https://www.scmp.com/rss/505096/feed Captain (Retired) Andy Tian Shichen is founder and president of the Global Governance Institution and director of the Center for International Law of Military Operations in Beijing. He is also a China Forum expert. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Tian Shichen Tian Shichen With the Middle East ablaze and war in Ukraine showing no sign of respite, a stark new consensus is hardening in Paris, London and Berlin that Europe must rearm. Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron signalled a pivotal shift in deterrence by announcing an increase in the nation’s nuclear warheads and a “forward deterrence” plan. This follows a rare joint appeal from the British and German defence chiefs, who urged Europeans to build a moral and strategic case for a massive surge in... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3346554/europe-says-it-must-rearm-what-end?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3346554/europe-says-it-must-rearm-what-end?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:30:09 +0000 Tian Shichen Tian Shichen The smoke rising from Iran on Saturday signalled more than just a localised escalation in the Middle East. Coming on the heels of the United States’ military invasion of Venezuela earlier this year, the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran represent a watershed moment for the 21st century. We are witnessing the systematic dismantling of the post-1945 legal order, replaced by the unvarnished “law of the jungle” where strategic interests supersede legality, and the UN Charter is treated as a relic of... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3345081/attack-iran-normalises-global-descent-law-jungle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3345081/attack-iran-normalises-global-descent-law-jungle?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 12:30:07 +0000 Tian Shichen Tian Shichen At the opening of the Munich Security Conference this year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that the rules-based international order is eroding before our eyes. His remarks echoed the conference’s annual report, which painted a picture of fragmentation and disorder. His remarks also echoed a growing anxiety across Europe: that the system built after 1945 is eroding under the weight of geopolitical rivalry, economic coercion and military confrontation. However, to many observers, Europe’s... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3343834/why-europe-must-accept-blame-erosion-global-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3343834/why-europe-must-accept-blame-erosion-global-order?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Feb 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Tian Shichen Tian Shichen More than 36 years after the United States invaded Panama to arrest Manuel Noriega, Washington has once again launched a military operation to seize the sitting president of a sovereign Latin American country. The move echoes the logic of the Monroe Doctrine revived for the Trump era: enforcing US dominance in the western hemisphere through the use of force rather than law. Beyond its immediate impact on Latin America, the operation has sent a wider signal. It underscores a willingness to bypass... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3338722/us-attack-venezuela-tests-moral-clarity-post-war-world-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3338722/us-attack-venezuela-tests-moral-clarity-post-war-world-order?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Jan 2026 12:30:13 +0000 Tian Shichen Tian Shichen The recent back-to-back meetings in Alaska and Washington offer a troubling portrait of today’s security order. Rather than demonstrating a collective search for peace, these spectacles highlight a drift towards unilateralism, great-power deals and a hollowing out of multilateral security frameworks. The meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed how easily Europe’s security can be reshaped behind closed doors, while the hastily... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3322452/trumps-talks-putin-zelensky-signal-end-multilateral-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3322452/trumps-talks-putin-zelensky-signal-end-multilateral-security?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Aug 2025 12:30:08 +0000 Nearly 50 years after the last Japanese second world war soldier – Hiroo Onoda – surrendered to the Philippines in 1974, Japanese military forces are expected to put boots on the ground once again, this time on invitation rather than in aggression. Not satisfied with relying on the United States to provoke China in the South China Sea, the Philippines announced in early November negotiations with Japan to boost their military alliance, including an agreement granting reciprocal access to their... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3246887/philippines-stockpiling-bilateral-deals-counter-beijing-south-china-sea-wont-work?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3246887/philippines-stockpiling-bilateral-deals-counter-beijing-south-china-sea-wont-work?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jan 2024 21:30:07 +0000 Long before former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s high-profile visit to Taipei, the Taiwan issue had been deeply, frequently and regularly debated by US government officials, and those in Congress, academia and think tanks. The latest discussion focuses on a possible visit by newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the Defence Department’s military preparations for the consequences of such a visit. But as they hotly debate the scenario of an inevitable US military intervention in a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3210218/quite-simply-us-military-intervention-over-taiwan-would-violate-international-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3210218/quite-simply-us-military-intervention-over-taiwan-would-violate-international-law?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Feb 2023 17:00:11 +0000 Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin’s assertion that there is no such thing as “international waters” in international law and rejection of the Taiwan Strait as international waters have raised concerns and led to an outcry in both the United States and Taiwan. The US State Department insists the Taiwan Strait is international waters where high seas freedoms, including of navigation and overflight, are guaranteed under international law. Taiwanese foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3182228/taiwan-strait-dispute-international-waters-merely-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3182228/taiwan-strait-dispute-international-waters-merely-us?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Jun 2022 19:30:16 +0000 As US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman wrapped up her by-the-way visit to China – the subject of intense negotiation, with the two countries unable to agree on the proposed engagement until the very last minute – US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin kicked off his visit to America’s allies in Southeast Asia, namely Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines. Austin’s high-profile visit to Asia aims to reaffirm the new administration’s commitment as “a reliable partner”. In remarks before the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3142888/how-us-uses-its-asian-allies-great-power-competition-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3142888/how-us-uses-its-asian-allies-great-power-competition-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jul 2021 17:30:17 +0000 Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has demanded that China apologise after Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian recently shared a post on Twitter depicting an Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of an Afghan child. China is not alone in criticising Australia in this regard. The findings from the Australian Defence Force inquiry sparked widespread international condemnation; a New York Times report was headlined “Blood Lust Demigods: Behind an Australian Force’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3112880/australias-twitter-row-china-no-surprise-who-west-sides?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3112880/australias-twitter-row-china-no-surprise-who-west-sides?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Dec 2020 01:15:12 +0000 As China’s national legislature deliberates a draft decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for Hong Kong to safeguard national security, huge criticism has poured in from the West. Leading the charge was US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who urged China to “reconsider its disastrous proposal” and “abide by its international obligations”. Chris Patten, the last governor of the former British colony, also aired his views, having never failed to seize... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3086099/new-cold-war-dawns-and-us-pursues-strategic-competition-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3086099/new-cold-war-dawns-and-us-pursues-strategic-competition-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 May 2020 22:15:05 +0000 The US defence department has yet to release its annual freedom of navigation report for the 2019 financial year. While there is no fixed time frame, the reports for 2017 and 2018 were released on December 31 of those respective years. In 2018, the United States carried out seven freedom of navigation operations against China. For 2019, there will be no fewer, for sure, given the growing chorus of military and civilian leaders who have voiced their support for such operations against China. Of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3064708/us-endangering-peace-south-china-sea-enforcing-its-own?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3064708/us-endangering-peace-south-china-sea-enforcing-its-own?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2020 03:00:12 +0000