https://www.scmp.com/rss/324157/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com In Madrid and in Brussels this month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi characterised EU-China relations as standing at a “new historical starting point”. He added that for China, supporting European unity and prosperity was a “strategic choice” given the absence of “geopolitical contradictions” and “conflicts of interest”. This is not exactly new language, except for the “new historical starting point”, which suggests great ambitions for breakthroughs between the EU and China in 2020. It is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3043584/why-china-senses-strategic-advantage-its-new-historical?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3043584/why-china-senses-strategic-advantage-its-new-historical?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Dec 2019 08:00:14 +0000 A new EU Commission enters in function today. The outgoing Juncker commission has to be credited for recalibrating the China policy of the European Union. It is now standard EU language to define China as a “partner, a strategic competitor and a systemic rival”. Before 2014, the centre of gravity of Europe’s China policy was how to expand bilateral cooperation under the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership. Engagement is still the basic policy guideline for handling relations... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3040023/whats-ahead-new-eu-commission-it-addresses-imbalances-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3040023/whats-ahead-new-eu-commission-it-addresses-imbalances-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Dec 2019 06:45:06 +0000 Could Russia undermine its own nuclear superiority vis-à-vis China to help strengthen the Chinese nuclear deterrent against the United States? This is exactly what Russian President Vladimir Putin implied at the Valdai discussion club last week, when he declared: “I am probably not revealing a big secret here, but it will transpire sooner or later anyway: we are now helping our Chinese partners create a missile attack warning system. This is very important and will drastically increase China’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3032436/how-china-relying-russia-achieve-strategic-stability-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3032436/how-china-relying-russia-achieve-strategic-stability-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Oct 2019 00:00:05 +0000 Vanuatu, the Maldives, Cambodia, Sri Lanka … Not a single week passes without new rumours regarding where the Chinese navy will build its second overseas base after Djibouti in East Africa. Speculation about Gwadar in Pakistan as a possible location for a base has never faded since construction of the port started in 2002. The PLA Navy’s future long-range operations will require more logistical support facilities; and so China should be expected to seize the right opportunities to justify the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3024797/how-china-positioning-its-counterterrorism-forces-play-greater?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3024797/how-china-positioning-its-counterterrorism-forces-play-greater?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Aug 2019 00:30:14 +0000 Many in China mistakenly think that states place security restrictions on Huawei as a courtesy to the United States. France provides an interesting case of a Western country outside the five-eyes intelligence sharing arrangement that takes network security seriously and for years has taken steps to reduce its vulnerabilities to foreign intelligence collection and the risk of sabotage. It is also an example of seeking a balance between refusing a Huawei ban but working to create a regulatory... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3020354/while-weighing-5g-security-risks-france-predicts-it-can-manage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3020354/while-weighing-5g-security-risks-france-predicts-it-can-manage?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Jul 2019 07:00:17 +0000 Business is business, and politics set the stage for deals to be concluded – or not. The politics around Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to France were far from auspicious. Beijing has several reasons to dislike the China policy of Emmanuel Macron: the French president’s endorsement of the Indo-Pacific narrative his reluctance to sign a Silk Road memorandum of understanding his constant insistence on the need for the “Belt and Road Initiative” to be a “two-way street” his strong push... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3003735/europe-china-political-unity-still-far-despite-xi-jinpings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3003735/europe-china-political-unity-still-far-despite-xi-jinpings?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Mar 2019 13:45:12 +0000 China is, of course, not responsible for the failure of the Hanoi summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to produce an agreement between Washington and Pyongyang. But the two dramatic shifts of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s North Korea policy in 2016 and 2018 have had a significant impact on the North’s formulation of its initial bargaining offer, as it was finally made public in Hanoi. In 2016, China finally stopped preventing the expansion of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2189109/why-china-must-get-north-korea-lower-its-demands-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2189109/why-china-must-get-north-korea-lower-its-demands-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Mar 2019 12:18:48 +0000 The year 2018 ended with three significant developments in Europe-China relations which, taken together, point to an increasing mismatch in priorities between the two economic powers in 2019. The first development was the publication of a new policy paper setting out the priorities of China’s EU policy, followed by the deep interrogation across Europe regarding whether Huawei should be allowed to build the continent’s 5G infrastructure. The third significant development was the widespread... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2180817/eu-china-relations-face-bumpy-road-year-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2180817/eu-china-relations-face-bumpy-road-year-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Jan 2019 06:45:15 +0000 It has become the core Chinese message to European audiences: let us defend the multilateral rules-based order together. This is music to the ears of European leaders desperately needing support to withstand the Trump administration’s unceasing assaults on global governance. Seen from Europe, the US’ withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement and its departure from the nuclear deal with Iran, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Programme of Action (JCPOA), are not abstract matters but... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2175315/how-chinas-reluctance-expand-fragile-rules-based-order-weakens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2175315/how-chinas-reluctance-expand-fragile-rules-based-order-weakens?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Dec 2018 00:01:20 +0000 Since July 27, the French Air Force has had three Rafale B fighter jets, one A400M troop transporter and a C135 refuelling tanker in Australia’s Northern Territory. The deployment is part of Pitch Black, an annual multilateral joint exercise described by the Australian host as “pivotal to ensuring [the] air force remains ready to respond whenever the Australian government requires”. It will be followed by Mission Pegase in August, when a French Air Force contingent is to visit Indonesia,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2157702/how-french-militarys-political-messengers-are?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2157702/how-french-militarys-political-messengers-are?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Aug 2018 22:02:01 +0000 The US Department of Defence presented the withdrawal of an invitation to China to attend the Rim of the Pacific naval exercises this year as an “an initial response to China’s continued militarisation of the South China Sea”. But just as inviting the PLA Navy to the same exercises in 2012 did not lead to self-restraint from China in the disputed waters, not inviting its forces this time around will certainly not result in a slowdown of China’s arms build-up in its four militarised outposts in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2148251/naval-drill-row-signals-rough-seas-ahead-china-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2148251/naval-drill-row-signals-rough-seas-ahead-china-us?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 May 2018 06:15:30 +0000 China is awakening to widespread scepticism in Europe regarding the Belt and Road Initiative. Last week, it was leaked that 27 EU ambassadors to Beijing (except for the ambassador from Hungary, a country that behaves within the EU like Cambodia within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) co-signed an internal report criticising the belt and road as creating an unfair global trade environment by giving Chinese public conglomerates an advantage at competitors’ expense.  For observers of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2142723/will-china-listen-eu-infrastructure-plans-perceived?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2142723/will-china-listen-eu-infrastructure-plans-perceived?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Apr 2018 10:09:12 +0000 As Asia is arming, Europe is selling equipment to states in the Indo-Pacific while maintaining strict restrictions on transfers of military technology to China. It looks like taking sides, but it is more complicated than that. European exporters seek commercial opportunities and operate in a set of political constraints, but no clear strategic vision guides Europe’s approach to arms sales and controls over critical technologies. However, this could change in the coming years if the structure of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2131937/chinas-military-build-may-be-game-changer-european-arms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2131937/chinas-military-build-may-be-game-changer-european-arms?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Feb 2018 10:00:30 +0000 There is little doubt Beijing will move to seize each opportunity offered by the US retreat from global governance and international hotspots to expand Chinese influence. Deng Xiaoping’s low profile doctrine is now history but the extent to which China will take more risks and become a key player in international crisis management remains unclear – and a major question for international politics this year. China is already taking a more visible profile on Afghanistan, Myanmar and the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2127258/how-will-china-cope-european-disenchantment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2127258/how-will-china-cope-european-disenchantment?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Jan 2018 05:02:38 +0000 How do you avoid a war on the Korean peninsula that could be triggered not by a rational decision but by an accident or misperception? Deterrence is about something else. It targets the cost-benefit analysis behind the decision to start a war. Crisis management addresses more restrictively the military incidents that could lead to an escalation of hostilities. The lack of crisis management talks is an obvious problem in US-DPRK relations; but it also exists in US-China relations, adding a layer... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2114750/opinion-eu-should-host-us-china-contingency-talks-north?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2114750/opinion-eu-should-host-us-china-contingency-talks-north?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Oct 2017 09:00:30 +0000 In a few days, the PLA Navy’s hospital ship Peace Ark will arrive in Djibouti as part of a ritual charm offensive of the Chinese military. This will be the PLA’s sixth “harmonious mission”, an operation during which a ship initially built to treat wounded soldiers in wartime provides free medical services to citizens in developing countries. Since the first harmonious mission in 2010, the activity has been the flagship of the Chinese navy’s public diplomacy. It projects an image of benign power... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2107124/how-humanitarian-naval-mission-boosting-chinas-global?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2107124/how-humanitarian-naval-mission-boosting-chinas-global?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Aug 2017 14:59:41 +0000 Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement did not dominate the 19th EU-China summit that concluded last week in Brussels as expected. Some thought there would be a strongly worded declaration signalling the two sides’ shared a commitment and determination to co-lead on this major global governance issue. The summit ended, instead, with a press release and a sober assessment by the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2097630/small-steps-not-great-leap-forward-key-future-eu-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2097630/small-steps-not-great-leap-forward-key-future-eu-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jun 2017 00:32:03 +0000 Emmanuel Macron will be sworn in as President of the French Republic on May 14. His victory last Sunday has shaken the traditional foundations of the French political party system, organised around a left-right divide: the mainstream right-wing and left-wing parties were eliminated at the first round of the election and Macron has run on a social-liberal platform seeking to bridge the gap between the two sides. No observer, however, expects major change when it comes to foreign policy. During... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2093809/opinion-what-macrons-victory-french-presidential?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2093809/opinion-what-macrons-victory-french-presidential?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 May 2017 12:31:03 +0000 President Xi Jinping’s pro-globalisation speech in Davos in January was well received in Europe, where many among the liberal elites seek allies to protect free trade from the Trump administration’s next moves. There have been reports that China has asked for the date of the next EU-China summit to be brought forward to send a clear political message to the United States that the European Union and China stand united against protectionism. On March 10, the European Council adopted a conclusion... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2078726/trump-trade-reset-gives-china-and-europe-opportunity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2078726/trump-trade-reset-gives-china-and-europe-opportunity?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 08:06:43 +0000