Commentary / World Feb 5, 2021

Biden and Xi: Cooperation should come first, tit-for-tat later

If neither Biden nor Xi wants to risk any political capital to make the first move, the U.S.-China relationship is highly likely to worsen further.

Commentary / World | Beyond COVID-19 Dec 28, 2020

China’s fateful year, from Wuhan to Hong Kong

In 2020, relations with the West swung back toward mutual distrust and hostility, with the COVID-19 pandemic and Hong Kong national-security law playing decisive roles.

Commentary / World Dec 25, 2020

China’s green gambit and climate change

In President Xi’s view, China may be able to use the promise to cooperate on climate change as a source of leverage with which to thwart Joe Biden’s containment strategy

Commentary / World Dec 2, 2020

A road map for stabilizing Sino-American relations

By demonstrating a willingness to cooperate despite their fundamental differences, Biden and Xi can reassure the global community that cooler heads have prevailed in both countries.

Commentary / World Nov 1, 2020

Trump’s election gift to China

At the ideological level, a U.S. election meltdown featuring bitter political clashes and endless litigation would be a propaganda bonanza for the Chinese Communist Party.

Commentary / Japan Sep 19, 2020

Japan’s geopolitical balancing act just got harder

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s unexpected resignation last month for health reasons has raised many questions about the legacy of the country’s longest-serving premier. One of them is whether his successor, Yoshihide Suga, will be able to continue Abe’s geopolitical balancing act as tensions ...

Commentary / World Jul 20, 2020

China’s deepening geopolitical hole

The U.K.'s decision to ban Huawei from its 5G networks is only the latest diplomatic setback for China.

Commentary / World Jul 13, 2020

The political logic of China’s strategic mistakes

The Chinese Communist Party is firmly convinced that the world is a Hobbesian place where long-term survival depends solely on raw power.

Commentary / World Jun 15, 2020

Chinese diplomats behaving badly

Chinese diplomats have long had a reputation as well-trained, colorless and cautious professionals who pursue their missions doggedly without attracting much unfavorable attention. But a new crop of younger diplomats are ditching established diplomatic norms in favor of aggressively promoting China’s self-serving COVID-19 narrative. ...