History shows that small, seemingly inconsequential events are full of portent. The docking of Chinese cargo ship Istanbul Bridge  at the Felixstowe in the U.K. on October 13, 2025, might have appeared unremarkable. Britain is, after all, China’s third-largest export market, and vessels travel between the two countries all year round. What stood out about the Bridge  was the route it had taken—it was the first major Chinese cargo ship to travel directly to Europe via the Arct

Diplomacy, when stripped of ceremony and handshakes, is really all about leverage. And this last week in Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Busan, Donald Trump appears to have rediscovered the old craft of using pressure to invite cooperation. The U.S. President, now again playing the roles of negotiator/dealmaker-in-chief, began his week-long diplomacy tour with ASEAN, then APEC nations amid high expectations — and low trust. As is their wont, Trump’s advisers are eager to claim victor

For more than a decade, Chinese politics has been defined by Xi Jinping. Since assuming leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)...

For decades before and after the Cold War a collective defense pact in Asia between the U.S. was neither possible or necessary. Yet,...

To a company like Nvidia with a nearly $3 trillion valuation, even an unexpected cost of a few billion dollars might be somewhat small in...

Too many current governments have subscribed to the belief that we have slipped into a multipolar world where the old order no longer...

One of the most persistent arguments put forward by politicians, diplomats, and observers of international politics is that the world is...

For once, one could not accuse Donald Trump of exaggeration. The arrival of budget Chinese chatbot DeepSeek to rival ChatGPT is nothing...

It is a commonly held misconception (one fed by numerous portrayals in the media) that the American president is all-powerful), when in...

Everyone pause and take a deep breath. Donald Trump is right -- the United States is not in a trade war with China. Yet. As the rhetoric...

There is a certain predictable rhythm to China’s history which, in some ways, is as immutable as the slab-like cliffs which line the...

Like most years of late, 2017 wound down on a bittersweet note. This website celebrates one full year of existence in which our...

The recent passing of dissident and former 1989 Tianamen Square student leader Liu Xiaobo has arguably left a yawning gap in that the...

Most presidents of the United States search for a catchphrase that best encapsulates their vision for the nation: JFK called his “The New...

Most presidents of the United States search for a catchphrase that best encapsulates their vision for the nation: JFK called his “The New...

Donald Trump’s election as America’s forty-fifth President, has met with little tangible comment from China’s leaders. Well, little...