The concept of marker pax mercatoria is defined by political scientist Jim Chen, a professor at Michigan State University, who claims that the market and globalization can produce system stability: “In the public sphere, pax mercatoria represents the peace dividend… Read More ›
Internet censors in China have ordered news outlets and social media accounts to avoid posting anything critical of Russia or favorable to NATO, after Russia began moving troops across the border into Ukraine, prompting a flurry of international sanctions against… Read More ›
Many analysts in the neighborhood of China show anxiety over the Russia-China bonhomie. Their concerns are valid, but the reasons are not. All these countries need not worry but rather be vigilant so that the fast-changing geopolitical vista doesn’t spring… Read More ›
As Russia threatens the largest land invasion in Europe since World War II, the most consequential strategic question of the 21st century is becoming clear: How can the United States manage two revisionist, autocratic, nuclear-armed great powers (Russia and China)… Read More ›
Sino-Russian relations have never been as good as in recent weeks. The Chinese silence on the Ukrainian quarrel has played a good role in the diplomacy of the Kremlin. In the background, the Beijing Olympics and Putin’s interview with the… Read More ›
The once highly respected and free nation of Hong Kong is now a different country as the free press is dead and punishing COVID mandates have killed the country’s once-great economy. In Hong Kong, the free press is a thing… Read More ›
A new chapter and friction between the blocks in the conflict over energy. On the one hand China and its dependence on coal, on the other, the west and its stormy relations with Russia on the western borders. With Russian… Read More ›
Fourteen years ago, China conducted the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The games were a success, and the biggest beneficiary was Xi Jinping. He was Vice President of China and competing for the presidency with present Premier Li Keqiang. The… Read More ›
The western alliance has threatened the Kremlin with “massive” and “unprecedented” sanctions if Russia attacks Ukraine. But, as the Ukraine crisis reaches boiling point, western efforts to isolate and punish Russia are likely to be undermined by the support of… Read More ›
It has been an amazing twelve years. The first political columns started in summer 2010. In 2011, I predicted that Taiwan would be recognized—a prediction which has not yet failed, but continues to push forward. Since 2014, the Times has… Read More ›
Today China has over 350 ships and submarines (130 major surface components), numerically making it the largest Navy globally. These extraordinary Chinese naval expansions are not there to recreate the 15th century goodwill voyages of Admiral Zheng He. China has bigger ambitions,… Read More ›
Taiwan’s vice president went on tour. After meeting with the new president of Honduras, Vice President William Lai stopped in San Francisco. While in the States, he held virtual meetings with House Speaker Pelosi and others. Taiwan’s envoy to North… Read More ›
For more than a decade, China has been stealthily buying up European companies in strategic sectors, particularly in technology and energy. China appears to be using these European assets to help fulfil the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ambitions of becoming… Read More ›
Taiwan has showcased some of its indigenous-built warships at an event designed to send a message of deterrence to China, local officials and analysts said. Over the weekend, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense held a naval exercise off the coast of Keelung… Read More ›
China has been busy online. Western allies warn about increasing cyber attacks from China; it’s become the common thing to expect and discuss. Cyber attacks aren’t China’s only online hobby. Social media “influencers” are reportedly set to spread the good… Read More ›
A hypothetical scenario: The year is 2030. It’s been five years since you or your family members have stepped outside your home. It’s too dangerous out there. This pandemic is deadlier than anything humanity has seen before. Death is lurking… Read More ›
China is illegal. The US Department of State even says so. France even reports as such. This won’t exactly improve friendly relations across the Pacific. It’s actually a much larger step to an all out conflict. Just over a year… Read More ›
Grey zone is not a fixed concept but a hypothetical place between peace and war. While I was writing this article, a never heard of development was taking place in the Indian state of Punjab. The Indian Prime Minister was… Read More ›
Lithuania has become the “Taiwan of Europe”. Since WWII, Americans never again struggled with the concept that a problem abroad is a problem at home. This is how we Americans can vote to interfere around the world that we know… Read More ›
Chinese officials have promised that the 2022 Winter Olympics — to be held Feb. 4 to 20 and followed by the Paralympics March 4-13 — will be a “safe, streamlined and splendid” global event. But that won’t be easy. With… Read More ›
If we thought 2019 and 2020 presented uncertainties then 2022 is here to surprise all of us. It could be remembered as one of the most complex, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous years in the recent past. COVID-19, oil crossing $100/barrel,… Read More ›
Japan signed on Thursday a new security treaty with Australia, a fellow middle power that is similarly aligning against an increasingly assertive China. The blandly-branded Reciprocal Access Agreement, which was signed virtually by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese… Read More ›
Taiwan is on the rise. With chip shortages, stock is booming. You know how graphics cards are astronomically high? A lot of that money is going into Taiwan. Meanwhile, China found an excuse to order a real estate developer to… Read More ›
Japan is on the scene in the Pacific. While Japanese athletes will attend the Olympics, Japanese officials will not. China doesn’t want Japan to “politicize” the games. But, consider 2008, the one-hour opening ceremony about nothing but China’s history, with… Read More ›
The US is hitting China hard over treatment of Uyghurs. Nearly all imports from Xinjiang will be banned. At the same time, the US bolsters the call to bolster Taiwan’s military defense. However, Taiwan has the seeds of the same… Read More ›
It is an open secret that China challenges everything India sets its eyes on, be it cooperation with Quad partners (the United States, Australia, Japan), international organizations like United Nations, WHO, or designating a terrorist organization. India, a Quad member… Read More ›
As China-US tensions ratchet up, the unthinkable – a military clash – becomes ever more likely. While neither likely wants a military confrontation, a perfect storm of circumstances could turn a relatively minor incident into a wider clash. While China’s… Read More ›
China responds with propaganda. A lot more keeps happening more. It’s too much for China to track. But, when the US pontificates about democracy, China leaps to opine first. The problem is the vibe. It’s not about what we say,… Read More ›
China is now reacting to the failure of real estate developer Evergrande, with $310 Billion in debt. The AP reported: China’s central bank expanded the supply of money for lending Monday as Beijing tried to reassure its public and investors… Read More ›
I got to know the work of John Rawls when Salvatore Veca, professor of Political Philosophy during my university years, introduced it to Italy by promoting the first translation of the classic “A theory of justice” published by the American… Read More ›
Jailed Hong Kong media magnate Jimmy Lai, who faces charges alongside several senior editors at the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper under a draconian national security law, has won a press freedom award alongside his colleagues at the paper. Lai’s son… Read More ›
This week, Slovokia cozies up to Taiwan. This is dangerously close to the Czech Republic. Formerly, the two were “Czechoslovakia” until 1993. Pacific Daily Times has some dark information about Taiwan’s poor treatment of a Czech citizen. As calls to… Read More ›
China’s birthrate in 2020 has hit another record low — and there’s no indication things are about to pick up anytime soon. There were only 8.5 births per 1,000 people in China last year, according to the latest yearbook released… Read More ›
The US$6 billion Laos-China railway that starts operations on December 3 – following the 46th anniversary of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic on December 2 – is definitely a game-changer for the land-locked communist country of 7 million people, which… Read More ›
The Pentagon wants to improve bases in Guam and Australia to counter China following a review of U.S. military resources around the globe. The Global Posture Review (GPR), of which an unclassified version is set to be released later on… Read More ›
China faces a very serious and very real boycott at the Olympic Games. The Olympic Committee awarded China as the host country and claims that politics isn’t its business; other governments need to handle that. Boycotts are under serious consideration… Read More ›
China’s internet regulator has ordered the operators of a major ride-hailing app, Didi Chuxing, to delist from the New York Stock Exchange, in an ongoing government crackdown on the country’s technology sector, international media reports said on Friday. The Cyberspace Administration… Read More ›
The U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) sailed through the Taiwan Strait in a routine operation on Tuesday. The transit sparked anger from the Communist Chinese government, which considers Taiwan its territory, and it characterized the… Read More ›
As Congress advances a set of bills to protect against Beijing’s efforts to subvert American democracy, China is using our system of government to block and tackle. On November 12, Reuters reported that Chinese officials have been pressuring American companies,… Read More ›
As soon as the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, China and the Middle East faced a series of challenges. In recent years, China’s influence in the region has expanded due to its economic interests in energy, trade,… Read More ›
A rising chorus of analysts now describe China as a “peaking power”—one that might take greater risks to revise the international order before its strategic window of opportunity closes. They cite the country’s aging population , slowing economy , and hostile external environment… Read More ›
Hundreds of Chinese maritime militia vessels are operating in contested areas of the South China Sea on a consistent basis, according to a new U.S. think tank report that says this poses a significant challenge to “maritime order rooted in… Read More ›
“China has won the artificial intelligence battle with the United States and is heading towards global dominance because of its technological advances”. When the Pentagon’s former software chief Nick Chaillan made this claim, it felt as if the whole world… Read More ›
The three-and-half-hour virtual summit meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not, and could not, solve the fundamental problems that have driven the two great powers toward confrontation. But both men clearly wanted to challenge the… Read More ›
Peng Shuai has not been heard from since she accused a top Chinese official of sexual assault. The 35-year-old tennis player is one of China’s biggest sports stars. In a post on November 2 on Weibo, Peng alleged the former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli… Read More ›
In China, if you are female, educated and unmarried by the age of 27, people might use a particular term – “sheng-nu” – to describe your social status. It translates simply as “leftover woman.” The label was deliberately invented to… Read More ›
Local health workers in some Chinese cities are breaking into people’s homes and killing their pets while the owners are in quarantine, prompting outrage online. In one case, a dog owner named Ms Fu witnessed through her home security camera… Read More ›
China’s social media was briefly aflutter this fall about an impressive feat in the popular online fantasy game Honor of Kings. A player had completed a “pentakill,” or five kills in a row, but something just smelled wrong: The user… Read More ›
Taiwan is a peaceful island of peaceful people. The Taiwanese calm demeanor often plays tricks on the minds of Americans and Chinese. Every day, Taiwanese put up with enormous nonsense and harassment, yet manage to carry on with an authentic… Read More ›
It’s been nearly two years since China shut its international borders as part of its efforts to keep Covid-19 out. China tamed the initial outbreak in Wuhan by locking down the city of more than 10 million people, confining residents… Read More ›
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