China
Tsai Met McCarthy in California Instead of Taipei. China Still Surrounded Taiwan With Military Exercises.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California on Wednesday. Three days later, China’s People’s Liberation Army began major military exercises around Taiwan involving aircraft, warships and simulated operations against the…
China’s Blank Sheets of Paper May Be Saying Something More Important Than Any Slogan Could.
Protesters in Shanghai, Beijing and other Chinese cities held up blank sheets of white paper. There was no printed manifesto, party logo or political programme. The emptiness was the message. In a country where criticism…
Pelosi Went to Taiwan. China Responded With Missiles. Was the Visit Worth It?
The Speaker of the US House of Representatives arrived in Taipei on Tuesday despite repeated warnings from Beijing that her visit would provoke a serious response. She met President Tsai Ing-wen, addressed Taiwanese officials and…
The Return of Strategic Bargaining
This week, international politics increasingly resembles a crowded negotiating table rather than a rules-based forum, as major powers reinsert themselves into diplomacy not as neutral guarantors of peace, but as strategic stakeholders seeking influence, leverage,…
Disengagement, Legitimacy, and the Limits of Resolution
This week, international politics is shaped less by dramatic breakthroughs than by careful recalibration. I observe a pattern in which states seek to lower immediate risk without resolving deeper disputes, prioritising manageability over settlement. From…
America Returns, Red Lines Harden, and Diplomacy Is Put on Trial
This week marks a recalibration rather than a rupture in international politics. I observe that power is not being redistributed so much as rearticulated, through language, posture, and the reassertion of norms that had appeared…
Regional Security and Strategic Diplomacy in East Asia
This week, I observed that East Asia continues to be a region where economic recovery, security concerns, and diplomatic strategy are deeply interlinked. In China, domestic manufacturing and trade activity showed signs of recovery, reflecting…
Strategic Balance in the Indo-Pacific
This week, I observed that the Indo-Pacific continues to be a theatre of careful manoeuvring, where maritime disputes and emerging partnerships are shaping regional dynamics. In the South China Sea, China reinforced its patrols around…
How Early Pandemic Responses Tested Global Economies
This week the world began to show how fragile balance can be when global health and economic interests collide. The spreading outbreak of the novel coronavirus revealed not just vulnerabilities in public health, but also…
When Public Caution Turns Into a Social Mirror
This week revealed something subtle but powerful: the virus was not only testing public health systems, it was also testing social behaviour. Even in places with very few confirmed cases, people began adjusting their routines.
