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A question of motivation for China’s PLA
Recent American fumbling with tariffs has given China more political elbow room. Still, Beijing has three choices about how to handle America’s challenges: negotiation with the US and the rest of the world regarding trade, currencies and territorial claims; promoting a global alternative ideology like the USSR did last century; or isolating itself like North […] The post A question of motivation for China’s PLA...
Published on: April 16, 2025 | Source:
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Are US and China really in a Thucydides Trap?
The so-called Thucydides Trap has become a staple of foreign policy commentary over the past decade or so, regularly invoked to frame the escalating rivalry between the United States and China. Coined by political scientist Graham Allison — first in a 2012 Financial Times article and later developed in his 2017 book “Destined for War” […] The post Are US and China really in a Thucydides Trap? appeared first on Asia...
Published on: April 16, 2025 | Source:50 years later, Khmer Rouge’s murderous legacy lives on
On April 17, 1975, tanks rolled into the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, to cheering crowds who believed that the country’s long civil war might finally be over. But what followed was one of the worst genocides of the 20th century. During a brutal four-year rule, the communist-nationalist ideologues of the Khmer Rouge killed between 1.6 […] The post 50 years later, Khmer Rouge’s murderous legacy lives on appeared first...
Published on: April 16, 2025 | Source:The Russians aren’t coming: Peter Dutton’s poor judgment distracts from Australia’s rare geopolitical opportunity | Allan Behm
As we recover from our infatuation with Anzus, we can now look at Asia and the Pacific as a region in which we can make our own wayNever waste a good beat up, especially when your political opponent calls a non-event a catastrophe. The foreign minister, Penny Wong, the defence minister and deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, have had a great time punishing the opposition...
Published on: April 16, 2025 | Source:China won’t rescue Cambodia from Trump’s tariffs
Cambodia’s first-quarter trade and investment data dropped in recent days, putting its US and China relations in statistical relief after Donald Trump imposed new 49% tariffs on the country. According to the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE), in Q1 2025, Chinaaccountedfor 49.1% of imports worth US$3.7 billion, up almost 31% from the same […] The post China won’t rescue Cambodia from Trump’s tariffs...
Published on: April 16, 2025 | Source:Kyrgyzstan: Rights Defender Detained
Click to expand Image Rita Karasartova. Private (Bishkek, April 16, 2025) – Kyrgyz authorities on April 14, 2025, detained a human rights defender, claiming she has ties to a criminal case, Human Rights Watch said today. The activist, Rita Karasartova, was detained for 48 hours in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, with a hearing about extending her detention set for April 16.Karasartova posted on her personal...
Published on: April 16, 2025 | Source:Trump's chips strategy: The US will struggle to take on Asia
America is trying to create a chip industry through isolation and protectionism, when what allowed it to emerge in Asia is the opposite: collaboration.
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:The perils of Trump's chips strategy: the US will struggle to take on Asia
America is trying to create a chip industry through isolation and protectionism, when what allowed it to emerge in Asia is the opposite: collaboration
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:At the birth of India, constitutional democracy was a huge gamble
The birth of Indian democracy is the stuff of legend. It was a moment of such staggering idealism and exuberance, a leap of faith so audacious, that the famous jurist and scholar Kenneth Wheare termed it “the biggest liberal experiment in democratic government” that the world had seen. At its center lay the country’s new […] The post At the birth of India, constitutional democracy was a huge gamble appeared first on...
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:China cuts exports of vital rare earth minerals as trade war with U.S. intensifies
China’s leader is touring Southeast Asia and portraying Beijing as the anchor of world economic stability. Xi Jinping’s efforts come after the U.S. levied a blanket 10 percent tariff on goods coming in and steeper rates on China. Beijing is now restricting the export of minerals critical to everything from American cell phones to fighter planes. Nick Schifrin discussed more with Gracelin Baskaran.
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:China’s trade with Asia could plug hole left by US tariffs, economists say
Deeper, more expansive trade with neighbours could help offset damage to China’s GDP growth, according to economic surveillance office.
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:China’s propaganda coup and the danger of US indecision
China is a master of twisting narrative. On April 11, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing posted on his X account in Korean claiming that South Korea should be thankful to China for the 90-day postponement of US tariffs on Korean exports. He wrote: “The so-called ‘mutual tariffs’ have been postponed for 90 days. […] The post China’s propaganda coup and the danger of US indecision appeared first on Asia Times.
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:Japan must begin a process of strategic decoupling from America
The geopolitical landscape shifted dramatically over the past five years. America’s hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 followed by its deepening entanglement in the Ukraine war – now widely understood as a grinding proxy conflict between NATO and Russia – laid bare the limits of US power. In the Middle East, Washington has struggled to […] The post Japan must begin a process of strategic decoupling from America...
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:Xi suggests China is a source of ‘stability and certainty’ as he tours Southeast Asia
China’s Xi is making the case for free trade as he tours Southeast Asia this week, presenting China as a source of “stability and certainty.”
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:Bangladesh restores ‘except Israel’ disclaimer on passports, barring travel
Bangladesh restores ‘except Israel’ disclaimer on passports, barring travel Submitted by MEE staff on Tue, 04/15/2025 - 17:29 The Hasina government had removed the clause from passports in 2021, triggering widespread outrage across the country People participate in a demonstration titled 'March for Gaza' in Dhaka, expressing solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, on 12 April (Munir Uz Zaman/AFP) Off Amid widespread...
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:Tanzanian Opposition Leader’s Arrest Spells Trouble for Elections
Click to expand Image Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu of the Chadema party faces a magistrate's court after his arrest in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, April 10, 2025. 2025 Emmanuel Herman/Reuters Last week, the authorities in Tanzania arrested opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lissu on fabricatedcharges, then used his party’s calls for electoral reform to disqualify it from participating in upcoming...
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:Why Uzbekistan Continues to Push for Engaging With Afghanistan
Tashkent sees stability in Afghanistan as essential for the security and stability of the broader Central and South Asian region.
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:Chinese President Xi Signs 45 Cooperation Agreements With Vietnam
China is ready to receive more Vietnamese products and to encourage more Chinese companies to invest in Vietnam. On Tuesday, Vietnam and China signed 45 cooperation agreements during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Hanoi. Xi departed for Malaysia to continue his tour of Southeast Asia. RELATED: Robot Pets Are Becoming Popular in Everyday Life […]
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:Can China’s stimulus response offset Trump’s tariffs?
China’s ambitious “around 5%” growth target this year increasingly has a Donald Trump problem. Every time the US president raises tariffs for mainland goods — 145%, at least for now — he makes it harder for Xi Jinping to avoid Beijing’s fate in 2022 and 1990. Those are the only two times in the last […] The post Can China’s stimulus response offset Trump’s tariffs? appeared first on Asia Times.
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:Ukraine talks hang on Russia’s Palm Sunday missile strike
Ukraine accused Russia of committing a war crime after its missile strike on the town of Sumy on Palm Sunday. Kiev’s claim that Russia targeted churchgoers wasechoedby Trump’s Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg. Trump alsochimed inand said, “I was told they (Russia) made a mistake, it was terrible.” The Russian Defense Ministryinsistedthat it targeted “a […] The post Ukraine talks hang on Russia’s Palm Sunday missile...
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:SE Asia’s ‘China + 1’ payday shortchanged by Trump tariffs
When Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Kuala Lumpur this week, marking his first overseas trip of the year and his first to Southeast Asia since the pandemic, he won’t just be talking up trade deals and smiling for photo ops. He’ll be bringing something the United States has struggled to offer: a long-term, coherent economic […] The post SE Asia’s ‘China + 1’ payday shortchanged by Trump tariffs appeared first on...
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:Ukraine partition a possible option – just not Kellogg’s version
Is a partition plan a realistic outcome for ending the Ukraine war. General Keith Kellogg’s proposal appears to have already encountered difficulties. However, that does not mean that some type of partition is out of the question. Kellogg’s “plan” would carve up Ukraine into four zones The Russians have already said, referring to Kellogg’s plan, […] The post Ukraine partition a possible option – just not Kellogg’s...
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:Trump’s in-the-know plan to demolish the US economy
The press daily reports ever louder shrieks of concern that Trump’s actions – tariffs, deportations, chainsaw destruction of federal agencies by people barely out of their teens – risk causing a worldwide economic crash. The naïve shriekers Bill Ackman, Larry Fink, Larry Summers and countless others don’t yet realize that there’s no risk: it’s the […] The post Trump’s in-the-know plan to demolish the US economy...
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:Bullet Curtain: China’s answer to US drone swarms in a Taiwan war
China just pulled the trigger on the future of air defense with its new “Bullet Curtain” system—a drone swarm killer that aims to clear the sky with a storm of bullets. This month, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that China recently unveiled its Bullet Curtain system, the world’s first close-in anti-drone barrage weapon […] The post Bullet Curtain: China’s answer to US drone swarms in a Taiwan war appeared...
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:The EU Should Press Bhutan to Free Political Prisoners
Click to expand Image Top row: Lok Bahadur Ghaley; Rinzin Wangdi; Chandra Raj Rai; Kumar Gautam. Bottom row: San Man Gurung; Birkha Bdr Chhetri; Omnath Adhikari; Chaturman Tamang. Private (Brussels) – TheEuropean Union should pressBhutanese authorities to release dozens of political prisoners held for decades in dire conditions, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. An EU human rights dialogue with...
Published on: April 15, 2025 | Source:University of Michigan staffer fired for protesting a year earlier, while still a student
University of Michigan staffer fired for protesting a year earlier, while still a student Submitted by MEE staff on Mon, 04/14/2025 - 18:36 During her hiring process at the institution, Zainab Hakim had disclosed participation in pro-Palestine protests and even received praise The pro-Palestine University of Michigan student encampment in front of the Hatcher Library, on 1 May 2024 (Zainab Hakim/Supplied) Off When...
Published on: April 14, 2025 | Source:Trump says China’s talks with Vietnam are probably intended to ‘screw’ US
Crude remark comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping begins tour of three Southeast Asian nations targeted for high tariffs on exports to US.
Published on: April 14, 2025 | Source:Xi courts Southeast Asia amid Trump tariff turmoil
Chinese President Xi Jinping is courting Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia as Trump-era tariffs rattle Asia.
Published on: April 14, 2025 | Source:In Trump we do not trust
To a geopolitical crisis and an economic crisis we must now add a financial crisis, one capable of making the others much, much worse. President Donald Trump’s sudden retreat from the worst version of his tariff policy, a retreat any normal leader would have considered humiliating, came because he and his Wall Street backers could […] The post In Trump we do not trust appeared first on Asia Times.
Published on: April 14, 2025 | Source:Ant smugglers caught with hundreds of prized insects in Kenya
It is believed the ants were destined for exotic pet markets in Europe and Asia.
Published on: April 14, 2025 | Source:Michael Pettis misleading the American zeitgeist on China
Every so often, an American public intellectual captures the political zeitgeist and sends the nation down decades-long paths, for good or for ill. Ralph Waldo Emerson provided the nation with spiritual rigor and moral fortitude, resulting in the Republican Party, the Civil War and the end of slavery. Francis Fukuyama provided America with a stunning […] The post Michael Pettis misleading the American zeitgeist on...
Published on: April 14, 2025 | Source:What a real anti-China trade strategy would look like
Trump’s current trade strategy will diminish American power and American technological capability, divide the US from allies and partners, and give China an opening to become the world’s preeminent nation. I still think it’s unlikely that this is intentional; there’s an old adage that you should “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained […] The post What a real anti-China trade strategy would look...
Published on: April 14, 2025 | Source:China’s Xi hits out at Trump, says there are no winners in tariff war
China’s leader Xi Jinping made the comments as he began a diplomatic tour of Southeast Asia on Monday, reiterating China’s commitment to global trade.
Published on: April 14, 2025 | Source:Huawei armed and ready for Trump’s second assault
Tech giant Huawei is better prepared for US President Donald Trump’s second assault on China than it was for his first. Rather than sanctions, the primary threat to the company’s sales and profits now appears to be the possibility of a tariff-induced recession. More than 70% of Huawei’s sales are now made in China. Huawei’s total sales are nearly back to their pre-sanctions peak, supported by a switch to domestic...
Published on: April 14, 2025 | Source:China's Xi says 'protectionism will lead nowhere' as he starts Southeast Asia outreach amid tariff worries
His comments, in an article for Vietnam's Nhan Dan newspaper, come he begins a series of state visits to the country, Malaysia and Cambodia from April 14 to 18.
Published on: April 14, 2025 | Source: