Written by Grant Wyeth
Aggrieved at Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wangzhou (under its extradition treaty with the United States), China has taken Kovrig and Spavor hostage in the hope of bullying Canada into her release. For nine months, Beijing has prevented any consular visits to the two men, despite a bilateral agreement that stipulates monthly visits.
Read MoreWritten by Joe Varner
A bipartisan statement of support for Taiwan by President Trump and Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden cautioning Beijing about aggression and adventure would be a credible sign of national resolve and that President Xi Jinping’s window for action is closed no matter who is in power at the White House.
Read MoreWritten by Hui Feng
If Beijing was hoping the upcoming election would fix its Trump problem by bringing someone new into the White House, it shouldn’t hold its breath. The US-China relationship has been drastically changed by Trump — and this won’t be undone easily.
Read MoreWritten by Jelvin Jose
Beijing's support for disparate rebel groups is part of a tacit strategy to reduce dependence on Myanmar’s military leadership. The Tatmadaw is unable to control the whole of Myanmar’s territory. Given this security context, indifference to or outright material support for the Arakan Army is crucial for Beijing.
Read MoreWritten by Lucas Knotter
For the rest of the world, similarly, this means that they can expect much the same from New Zealand’s foreign policy, which continues to balance its relationship with China and its Pacific connections. In many respects, New Zealand will continue to be considered, and consider itself, as a force of progress and innocent whimsy in world politics.
Read MoreWritten by Rupakjyoti Borah
While it is highly unlikely that the new prime minister will go for a complete overhaul of Japanese foreign policy (especially in the field of Japan-India relations) there may be subtle changes. For one, under the Suga administration, India may not figure as highly on the radar as had been the case with his predecessor.
Read MoreWritten by Joshua Bernard B. Espeña
President Rodrigo Duterte’s independent foreign policy which on one level sought to balance both the US and China, at its core, appeared to appease Beijing by setting aside the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling and accept Chinese investment.
Read MoreWritten by Melissa Conley Tyler
Over the last four years, many members of Australia’s foreign policy and the security community have continued to be immensely supportive of the US alliance while Trump has derided allies as free-loaders who have abused their relationships with the United States.
Read MoreWritten by John Pollock
After conducting the largest ever Varuna exercise off Goa in May 2019, the Chief of France’s navy Admiral Christophe Prazcuk announced that the French and Indian navies would undertake joint maritime security patrols in the Indian Ocean. The first such patrol took place in March 2020 utilising P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft.
Read MoreWritten by Vignesh Karthik KR and Vihang Jumle
Iran and China are gradually inching towards the signing of a twenty-five-year economic and security partnership deal. This partnership would allow China to significantly increase its investments in railways, banking, telecommunications, and other regional projects.
Read MoreWritten by James Kraska
Both Trump and Biden consider China a vexing issue for the United States, they diverge on how to address it. A Biden administration would continue building deterrence through asymmetric power and enduring relationships among like-minded states, but with a less belligerent tone than the Trump administration.
Read MoreRajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan is a Distinguished Fellow and Head of the Nuclear & Space Policy Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.
Read MoreWritten by Sung-Young Kim, Elizabeth Thurbon, Hao Tan and John Mathews
China’s President Xi Jinping surprised the global community recently by committing his country to net-zero emissions by 2060. Prior to this announcement, the prospect of becoming ‘carbon neutral’ barely rated a mention in China’s national policies.
Read MoreWritten by Ritika V Kapoor
Although Sri Lanka has stated it will adopt an ‘India-first approach’ under Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency, observers will be watching what the election portends for Sino-Sri Lankan relations, particularly as they had burgeoned during Mahinda’s presidential terms from 2005 to 2015.
Read MoreWritten by Joseph Hammond
This summer the State Department approved a $23 billion plan for Japan to acquire 105 F-35 stealth fighters of both the conventional take-off (the F-35A), and the short take-off and vertical landing variant (the F-35B). As a result of this deal, Japan is now home to one of only two F-35 production final assembly and check-out facilities outside of Fort Worth, Texas.
Read MoreWritten by Stephen Nagy and Hanh Nguyen
Surveys conducted by American and European Union Chambers of Commerce showed that more than 80 per cent of businesses do not have relocation plans. Despite rising labour costs and geopolitical tensions, China still holds several critical advantages — high-skilled labour, a giant market, adequate infrastructure, and complex supply chains for business.
Read MoreWritten by Sreeradha Data
Aung San Suu Kyi’s choice to align with Myanmar’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw, served to display little sympathy for the plight of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas that were forced to flee their homes amid a widespread campaign of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State.
Read MoreWritten by M. Sudhir Selvaraj
Most scholarship on communal violence in India focuses on Hindu-Muslim contentions, it is essential to note that Christians in India, who constitute 2.3 per cent of the population, are also targets of violence. Academics and activists share the consensus that violence against Christians is primarily caused by those who subscribe to the Hindutva ideology.
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