TOM PLATE WRITES — It is still true, even in this speed-freak era of AI and machine-learning, that international diplomacy needs governments to station quality representatives in foreign capitals, and for international organisations to listen and learn, soak up the ineffable atmosphere, and interact with real people, especially those with “issues”,…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: A GOOD-VERSUS-EVIL WORLD VIEW DOES NO ONE ANY GOOD
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?
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 — There was always something of the Goliath versus David, if you framed such a thesis/antithesis picture: of Ruth Bader Ginsburg up against Donald J. Trump – the diminutive versus the hulk, the thinker versus the non-thinker, the caring versus the uncaring. But someone of stature had…
Full Article US: CAN JUDGE RUTH BADER GINSBURG’S PASSING PUSH FOR A FINAL CHANGE?
TOM PLATE WRITES — There are a few, though not yet many, Republicans openly furious with beleaguered President Donald Trump for seemingly asking Beijing to join his reelection campaign, in effect, by actively degrading a leading Democratic opponent. The target – former Vice President Joe Biden son’s alleged business activities…
Full Article CHINA-US RELATIONS: TWO SILOS BUMPING HEADS UNWITTINGLY
ELIZABETH SOELISTIO WRITES FROM INDONESIA – Prof Tom Plate, author of the Asia bestseller “Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew,” visited Singapore in May with a new book that delves into U.S.-China diplomacy. The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) invited Plate, from the faculty of Loyola Marymount University…
Full Article SINGAPORE: LEE KUAN YEW SCHOOL’S PROF SELINA HO HOSTS A PACKED SESSION ON THE ISSUE OF U.S. WORRIES ABOUT CHINA