You can’t understand the world without understanding China. No country has had a less predictable, more dynamic impact on the world in the past 40 years — and the next 40 will be no different.
After Japan announced its intention to discharge built-up wastewater from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, China was joined by South Korea and Taiwan in protest. The U.S. and the International Atomic Energy Agency said the plan met safety standards.
After the Trump administration beefed up U.S.-Taiwan ties, the Biden administration has continued to more actively embrace Taiwan. Some figures in foreign policy are calling for unambiguous support for Taiwan, but others say that a significant change from “strategic ambiguity" could trigger a Chinese invasion.
The U.S. and China continue to express mutual distrust or even disdain on many issues today, but tackling climate change could be an area of healthy competition, or even policy coordination.
China and the Philippines are engaged in a diplomatic feud after hundreds of Chinese fishing vessels, which the Philippines called an unofficial “maritime militia,” anchored around a disputed reef.
Contracts for Chinese overseas lending tend to have “unusually broad confidentiality clauses” and require priority repayment to lenders, a new study has found. The strings attached to China’s loans complicate international debt negotiations during the pandemic.
After the WHO released a report that raised more questions than answers about the origins of COVID-19, Beijing pushed back against accusations that it had interfered in the inquiry. The Chinese Foreign Ministry then suggested that the Fort Detrick biological lab in the U.S. should be investigated next.
China will reportedly receive a steady supply of oil from Iran in exchange for large multi-sector investments in the Iranian economy. The deal is the latest move by Beijing to increase its influence in the Middle East.
After the U.K. joined the EU, U.S., and Canada early this week in coordinated sanctions and condemnation over China’s abuses in Xinjiang, Beijing issued counter-sanctions on nine British individuals and four entities.
Beijing wants to play a bigger role in the Middle East and the region’s complicated geopolitics. It’s not just about oil: Saudi Arabia, for example, is supplying China with not just energy security, but also political cover for its policies in Xinjiang.
The Chinese and Russian foreign ministers condemned Western nations for “politicizing human rights issues” with sanctions. Beijing separately lashed out at “the West,” accusing at least half a dozen nations of hypocrisy and saying they had no right to lecture China.