AIDAN M. SMITH-FAGEN WRITES — Last month, both America and China released government reports on each other’s human rights failures. Although nothing in the reports is wholly unexpected, given the tense US-China summit last month, the two documents provide insight into the struggle for global diplomatic credibility between the two…
Full Article CHINA VERSUS U.S.: HUMAN RIGHTS, NATIONAL SLIGHTS
TOM PLATE WRITES — The future is not always all that tough to predict: “Should both Pacific powers remain frozen in stereotype, high-level diplomacy may yield next to nothing, or worse”. That was my fearless view last month. It remains the view today in the aftermath of the Alaska summit where…
Full Article ALASKA SUMMIT: US AND CHINA MUST RETHINK THEIR DIPLOMACY
MANAGING EDITOR ZHI JIAO DANIELLE GOH WRITES — Anyone who still had a tiny bit of hope for a positive change in the approach towards U.S. – China relations under the Biden administration would lose faith after watching the U.S./China talks in Alaska. The meeting this week in Anchorage was…
Full Article CHINA: A LOT OF HEAT BUT LITTLE WARMTH AT THE U.S./CHINA ALASKA SUMMIT
TOM PLATE WRITES — America must understand that China is different, emphasised the late Lee Kuan Yew when some 25 years ago I asked Singapore’s iconic modern founder whether my new newspaper column on Asia, then in the Los Angeles Times, might possibly do some good. His counsel was to…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: COLD WAR CONTAINMENT OBSESSION MUST BE DITCHED
HEATHER CREAMER WRITES — While Chinese-based social media app Tik Tok is changing the social media landscape, world leaders are growing concerned about the effect it may have on national security. Even as the app was under almost constant threats of banishment by the former U.S. president due to the…
Full Article CHINA: IS TIK TOK AN INNOVATIVE SOCIAL MEDIA APP OR A GLOBAL SECURITY THREAT?
CLAIRE GUTE WRITES — While our country rings in a new era with the election of President Biden, he has yet to travel abroad on any diplomatic trips, and it is unlikely that such a trip will occur in the coming months due to COVID-19. In 2019, the United States and…
Full Article SINO-U.S. RELATIONS: REMEMBERING U.S. PRESIDENTS’ DIPLOMATIC TRIPS TO CHINA
TOM PLATE WRITES — The late George Kennan became a diplomatic legend for advocating, while stationed in Moscow, a singular foreign policy idea that famously worked. It was called “containment”. Its steadfast observance by the US and its allies undoubtedly helped lead to the welcome collapse of the Soviet Union.…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: POINTILLISM IS THE WAY TO GO
TOM PLATE WRITES – The first major American post-election-result return is being able to feel that the ground under your feet isn’t always shaking and your head isn’t always aching. Yes, US President Joe Biden is doing that for us, especially in this early wave of foreign-policy appointments. He is…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: WILL BIDEN REIN IN AMERICA’S DEBILITATING DELUSIONS OF MORAL SUPERIORITY?
ABOUT THE EVENT China Studies Forum 3 Date: Thursday, February 4, 2021 Time: 7 pm – 8.30 pm PT Zoom Link: https://lmula.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwuf-uvrDkiH9Pc3jBI64b4cbOcmlhgC-Zy Flyer credited to Professor Li Yu, who is in charge of the Chinese Language Program at Loyola Marymount University’s Modern Languages & Literatures department. +1
Full Article UPCOMING EVENT: CHINA STUDIES FORUM 3
KISHORE MAHBUBANI WRITES — “Ask not what America can do for you! Ask rather what you can do for America.” If US President Joe Biden were in a position to send a sincere and honest message to the rest of the world in his recent inaugural address, these are the…
Full Article ASIAN PERSUASION: THE US NEEDS HELP
TOM PLATE WRITES — It’s embarrassing. Like some televangelist preacher caught with his pants down at an out-of-town house-of-pleasure, America has been caught with its democracy down. Point one: a scary but also confused and confusing coup d’etat – another to come? Point two: A Republican president who should never…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: HOW BEIJING CAN LEAD AFTER THE CAPITOL CHAOS
Here is a clip of Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky’s comment on the current U.S.-China relations on the @CSIS panel: A Conversation with Former USTRS. Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky served as United States Trade Representative (USTR), the country’s top trade negotiator, from 1997 to 2001. She was the Deputy U.S. Trade Representative from…
Full Article SINO-U.S. RELATIONS: WE ARE NOT AT THE END OF HISTORY WITH CHINA
TOM PLATE WRITES — You have to wonder how well (if at all) General Secretary Xi Jinping and President Joseph Biden are going to get along. Imagine such a splendid scene as this! With TV cameras broadcasting live around the world you see the leader of the Peoples Republic of…
Full Article TENSE CHINA-US RELATIONS: DO BIDEN AND XI HAVE THE ANSWER?
TOM PLATE WRITES — The filling of key policy positions in the incoming Biden administration proceeds apace. But so far, none of the announced or expected top-level appointees proffer particular savvy or expertise about Beijing. The designated Biden secretary of state is Antony Blinken, whose dedicated career competence and sensible style…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: BIDEN’S AMERICA & XI’S CHINA MUST EVOLVE BEYOND MUTUAL DEMONISATION
KISHORE MAHBUBANI SAYS — The following is an excerpt from an Interview published by Project Syndicate on November 24th, 2020, with the distinguished famed Professor Mahbubani: Project Syndicate: You’ve warned that “the international order has lagged dangerously behind shifting global power dynamics.” Will US President-elect Joe Biden’s administration improve prospects…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: EIGHT ‘SUGGESTIONS’ FOR THE BIDEN PEOPLE
TOM PLATE WRITES — The truth about the swelling importance of the People’s Republic of China in the Asia-Pacific is that without America’s corresponding help, unintended as it was of course, the reversal of position would not have happened as quickly. Perhaps it all began in 1997, with the collapse…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: BEIJING CAN BE A CONTRIBUTOR TO PEACE AND PROSPERITY