https://www.scmp.com/rss/522589/feed Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a prominent London-based independent policy institute. Its primary mission is to help build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world. The institute conducts rigorous research and analysis on international affairs, fostering informed debate through numerous events and publications like *International Affairs*. Key areas of focus include global economy, security, and regional studies. Renowned for originating the... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Tom Hussain Tom Hussain The Gulf’s six Arab monarchies, battered by Iranian drones and missiles because of a war they never wanted, are watching with trepidation to see what Pakistan-hosted US-Iran negotiations will yield for their collective future. After China and Russia vetoed the Gulf Cooperation Council’s bid to attain UN Security Council approval for “defensive” measures to force open the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, analysts say the GCC states have little sway over what is about to transpire in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3349655/us-iran-talks-leave-gulf-states-edge-about-price-peace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3349655/us-iran-talks-leave-gulf-states-edge-about-price-peace?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:00:18 +0000 Cao Jiaxuan Cao Jiaxuan China and the United States are trying to navigate their differences to ensure that they maintain a basic level of stability in their relationship, an academic conference in Beijing heard last week. At the forum held by Tsinghua University in Beijing on Friday, academics and former officials discussed the need to prevent open confrontation. US President Donald Trump’s planned visit – now postponed for “five or six weeks” as he focuses on his war with Iran – was seen as a key opportunity by many... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3347855/are-us-and-china-looking-minimum-stability-after-going-through-rough-patch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3347855/are-us-and-china-looking-minimum-stability-after-going-through-rough-patch?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 10:00:19 +0000 Shi Jiangtao Shi Jiangtao For decades, the US security umbrella was the bedrock underpinning the Gulf states’ prosperity and stability. Today, Iranian missiles and drones have paralysed the Strait of Hormuz and hit civilian airports, ports, hotels and refineries across every Gulf country, despite thousands of American troops and advanced interceptors on the ground. The armed conflict has forced the region to confront a stark new reality. A Chinese scholar argued that the US-Israel war on Iran and ensuing Hormuz crisis... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3347189/severely-damaged-how-us-israel-war-iran-decoupling-gulf-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3347189/severely-damaged-how-us-israel-war-iran-decoupling-gulf-security?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Mar 2026 14:00:09 +0000 Dewey Sim Dewey Sim Iran is unlikely to dominate the agenda at this year’s national legislative sessions but it is likely to feature in policy discussions, according to observers. Analysts said the Middle East turmoil could prompt a broader rethink in some policy areas in Beijing, including a reassessment of its Middle East strategy and how it can safeguard its expanding overseas interests. The “two sessions”, the annual meetings of China’s top legislature and political advisory body, get under way this week, with... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345295/will-iran-crisis-feature-foreign-policy-talks-chinas-two-sessions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345295/will-iran-crisis-feature-foreign-policy-talks-chinas-two-sessions?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2026 13:00:07 +0000 Alyssa Chen Alyssa Chen The joint US-Israel strikes on Iran, which have plunged the Middle East into deeper turmoil, have received qualified support from some countries and condemnation from others. China – which confirmed the death of one Chinese national in Iran and the evacuation of its 3,000 citizens from the country – partnered with Russia on Saturday to hold an emergency session of the UN Security Council and condemned the military action. In a call on Monday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, China’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345253/whats-behind-chinas-careful-response-its-ally-iran-after-us-israel-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345253/whats-behind-chinas-careful-response-its-ally-iran-after-us-israel-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2026 07:36:38 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Central Asia has long been someone else’s crossroads. Squeezed between an overbearing Russia to the north and an increasingly unstable Iran to the west, the region’s landlocked ex-Soviet republics have settled on a different solution: send railways south, through Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, all the way to the Arabian Sea. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan – Central Asia’s two largest economies – have in recent months struck preliminary multilateral agreements for the construction of two... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3344798/central-asias-plan-bypass-russia-and-iran-railways-through-afghanistan-and-pakistan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3344798/central-asias-plan-bypass-russia-and-iran-railways-through-afghanistan-and-pakistan?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2026 02:00:14 +0000 Shi Jiangtao Shi Jiangtao In an era of ruptured global order, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s much-anticipated visit to China, scheduled for later this week, marks the culmination of London’s “re-engagement” strategy with Beijing, prioritising trade and growth amid escalating geopolitical risks, according to observers. The Chinese foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that Starmer would visit Beijing and Shanghai between January 28 and 31. Starmer’s government had expressed its desire for a stable and strategic... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3341324/keir-starmers-china-trip-test-labours-push-reset-bilateral-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3341324/keir-starmers-china-trip-test-labours-push-reset-bilateral-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jan 2026 04:00:13 +0000 David Dodwell David Dodwell It is almost eight years since US President Donald Trump first declared that “trade wars are good, and easy to win”. How much longer will it take him and his tariff hawks to eat those words, and acknowledge the crass economic illiteracy of that conviction? How high a price must everyone pay – in particular, US consumers – before he calls off his tariff war? As America’s Christmas shopping season gets into full swing, typically accounting for around one third of US retailers’ annual profits, the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3336113/us-christmas-shoppers-are-paying-high-price-trumps-tariffs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3336113/us-christmas-shoppers-are-paying-high-price-trumps-tariffs?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Dec 2025 08:30:09 +0000 Dewey Sim Dewey Sim When US President Donald Trump was about to begin his closely watched summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping last month, he wrote a social media post that revived a decades-old concept about the dynamics between the two countries and their role in global affairs. “The G2 will be convening shortly,” he wrote – in all caps – ahead of the talks. The term “G2”, or Group of Two, emerged in the 2000s as a proposal for Washington and Beijing to work together to address global challenges. Over... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3332527/why-donald-trumps-g2-label-prompts-tepid-response-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3332527/why-donald-trumps-g2-label-prompts-tepid-response-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Nov 2025 22:00:20 +0000 Mia Nurmamat Mia Nurmamat In 2003, a decade after the humiliation of the Yinhe incident – when a Chinese container ship was left stranded for weeks after the United States jammed its Global Positioning System (GPS) – Beijing set its sights on bypassing the American satellite network. At first, it turned to the European Union, pledging €230 million (then US$260 million) to join the Galileo project, an independent satellite navigation system designed to reduce Europe’s reliance on GPS. But the partnership did not last.... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3332333/china-has-big-ambitions-space-and-arctic-should-west-be-worried?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3332333/china-has-big-ambitions-space-and-arctic-should-west-be-worried?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Nov 2025 22:00:14 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain The shortest Silk Route between China and Europe is set to reopen for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, following last Friday’s agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan to end the conflict that had been blocking the way. Ironically, the obstacle was cleared by China’s nemesis, United States President Donald Trump: his administration’s involvement was key to pushing the framework peace deal across the finishing line. Shoehorned last minute into negotiations by Azerbaijan’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3321800/revived-silk-route-allows-us-steam-ahead-china-russia-south-caucasus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3321800/revived-silk-route-allows-us-steam-ahead-china-russia-south-caucasus?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Aug 2025 04:12:37 +0000