https://www.scmp.com/rss/323199/feed Jonathan Holslag teaches international politics at the Free University Brussels. His last book was China’s Coming War with Asia en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com “Guolaosi, we are working ourselves to death!” I looked at my interlocutor, a young graduate from a prestigious university in Beijing, and asked what she meant. “Imagine. Tens of millions of young graduates compete for only several millions of decently paid jobs. We easily work eleven hours a day, spend another three hours in traffic and then retreat to a studio that we share with four others because we still cannot pay the rent. On top of that, our work is not even interesting. We are slowly... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2022099/longer-hours-worse-jobs-are-asians-turning-working-machines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2022099/longer-hours-worse-jobs-are-asians-turning-working-machines?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Sep 2016 00:00:30 +0000 China today boasts one of the most capable foreign services in the world. I have learned to appreciate its young diplomats as remarkably diligent, perceptive, and acculturated. Yet, even those bright officials struggle with an increasingly pressing challenge: to reconcile China’s promise of mutually beneficial foreign relations with a reality of unequal economic partnerships. China’s New Silk Road, also known as One Belt, One Road, is set to make that problem much worse as it is, in reality, not... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2013133/why-tensions-are-inevitable-chinas-new-silk-road?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2013133/why-tensions-are-inevitable-chinas-new-silk-road?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Sep 2016 06:02:07 +0000 The recent arbitration ruling on the South China Sea will go down as a textbook example of the limitations of international justice. Even if the vast majority of countries swung behind the tribunal in The Hague, China just told them to get lost. The resumption of so-called freedom of navigation patrols by the American navy will not change this. They could even be strategically convenient to Beijing and create a misplaced sense of security among its neighbours. As America flexes its muscle, China... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2006225/why-us-policy-south-china-sea-only-helps-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2006225/why-us-policy-south-china-sea-only-helps-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Aug 2016 09:01:39 +0000