03:15:15 +0000 French and British top defence officials had some stinging words for China at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday. Despite growing trade tensions between the United States and the European Union, France and Britain voiced strong support for Washington’s efforts to counter Beijing’s military ascendancy in the South China Sea. But theirs is not simple rhetoric. Franco-British naval cooperation in the region is already a reality, and could grow even further. Paris and London view... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2149115/french-and-british-navies-draw-closer-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2149115/french-and-british-navies-draw-closer-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Jun 2018 05:23:01 +0000 If there is a clear loser in the demise of the Iran nuclear deal, it is likely China. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump virtually killed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which six world powers – the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – had agreed on in 2015 to curb the military dimension of Iran’s nuclear programme in return for relief from economic sanctions.  China played an important role in the negotiations leading to the deal, and together with Russia and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2145319/why-iran-nuclear-deal-fallout-could-scuttle-chinas-middle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2145319/why-iran-nuclear-deal-fallout-could-scuttle-chinas-middle?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 May 2018 09:30:45 +0000 Britain is busy building up its own “string of pearls” in the Indo-Pacific region. It is more limited in scale and scope than that of China, but has enough substance to anger Beijing, which is bolstering its naval footprint in the China seas and the Indian Ocean, and is sensitive to any initiative that could challenge its strategic interests in this vast area. Not least, if it comes from a non-regional actor. The UK opened a new permanent naval base at Mina Salman port, Bahrain, last week. This... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2141283/britains-naval-expansion-indo-pacific-will-anger-china-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2141283/britains-naval-expansion-indo-pacific-will-anger-china-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Apr 2018 03:12:00 +0000 If plans come to fruition, Taiwan will have its own modern silk road after Taipei officially advanced the “New Southbound Policy” on September 5. The public-private plan, a revised version of the “Go South” scheme from the 1990s, and a sort of regional counterpart to China’s “One Belt, One Road” project, is intended to boost the island’s trade and economic relations in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Oceania, in particular with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2018910/how-taiwans-own-silk-road-could-help-reduce-regional?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2018910/how-taiwans-own-silk-road-could-help-reduce-regional?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Sep 2016 06:21:42 +0000