As U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio for a state visit, and prepares for a historic trilateral summit also including the Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., China is emphasizing its own partnerships. On April 8, the same day Kishida arrived in Washington, D.C., Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov began a two-day … Read more
Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Tuesday in a sign of mutual support and shared opposition to Western democracies amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “We would like to express our highest appreciation and admiration for the successes that you have achieved over the years and, above all, over the last … Read more
The electric vehicle transition is well underway in China: Last year, roughly one-third of all new cars sold in the country were electric. One EV company predicts the share will pass 50 percent by June 2024. More broadly, around half of China’s total installed electricity generation capacity comes from non-fossil fuel sources, including hydro, solar, … Read more
Russia’s foreign policy has been growing more helpful to China lately, with Moscow granting diplomatic support to Beijing on the Indo-Pacific issues and the scope of the Russian-Chinese joint military maneuvers increasing. This process has profound strategic reasons underneath it, and is therefore set to continue and further develop in the future. The Russian-Chinese joint … Read more
“In the Ukraine War, China Is the Only Winner.” This observation served as the title of an article published in May 2023 by The National Interest. Although that sentiment is not a widely held consensus in Europe, it well summarizes an idea circulating across the Atlantic on the benefits that China can derive from the war in Ukraine: Both … Read more
China’s President Xi Jinping and and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, entered the Year of the Dragon by exchanging greetings and affirming their bilateral ties on February 8, just two days before the start of the Lunar New Year. Beijing and Moscow’s mutual resentment and suspicion of the Washington- and Brussels-led alliance of democracies continues … Read more
Multiple news articles report Beijing snubbing Ukraine during the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Switzerland, with Chinese Premier Li Qiang refusing to meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In response, Zelenskyy clarified that he never wanted to meet Li, suggesting that the latter was not high-ranking enough to be worth meeting. “There is a … Read more
2024 will see the governments of China and Russia attempt to use their political and economic influence to influence critical elections. Beijing seeks to block the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from sweeping Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections on January 13. Moscow, meanwhile, aims to shore up Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election on November … Read more
The Diplomat author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Dr. Kristina Spohr – visiting fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Polar Institute and professor of international history at the London School of Economics and Political Science … Read more
China-U.S. relations are once again having a moment. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to the United States produced several meetings, including with President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom. Sports re-emerged as a potent element in China-U.S. relations, as Xi appeared genuinely pleased to receive a gift of a basketball jersey (with the … Read more