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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

Zheng Yongnian on what US’ ‘neocolonialism’, Venezuela operation mean for China

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

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

Zheng Yongnian on what US’ ‘neocolonialism’, Venezuela operation mean for China

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15
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

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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
MORE FROM THIS SERIES
A driver pushes his auto rickshaw to get compressed natural gas at a filling station in Peshawar, Pakistan, as the government reduces the station’s working hours to save energy on March 18. Photo: AP
United States

Opinion | Fixing US branding woes starts with rebuilding trust Trump has damaged

Lavishly funded celebrations will not fly in Asian countries struggling to get by and increasingly sceptical of Trump’s America.

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India

India turns to ‘trusted friend’ Russia for oil supply as Iran war energises ties

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US, Israel war on Iran

US arrests niece and grandniece of slain Iran general Qassem Soleimani

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Ukraine war

Ukraine and Russia trade fatal strikes as Zelensky travels to Turkey

The war began in February 2022 after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine.

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Firefighters work at a market hit by a Russian drone strike in Nikopol, Ukraine, on Saturday. Photo: Handout via Reuters
South Korea

Softly, softly: why South Korea, France prefer diplomacy over force in Hormuz

Presidents Lee and Macron have agreed to cooperate on safety in the strait but they are likely to wade in only after the war, analysts say.

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China-Australia relations

Australia’s 180-degree shift from 5 years ago: China in favour; US out

Aussie comedian exposes the truth about nation’s feelings towards US president, democracy and public safety.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Trump seeks US$1.5 trillion for defence in new budget request amid Iran war

If enacted, it would set military spending at its highest level in modern history, underscoring the US’ ongoing focus on defence investment.

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US President Donald Trump announces the US Navy’s “Golden Fleet” battleship programme at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, in December 2025. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS
US, Israel war on Iran

Iran war: French and Japanese-owned ships make first Hormuz crossings

France and Japan have called for a ceasefire in the conflict, with Macron saying the waterway can only be reopened when the bombing stops.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | How America’s stumble in Iran upends East Asia’s security calculus

A region where US allies lose faith in Washington won’t necessarily embrace Beijing; it is a region more likely to reach for its own guns.

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US-China relations

Opinion | 3 reasons Xi-Trump summit won’t be a waste of time for China

Despite current tensions and dim prospects for meaningful progress, Beijing should still roll out the red carpet.

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US President Donald Trump, left, and President Xi Jinping pose for a photo at the Forbidden City in Beijing on November 8, 2017. Photo: AFP
US-China relations

Beijing hails US cooperation as ICE returns suspected drug smuggler to China

With Xi and Trump set to meet next month, Beijing says handoff signals ‘progress in bilateral counternarcotics law enforcement’.

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A drug smuggling suspect was returned to China by US ICE via cooperation channels between the two countries, Chinese state media says. Photo: AP
US, Israel war on Iran

Immediate reopening of Strait of Hormuz demanded at 40-nation talks

Iran is trying to hold the global economy hostage via its blockade of the waterway, said the UK’s foreign minister, who hosted the meeting.

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US, Israel war on Iran

What will the US do next in its war on Iran? Chinese pundits point to a likely path

With no truce in sight, American forces might be preparing for a short, sharp option, analysts say.

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Middle East

Macron says military operation to ‘liberate’ Strait of Hormuz ‘unrealistic’

Such an operation would take excessive time and expose those crossing the strait to ‘coastal threats’.

French President Emmanuel Macron leaves Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea on Thursday. Photo: via Reuters
War and conflict

Opinion | Iran war is changing East Asia’s energy and strategic plays

States like China and Russia that can provide energy, industrial inputs, strategic reassurance or room for manoeuvre are gaining weight.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Emmanuel Macron

Video | Macron and Takaichi do the ‘Kamehameha’

The two leaders struck a ‘Kamehameha’ pose from the popular Dragon Ball anime series.

Asean

How Asean’s neutral stance in Iran war protects its energy security

Granting Southeast Asian vessels safe passage through the strait allows Iran to come across as a diplomatic good guy, analysts say.

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Japan

Why Japan’s advanced fighter project may get Canadian tailwinds

With Ottawa’s interest in the stealth fighter, Tokyo hopes the multinational project for its air force’s modernisation can regain momentum.

A concept design of the Global Combat Air Programme sixth-generation fighter jet displayed at the 2024 Farnborough International Air Show. Photo: AFP
US-China relations

China targeted in US birthright citizenship debate, but court justices sceptical

China benefiting from ‘birth tourism industry’, top litigator claims, with Trump in attendance – a historic first for a sitting president.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Iran’s president sends message to Americans in open letter

Some see the move as Tehran’s bid to convince the US public that the war is wrong and thus indirectly force a ceasefire.

Ukraine war

Russia says it has taken full control of Ukraine’s Luhansk region

A small sliver of land in the area has remained beyond Moscow’s reach since 2022, and Kyiv denies that the situation has changed.

Russian soldiers fire a grenade launcher towards Ukrainian positions in an image released on Tuesday. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry Press Service via AP
China-Latin America relations

Brazil exporters bypass local banks to tap China’s US$1 trillion Sinosure fund

As Brazilian interest rates price out local lenders, Sinosure is quietly reshaping how Chinese goods reach the market.

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Brazilian importers buying from China are turning to the state-owned Chinese credit insurer, Sinosure, to sustain trade flows that reached US$158 billion in 2024. Photo: Shutterstock
US, Israel war on Iran

How Trump could reframe US goals in the Iran war to justify finishing it

But America’s differences with Israel over the conflict’s endgame could hinder a swift exit, Chinese analysts say.

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China-Canada relations

Canada’s finance minister visits China as both countries seek to bolster ties

Francois-Philippe Champagne’s four-day trip comes close on the heels of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Beijing in January.

The Philippines

‘Matter of survival’: Philippines seeks safe Hormuz passage for vessels

Philippine and Iranian officials met on Wednesday to discuss ‘key avenues for cooperation’, amid Tehran’s blockade of the strait.

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Oil tankers and ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, on March 11. Photo: AP
Taiwan

Opinion | What the Iran war reveals about Nato’s appetite for conflict over Taiwan

Resistance to a war started without European consent makes clear the alliance’s limits. The US can’t count on Nato support for a war in Asia.

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Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte meeting US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 21. Photo: AFP
Japan

Japan, France to draw road map for supply of critical minerals

It aims to lower their high dependency on China, which mines about 70 per cent of the world’s supply and refines some 90 per cent.

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Indonesia

Indonesian peacekeepers’ deaths spur calls for Middle East exit plan

Lawmakers want Indonesia to pressure Israel for answers and urge Jakarta to rethink its Lebanon and Gaza peacekeeping mission.

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