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Diplomacy

Diplomacy
Latest news, features and analysis on global diplomatic relations, with a focus on China’s international ties – especially with the US, its Asian neighbours and the European Union.
Open Questions series

Liu Qian on Chinese innovation, the US rivalry and women holding up half the sky

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Garcia

Fuchsia Dunlop tells how she fell for China’s cuisine and names her perfect dish

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Mitter

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

‘Delusional’: Jeffrey Sachs on why Western hegemony has ended

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Illustration: Henry Wong

Scholar Jing Qian on right-sizing China’s economy in the age of Trump

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

US-China rivalry doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game: Jessica Chen Weiss

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Liu Qian on Chinese innovation, the US rivalry and women holding up half the sky

7
Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Garcia

Fuchsia Dunlop tells how she fell for China’s cuisine and names her perfect dish

videocam
5
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Mitter

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18
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

‘Delusional’: Jeffrey Sachs on why Western hegemony has ended

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93
Illustration: Henry Wong

Scholar Jing Qian on right-sizing China’s economy in the age of Trump

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40
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

US-China rivalry doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game: Jessica Chen Weiss

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez
MORE FROM THIS SERIES
The vast mining district of Bayan Obo in Inner Mongolia holds 36 per cent of the world’s light rare-earth reserves. Photo: VCG via Getty Images
Science

Why China’s growing demand for rare-earth steel is bad news for America’s F-35

Advanced product is used in huge infrastructure projects but that has further reduced supply for overseas buyers like the US defence sector.

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US-China relations

Opinion | US global retreat shows Japan’s folly in defying China

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Japan

Japan’s retreat from global health funding hands China diplomatic opening

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Thailand

Thailand considers blocking fuel exports to Cambodia as conflict escalates

Thailand last year exported 2.2 billion litres of fuel to Cambodia, according to the energy ministry’s data.

People take refuge in Wat Prasat Srahkandal, Banteay Menchey province, Cambodia on Sunday, after fleeing their homes following fighting along the Thailand-Cambodia border. Photo: AP
US-China relations

Opinion | US is rewriting its China policy under national security strategy

For Beijing, that means less theatrical confrontation in Asia but more potential contestation in Latin America, supply chains and technology.

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Thailand

Thailand confirms first civilian killed in week of Cambodia fighting

The latest killing comes a day after Bangkok denied Trump’s claim that a truce had been agreed between the Southeast Asian neighbours.

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US-Asean relations

Southeast Asia barely features in America’s new security strategy

The region appears just twice in the new 32-page US National Security Strategy, raising fears it is being relegated to a ‘bargaining chip’.

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US President Donald Trump is pictured next to Malaysian flags before departing Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Air Force One in October. Photo: AFP
Ukraine war

Europe fears hidden Russian threat in Trump-backed Ukraine peace plan

Europe worries a US plan for a demilitarised zone in the Donbas region may help Moscow to reinvade Kyiv.

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The Philippines

Asian Angle | Is the new Philippines-Germany defence pact built to last?

Rising anxieties over Beijing and Moscow have united Berlin and Manila in an axis that must now be institutionalised to ensure it endures.

European Union

Belarus agrees to stop balloon flights into Lithuania amid hybrid attack fears

The incidents have caused over a dozen closures of Vilnius airport in recent months, prompting Lithuania to declare a state of emergency.

An undated image shows an officer inspecting a balloon used to smuggle cigarettes into Lithuania. Photo: State Border Guard Service via AP
Donald Trump

Syria’s year of ‘epic’ transformation earns it Trump’s protection

Washington is lifting sanctions and has rebuked Israel for its attacks, as the US throws its weight behind Ahmed al-Sharaa’s administration.

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US President Donald Trump (left) shakes hands with Syria’s President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House in Washington last month. Photo: AP
North Korea

North Korea’s Kim reveals soldiers cleared mines for Russia

The North Korean leader hailed returning troops for displaying ‘mass heroism’ during demining operations in the Kursk region.

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Japan

Opinion | From Singapore to Taiwan, Japan must face its past for Asia’s future

Lasting peace in Asia demands that Tokyo abandons its historical revisionism and refusal to acknowledge past crimes.

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Science

US green tech retreat echoes mistake of China’s Qing dynasty before collapse

While Washington pulls back on climate, Beijing is making it possible for developing nations to leapfrog into a cleaner energy era.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
War and conflict

Opinion | Only true repentance from Japan can resolve East Asia’s ‘memory wars’

It is important that Japan, China and South Korea collectively reckon with the legacy of military aggression and wartime atrocities.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Ukraine war

EU indefinitely freezes Russian assets so they can be used to help Ukraine

Hungarian PM Orban, a Putin ally, accused the European Commission, which prepared the decision, ‘of systematically raping European law’.

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China-EU relations

EU fears China’s role in Russia’s war on Ukraine is deepening

Multiple sources confirm increase in Beijing backing before China-Russia ties are discussed by ministers from the EU’s 27 members on Monday.

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Thailand

Cambodia suspends all border crossings with Thailand amid more clashes

Both nations reported attacks on Saturday, the day after US President Donald Trump claimed they had agreed to renew a truce.

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People wait to receive supplies on Saturday at a refugee camp in Banteay Meanchey province in Cambodia amid border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. Photo: Reuters
China-EU relations

EU targets China’s Shein and Temu with new fees on low-value parcels

Tariffs’ impact may be limited given the Chinese e-commerce companies’ extensive warehouse and logistics networks across Europe.

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China's economic recovery

Beijing digs in for trade ‘struggles’, eyes strategy of growth and resilience

Analysts see leadership’s language after central economic work conference as an admission that trade tensions are expected to endure.

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Indonesia

Indonesia weighs costs of closer Russia engagement after Prabowo’s Moscow visit

Analysts said Putin’s offers may align with Jakarta’s ambitions but would carry diplomatic costs and the risk of sanctions from Washington.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto ahead of their meeting at the Kremlin on Wednesday. Photo: dpa
Australia

Why US review of Aukus submarine deal for Australia is kept secret

One reason is to maintain public support for the alliance by preventing any shortfalls of the deal from being made known, analysts say.

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(Left to right) US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles and UK Defence Secretary John Healey speaking to the media following their meeting to discuss Aukus in Washington on Wednesday. Photo: AFP
Japan

Letters | Japan overplayed its hand at the table of great powers

Readers discuss the broader implications of Tokyo’s miscalculation, Hong Kong’s entry requirements for native English-speaking teachers, and whether anything could have been done differently in Tai Po.

China trade

China’s food-security push to slash soy imports by two-thirds: Goldman Sachs

Beijing is lowering feed content and making related advancements that analysts say could reduce China’s foreign-soybean dependence dramatically within a decade.

India

Are India and Bangladesh sidestepping Hasina’s exile to improve frayed ties?

A national security bilateral meeting and Narendra Modi’s message of support for Khaleda Zia signal that ties are on the mend.

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Bangladesh’s then prime minister Sheikh Hasina speaking to the media in Dhaka in early 2024. She has been sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity by a Bangladeshi court. Photo: AFP
China-India relations

Trump, Modi have ‘warm’ phone call – but 2025 unlikely to end with a trade deal

Even after calls for India to contribute more in the Indo-Pacific to counter China and deepen defence ties, Trump refuses to budge on trade concessions.

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US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed a friendly phone call on Thursday, but a trade deal between the two countries is still some way off. Photo: AP
Pakistan

Opinion | How Pakistan’s rising confidence could shape a cooperative South Asia

If Gulf investment, Chinese strategic interest and Pakistani willingness align, the region could shift from confrontation to collaboration.

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Americas and the Caribbean

Tanker seized off Venezuela to be taken to US port, as threat of war grows

White House justifies targeting ‘black-market oil’ as Russia expresses support for its ally, Nicolas Maduro.

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