https://www.scmp.com/rss/329662/feed Dr Michael Tai is a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and author of US-China Relations in the 21st Century: A Question of Trust. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Michael Tai Michael Tai When President Xi Jinping hosted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin earlier this year, the choreography was familiar: smiles, handshakes and talk of a “multipolar world order”. Yet beneath the symbolism lies an imbalance impossible to miss. China radiated the poise of a civilisation sure of its trajectory; Russia exuded the defiance of a power seeking reassurance. The meeting, intended to display Eurasian unity, instead... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3334916/while-china-exudes-confidence-russia-held-back-yearning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3334916/while-china-exudes-confidence-russia-held-back-yearning?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Dec 2025 21:30:08 +0000 Michael Tai Michael Tai The West is at an inflection point. The rise, fall and transformation of civilisations are often traced to the decisions of their leaders. US President Donald Trump’s policies and rhetoric are accelerating the unravelling of the Western world order, echoing the mistakes of past rulers whose unwise actions led to irreversible decline. After World War II, the Western world order was built on globalisation and international law. But as global competition intensifies, the concepts that once enforced... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3309106/us-should-take-heed-superpowers-rarely-fall-overnight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3309106/us-should-take-heed-superpowers-rarely-fall-overnight?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 May 2025 01:30:08 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s most striking foreign policy move has been reconciliation with Russia. This comes after years of relentless anti-Russia messaging. Western politicians and media called Russian President Vladimir Putin a dictator who wants to restore the Russian empire. They point to Russia’s war in Ukraine as evidence of Russian imperialist ambition even while scholars such as Jeffrey Sachs and John Mearsheimer acknowledge the West had a part in provoking the conflict. Russia has more... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3301805/kremlin-once-wanted-western-detente-will-it-seize-moment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3301805/kremlin-once-wanted-western-detente-will-it-seize-moment?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Mar 2025 21:30:08 +0000 The 50th anniversary of Sino-Malaysian relations is being celebrated with much fanfare. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is committed to strengthening ties with China, which he considers “vital”. For 15 years, China has been Malaysia’s most important trade partner, and bilateral trade last year topped US$98 billion. Post-Covid, Malaysia’s planners see Chinese investments as key to spurring the economy. China has committed to investing 170 billion ringgit (US$36.3 billion) in... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3270817/chinese-investment-wont-cure-cancer-plaguing-malaysias-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3270817/chinese-investment-wont-cure-cancer-plaguing-malaysias-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Jul 2024 09:00:10 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s trade war has put China under heavy pressure to liberalise its financial industry. In concessions made during trade talks, China agreed to allow foreign banks to take up to a 100 per cent stake in Chinese securities firms from April 1. The policy shift opens China’s US$21 trillion capital markets to foreign investment banks and hedge funds. Since the new rule, there are now five securities firms controlled by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, JPMorgan and UBS... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3095981/chinas-dream-aircraft-carrier-sized-investment-banks-takes-shape-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3095981/chinas-dream-aircraft-carrier-sized-investment-banks-takes-shape-it?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Aug 2020 13:15:16 +0000 Many Hongkongers hold the mainland and its people in contempt. Taking pride in their higher income and association with their former colonial master, they would rather be British than Chinese, even as many of the city's wealthier residents already hold foreign passports. As protests continue into a fourth month, with no end in sight, the question is: what should Beijing do? Probably nothing. With a deep sense of history, Chinese leaders play the long game and know not to be provoked. Beijing can... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3031063/hong-kongs-protests-dont-faze-beijing-leaders-will-play-long-game?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3031063/hong-kongs-protests-dont-faze-beijing-leaders-will-play-long-game?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Oct 2019 22:00:11 +0000 If the US trade war aims to hold back China’s development, it may already be too late. Regardless of the outcome of tensions, China will almost certainly continue its present trajectory. Here’s why. First, China has already reached critical mass in technological capacity. It has moved from imitator to innovator, and become a world leader in areas such as solar energy, mobile payments and high-speed rail. In 2011, the Royal Society saw the landscape changing “dramatically” when China overtook the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3013432/us-trade-war-cant-derail-chinas-development-here-are-three-reasons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3013432/us-trade-war-cant-derail-chinas-development-here-are-three-reasons?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Jun 2019 21:00:08 +0000 In 2016, President Tsai Ing-wen announced a plan to improve Taiwan’s trade and investment ties with a total of 18 countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Pacific. The New Southbound Policy was billed as a programme to promote cooperation in tourism, health care, technology, agriculture and small and medium-sized enterprises with partner countries, including Asean members, Australia and New Zealand. There are push and pull factors in the policy: cross-strait tensions on the one hand, and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/3001521/taiwans-wooing-asean-pointless-it-should-just?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/3001521/taiwans-wooing-asean-pointless-it-should-just?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Mar 2019 19:12:59 +0000 The Kuomintang’s (KMT) landslide victory over the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in local elections marked a dramatic reversal of the 2016 presidential election, when DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen won by a huge margin over her KMT opponent Eric Chu. Seen as a referendum on Tsai’s policies, the recent elections were fought over bread and butter issues even though many of the woes are due to globalising forces that no government can hold back. Voters punished the DPP for a lacklustre economy... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2175825/two-reasons-taiwan-must-come-terms-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2175825/two-reasons-taiwan-must-come-terms-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Dec 2018 19:00:45 +0000