https://www.scmp.com/rss/516754/feed Azhar Azam is a columnist who writes on geopolitical issues and regional conflicts. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Britain has officially become the 12th economy to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as part of its efforts to build post-Brexit relations, but how much will it boost the UK economy? The CPTPP, which also includes Australia, Canada and Japan, is the successor to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, cobbled together after the US withdrew from the pact in 2017. Britain is the first non-founding member and the first European country to join the free... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3292775/after-britain-will-china-be-next-join-cptpp-free-trade-pact?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3292775/after-britain-will-china-be-next-join-cptpp-free-trade-pact?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Dec 2024 08:30:08 +0000 US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, on a call with her Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao this month, conveyed American concerns about decreasing regulatory transparency in China, non-market policies and practices and structural overcapacity in industrial sectors, while reiterating that the US’ “small yard, high fence” approach aims to safeguard national security in as targeted a manner as possible. Unlike in January, the US Commerce Department readout this time did not mention that US policy... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3282383/how-us-china-tariffs-could-hurt-american-national-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3282383/how-us-china-tariffs-could-hurt-american-national-security?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Oct 2024 12:30:08 +0000 In what was outgoing Vietnamese President To Lam’s first international trip since his appointment as the Communist Party of Vietnam’s general secretary, Beijing and Hanoi signed 14 deals, from cross-border railways to crocodile exports. Lam characterised bilateral ties with China as a “top priority” and described his trip as “the affirmation of the Party and the Vietnamese government to value the relation[ship] with China”. The joint statement said the two ruling parties were carrying out a... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3276537/vietnams-bamboo-diplomacy-paying-least-now?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3276537/vietnams-bamboo-diplomacy-paying-least-now?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Aug 2024 21:30:09 +0000 Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement that the EU is to launch an anti-subsidy investigation into China-made electric vehicles (EVs), in her last annual State of the Union address as European Commission president, will have wide implications for the European Union economy, consumers and climate change goals. Seen as a pitch for her reappointment, however, the probe rebuts her own assertion that the EV industry is crucial for the clean economy. This is because, if import tariffs are imposed as a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3235750/eu-must-see-tariffs-aimed-china-made-evs-will-hit-europe-too?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3235750/eu-must-see-tariffs-aimed-china-made-evs-will-hit-europe-too?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:30:10 +0000