https://www.scmp.com/rss/525584/feed Nayan Seth is a Washington-based multimedia journalist and policy research analyst with previous professional experience in China and India. He covers US-China-India relations and US foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Nayan Seth,Fan Chen Nayan Seth,Fan Chen The global energy crisis stemming from the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has added complexity to already competitive China-India maritime relations. The bottleneck in the Gulf has disrupted the provision of vital supplies of oil, gas and fertilisers to Asia, underscoring the fragility of global supply chains and the significance of trade chokepoints. Amid uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz’s reopening, India’s US$10 billion plan to transform remote Great Nicobar Island into a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3355108/what-indias-unsinkable-aircraft-carrier-project-near-malacca-means-its-china-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3355108/what-indias-unsinkable-aircraft-carrier-project-near-malacca-means-its-china-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 May 2026 03:10:50 +0000 Nayan Seth Nayan Seth Against the backdrop of ceremonial grandeur at the Great Hall of the People on Thursday, US President Donald Trump leaned on centuries of shared history to set the stage for the future of China-US relations. In his state banquet address capping a long day of talks, tourism and toasts, Trump blended calculated callbacks with personal touches – carefully crafted to appeal to the hosts, including President Xi Jinping. He framed the relationship as “one of the most consequential” in world history,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3353636/confucius-tsinghua-trump-invokes-history-anchor-china-us-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3353636/confucius-tsinghua-trump-invokes-history-anchor-china-us-future?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 May 2026 03:16:04 +0000 Nayan Seth Nayan Seth Even before US President Donald Trump touched down in Beijing on Wednesday, the first act of the China-US summit was playing out in the skies above the Chinese capital. Hundreds of professional photographers and residents lined up across various points near Beijing Capital International Airport to capture one of the most recognisable symbols of the American presidency – Air Force One. Within minutes of its appearance, Chinese social media was flooded with videos and photos of the aircraft’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3353494/flying-white-house-trumps-air-force-one-fuels-fascination-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3353494/flying-white-house-trumps-air-force-one-fuels-fascination-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 May 2026 03:22:38 +0000 Nayan Seth Nayan Seth US President Donald Trump departed for a three-day state visit to China on Tuesday without first lady Melania Trump, travelling instead with Cabinet officials and business executives in a delegation that contrasts sharply with the pageantry of his 2017 visit. Hours before his departure, the office of the first lady confirmed Melania’s no-show in an email response to the South China Morning Post. “First lady Melania Trump is not travelling this time,” a spokesperson said. The confirmation comes a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3353328/us-first-lady-not-travelling-china-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3353328/us-first-lady-not-travelling-china-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 May 2026 17:16:45 +0000 Nayan Seth,William Zheng Nayan Seth,William Zheng Brett Ratner, director of the documentary Melania and the Rush Hour franchise, is travelling to China as part of US President Donald Trump’s delegation, sources familiar with the filmmaker’s plans have told the South China Morning Post. During the three-day trip, which begins on Wednesday, Ratner intends to advance preparations for the action-comedy franchise’s latest sequel, Rush Hour 4, including meetings with crew members, actors and potential Chinese film distribution partners. He is also... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3353296/melania-rush-hour-director-returns-china-trumps-delegation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3353296/melania-rush-hour-director-returns-china-trumps-delegation?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 May 2026 11:30:04 +0000 Nayan Seth Nayan Seth Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s diplomatic balancing act during his visit to China last month marked a sharp contrast with a European Union grappling with geopolitical upheaval and economic stagnation. Sanchez pushed for closer ties with Beijing while raising concerns over a persistent bilateral trade deficit and the Ukraine war, an approach that analysts said could serve as a diplomatic template for Brussels amid its fraying relationship with Washington. According to Wang Hanyi, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3353031/could-spains-compliment-sandwich-approach-china-work-eu?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3353031/could-spains-compliment-sandwich-approach-china-work-eu?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 May 2026 09:00:05 +0000 Nayan Seth Nayan Seth Ahead of US President Donald Trump’s grand entry to Beijing on May 14, his cavalcade is already on the move in the Chinese capital. Two black SUVs with tinted windows and US government plates were spotted on a Beijing highway, according to images that circulated on Wednesday, signalling the start of an intense security build-up for the year’s most significant diplomatic event – the China-US summit. Chinese social media is full of the images showing heavily armoured US Secret Service Suburban... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352682/has-beast-arrived-beijing-trumps-motorcade-suvs-spotted-visit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352682/has-beast-arrived-beijing-trumps-motorcade-suvs-spotted-visit?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 May 2026 01:28:33 +0000 Nayan Seth Nayan Seth In December 2010, on the final day of his three-day India visit, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao offered a metaphorical vision for bilateral ties, suggesting that “the dragon and the elephant should tango”. The analogy – dragon for China, elephant for India – had already circulated in Western academic and media circles as a comparative frame. With Wen’s remark, it formally entered China’s diplomatic lexicon. Over the past 15 years, through cycles of border tensions and uneasy resets, China’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352233/why-does-china-portray-india-elephant-decoding-politics-animal-analogy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352233/why-does-china-portray-india-elephant-decoding-politics-animal-analogy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 May 2026 04:00:24 +0000 Nayan Seth Nayan Seth Chinese social media reacted with amusement and disbelief as Britain’s King Charles gave US President Donald Trump a World War II-era British submarine bell as a gift, highlighting differing cultural interpretations of the unusual gesture. “Gifting a bell isn’t a big deal in Western culture – but it’s quite amusing, as far as we’re concerned!” a user on Chinese social media wrote. On Tuesday, during his state visit to the United States, King Charles presented Trump with the original brass bell... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352000/why-king-charles-trump-bell-gift-amuses-chinese-internet-users?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352000/why-king-charles-trump-bell-gift-amuses-chinese-internet-users?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Apr 2026 08:23:53 +0000 Nayan Seth Nayan Seth Washington’s reported plan to have embassies team up with the American military’s “psyops” department to boost the US’ image could backfire and actually damage the country’s credibility, according to analysts. The strategy amounts to using “propaganda to fight the truth”, according to Tad Stoermer, a historian and former lecturer at Johns Hopkins University. Amid slipping global approval, the US is looking to employ shadowy tactics that it previously condemned. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351023/washingtons-psyop-propaganda-push-could-backfire-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351023/washingtons-psyop-propaganda-push-could-backfire-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:00:09 +0000