https://www.scmp.com/rss/500486/feed John F. Copper is the Stanley J. Buckman Professor (emeritus) of International Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. He is the author of more than 35 books on China, Taiwan, and US Asia policy. His recently published works include “Taiwan: Nation-State or Province?” (seventh edition in 2020) and “Taiwan’s Politics in Action: Struggling to Win at the Ballot Box” in 2021. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing this week in what was seen as a landmark occasion. Blinken was the highest-ranking member of the two-year-plus Biden administration to visit China. Clearly, Blinken’s visit was meant to be a start towards reversing the decline in US-China relations – and, hopefully, resetting it – when pundits in the United States, China and elsewhere had opined that things were at a nadir. It was widely perceived that something had to be done for the two... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3225022/reset-us-china-relations-could-start-educational-exchanges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3225022/reset-us-china-relations-could-start-educational-exchanges?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Jun 2023 17:00:13 +0000 As US president, Joe Biden quickly instituted a hardline China policy. In the ensuing months, he became more forceful. He has called President Xi Jinping an “autocrat” and seemed bent on painting the Communist Party as some evil dictatorship that threatens the United States and the US-designed liberal world order. On this first visit to Europe as president, Biden called on America’s democratic allies to join him in an existential struggle against the authoritarian nations of the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3216604/taiwan-looking-more-pawn-us-struggle-against-china-loses-steam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3216604/taiwan-looking-more-pawn-us-struggle-against-china-loses-steam?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Apr 2023 13:00:10 +0000 After Taiwan’s recent local elections, the consensus was that the Kuomintang (KMT) had defeated the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). It won most of the metropolitan city mayorships and dominated the rest. President Tsai Ing-wen took the blame and resigned as DPP head. Many voters and pundits felt that she had focused excessively on condemning and vilifying mainland China, provoked conflict and neglected local issues. She had also put too much faith in support from US President Joe... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3206149/messy-taiwan-politics-means-kmts-return-power-far-assured?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3206149/messy-taiwan-politics-means-kmts-return-power-far-assured?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Jan 2023 19:30:14 +0000 In January, when Joe Biden became US president, he quickly went to work on cancelling Trump’s legacy. Taiwan, among Trump’s strongest Asian supporters, was expected to suffer the consequences. After all, Biden’s foreign policy work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was not a great record of sympathy or support for the island. Yet, Biden has offered Taiwan America’s continued support. Motivated by Beijing’s serious threat to the United States, Biden probably sees Taiwan’s democratic... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/united-states/article/3153464/why-bidens-us-could-end-jilting-taiwan-make-peace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/united-states/article/3153464/why-bidens-us-could-end-jilting-taiwan-make-peace?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Oct 2021 19:30:20 +0000 A quite discernible trend in many parts of the world in recent months is the growing fear, anger and even hatred of China. It is especially noticeable in the United States, Europe and Japan. In the US, antipathy towards China recently grew as a product of the trade dispute. The Democratic Party, the mainstream media and academia then joined US President Donald Trump to add grievances and amplify ill feeling towards China. Anti-China sentiment in America is now at a record high. In Europe, there... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3036718/danger-escalating-us-china-conflict-heightened-advances-ai-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3036718/danger-escalating-us-china-conflict-heightened-advances-ai-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Nov 2019 19:00:11 +0000 One of the central issues deliberated recently at China’s “two sessions” – the meetings of the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference – was rural poverty reduction. Clearly this was a problem issue for Chinese leaders. It is also a concern harboured by national leaders in other countries, in the guise of the rich-poor gap both at home and globally. How to fix this was a question of the day. China’s two government bodies reached decisions to alleviate... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3005497/china-taking-its-historic-poverty-global-success-global?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3005497/china-taking-its-historic-poverty-global-success-global?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Apr 2019 14:00:08 +0000