https://www.scmp.com/rss/510978/feed Adriel Kasonta is a London-based political risk consultant and lawyer, and a graduate of London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Adriel Kasonta Adriel Kasonta When Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in Beijing this week, just days after US President Donald Trump departed, following his summit with President Xi Jinping, the choreography will not be merely diplomatic. It will be show of “civilisational theatre”. For years, analysts framed China as a power caught awkwardly between a revanchist Russia and an increasingly hostile United States. That interpretation now looks obsolete. Beijing is no longer balancing between rival poles; it is... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3353855/how-china-becoming-gravitational-centre-global-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3353855/how-china-becoming-gravitational-centre-global-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 May 2026 21:30:05 +0000 Adriel Kasonta Adriel Kasonta When the General Debate of the UN General Assembly’s 80th session opened on September 23, the cavernous hall in New York was once again filled with the familiar spectacle: heads of state taking the rostrum, diplomats scribbling notes and the global press parsing every phrase. But this year’s theme – “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights” – rang painfully hollow. As delegates extolled cooperation, the world outside the glass walls at Turtle Bay seemed... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3326635/why-chinas-global-initiatives-represent-reform-un-needs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3326635/why-chinas-global-initiatives-represent-reform-un-needs?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Sep 2025 21:30:09 +0000 In a move that has sent shockwaves through the automotive industry and could have far-reaching economic repercussions, the European Commission has decided to impose hefty tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) imported from China. This decision follows an investigation initiated last October into whether Chinese EV manufacturers benefited from unfair government subsidies. The European Commission announced it will impose additional tariffs ranging from 17.4 per cent to 38.1 per cent, on top of the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3266861/eu-should-exercise-strategic-autonomy-rethinking-china-tariffs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3266861/eu-should-exercise-strategic-autonomy-rethinking-china-tariffs?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Jun 2024 12:30:10 +0000 Recently, the eyes of the world turned to the ancient city of Samarkand, located in a large oasis in Uzbekistan’s Zerrafshan River valley. This was the venue for the first Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in three years to be held entirely offline, bringing together the leaders of 14 major Eurasian countries. Established in 2001 by China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the SCO has grown to become the world’s largest regional organisation, spanning 60 per... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3194269/how-scos-growing-credibility-reflects-emerging-multipolar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3194269/how-scos-growing-credibility-reflects-emerging-multipolar?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Oct 2022 22:45:12 +0000 Although the representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have been hosted by a US president before – by Barack Obama at Sunnylands in California in 2016 – this month marks the first time in the association’s 55-year history that its leaders have been invited to the White House. The US-Asean special summit held on May 12 and 13 in Washington can therefore be described as a historic event. It gave US President Joe Biden the opportunity to meet his guests’ economic and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3178893/asean-and-indo-pacific-us-must-remember-asians-live-trade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3178893/asean-and-indo-pacific-us-must-remember-asians-live-trade?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 May 2022 14:00:22 +0000 Strategically located in South Asia, Pakistan has played an important role in global geopolitics since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. Yet, having been predominantly ruled by the military, which has been involved in toppling three civilian governments, Pakistan has never had the best of luck with its prime ministers – not one has finished their entire term of office. This time has been no different. Imran Khan lost a no-confidence vote earlier this month, put in motion by an... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3174805/pakistan-faces-uncertain-future-khans-ousting-paves-way-return?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3174805/pakistan-faces-uncertain-future-khans-ousting-paves-way-return?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Apr 2022 01:15:11 +0000 When it comes to climate change, there should be no excuses. The ongoing negligence and lack of decisive steps from governments and politicians should be identified or even penalised if proper action is not taken to avert the destruction of our planet. We are not talking about hypothetical delusions, such as the threat of being invaded by aliens, but the actual consequences of our own unrestrained consumerism that are literally set to kill us. Sadly, the neoliberal set at the COP26 climate... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3156930/after-cop26-heres-how-us-and-china-can-show-real-leadership-climate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3156930/after-cop26-heres-how-us-and-china-can-show-real-leadership-climate?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Nov 2021 22:45:21 +0000 The rise of China – or perhaps its awakening from a long sleep – has shaken the world, evoking the line popularly attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte. The current dilemma facing world leaders is unavoidable. It appears to come with a bag of mixed blessings, especially during an era of intensified competition between China and the United States. This certainly applies to the United Kingdom. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government are struggling to find a balance between Britain’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3154048/why-britain-must-stop-seeing-china-threat-secure-its-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3154048/why-britain-must-stop-seeing-china-threat-secure-its-future?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Oct 2021 17:30:23 +0000 In January 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic disrupted lives worldwide and significantly affected global economic growth, the US, under president Donald Trump, signed a “phase one” trade agreement with China. The result was partial containment of a fierce trade struggle between the world’s two largest economies. Beijing agreed to buy at least US$200 billion more in US goods and services in 2020 and 2021, compared to 2017 levels, and on top of the US export numbers in the same year. In... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3152227/us-china-trade-war-when-will-biden-white-house-get-back-basic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3152227/us-china-trade-war-when-will-biden-white-house-get-back-basic?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Oct 2021 19:30:22 +0000