China – Page 2 – Here and there

China-Australia relations: it’s not as simple as ABC

18 December 2020 Mike Scrafton Australian focus, By Mike Scrafton, Foreign policy, trade and diplomacy

There are many commentators with strong and legitimate concerns about China. The relationship between Australia and China is a very important one and it warrants being debated openly and vigorously. But when those with privileged access to the public square confuse name calling and assertion with rational argument, it is important to point this out. The recent ABC article As Australia’s relationship with China deteriorates beyond repair, we need to find new trade partners is a case in point.

US-led global arms sales grew 8.5% in 2019, Australia top host of foreign arms companies (SIPRI)

7 December 2020 Online editor Research and reports

New data from SIPRI’s Arms Industry Database shows that arms sales by the world’s 25 largest arms companies totalled US$361 billion in 2019, an 8.5 per cent increase over 2018. The top five arms companies were all based in the United States: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics. Outside of North America and Western Europe, the largest number of foreign arms company entities are hosted by Australia (38).

China and Brexit drive the UK’s Indo-Pacific ‘tilt’ (Bill Hayton)

28 November 2020 Online editor Analysis and comment, Foreign policy, trade and diplomacy

Chatham House’s Bill Hayton looks at the UK’s ’tilt’ to the Indo-Pacific – involving trade, military presence and diplomatic efforts, concluding that the overall effect is likely to embed the UK in the Indo-Pacific as a valuable partner for those countries which value a free and open international order.

South Korea, China agree on early Xi visit, North Korea talks

27 November 2020 Online editor In the news

Reuters reports that China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, has visited South Korea, and met with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in, and foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha.

Taiwan to build new fleet of eight domestically-developed submarines in US-backed project

24 November 2020 Online editor In the news

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has announced on that Taiwan will build a new fleet of submarines aimed at countering China’s military power in the region.

Japan and China hold high-level dialogue on East China Sea tensions, trade and Covid-19

24 November 2020 Online editor In the news

The first high-level dialogue between China and Japan since Yoshihide Suga succeeded Shinzo Abe as Japan’s Prime Minister in September have taken place in Tpkyo, with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi discussing maritime tensions over disputed islands in the East China Sea, trade and the Covid-19 pandemic response.

Biden says US should align with other democracies to set global trade rules to counter China’s influence

17 November 2020 Online editor In the news

On Monday [16 November 2020], US President-elect Joe Biden said that the United States needed to negotiate with allies to set global trading rules to counter China’s growing influence – but declined to say whether the US would join the 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, the new trade pact that includes China, which was signed in Hanoi on Sunday [15 November 2020].

What happens now the RCEP trade deal has been signed?

16 November 2020 Online editor In the news

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP) agreement: Fifteen Asia-Pacific economies have signed what could become the world’s largest free trade agreement, covering nearly a third of the global population and about 30% of its global gross domestic product.

Australia hopes Asia-Pacific trade deal will improve ties with China

15 November 2020 Online editor In the news

Australia hopes the trade deal about to be signed by 15 Asia-Pacific economies will help improve Australia’s strained relations with China. Australia’s Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said that the trade pact offers a platform that can lead to a positive change in relations. “The ball is very much in China’s court to come to the table for that dialogue,” he is reported to have said.

US-China relations: Busy week as US maintains pressure on China and seeks to solidify regional relationships

14 November 2020 Online editor In the news

Even in what are almost certainly its last weeks, there is no sign yet that the Trump administration will lessen its efforts to make a lasting mark on relations between China and the US and its Asia-Pacific partners and allies.

How Joe Biden can recalibrate US policy on China (Michael D Swaine)

12 November 2020 Online editor Analysis and comment

Michael Swaine suggests that “a Biden presidency will likely correct many of Trump’s most egregious mistakes in handling Beijing while still supporting the bipartisan shift that has occurred toward intensified competition with China”. The article sets out some of the policy shifts that might result, but asks will Biden go far enough?

Rumours of Xi Jinping – Li Keqiang leadership swap in ‘China reset’ strategy (Forbes)

12 November 2020 Online editor In the news

Forbes reports (with careful caveats) that there are rumours that China’s President Xi and Premier Li might “do a Putin and Medvedev, and switch spots on the roster” in a move which would be presented internationally as a ‘China reset’.

Asia-pacific trade deal covering 29% of world’s GDP expected to be signed shortly

10 November 2020 Online editor In the news

It is reported that the world’s largest trade pact involving 15 countries in the Asia Pacific – which account for 29% of global gross domestic product – is expected to be signed during a virtual leaders summit to be held on 15 November 2020.

China’s grand strategy and Australia’s future in the new global order: Geoff Raby

7 November 2020 Online editor Analysis and comment

Diplomatic relations have never been worse with China, the destination of half of Australia’s exports. John West reviews the new book, China’s Grand Strategy and Australia’s Future in the New Global Order, in which Geoff Raby provides hard-hitting analysis and sharp proposals for getting this crucial relationship back on track.

US State Department approves sale of MQ-9 SeaGuardian drones to Taiwan

4 November 2020 Online editor In the news

The US State Department is reported to have approved a potential sale to Taiwan of four MQ-9 SeaGuardian drones in a deal valued US $600 million, another sale of weapons to Taiwan that will be seen as provocative by China.

What is the end game of US-China competition? (Andy Zelleke)

3 November 2020 Online editor Analysis and comment

Something refreshing in the plethora of articles exploring the different dimensions of the current US-China tensions, Harvard Business School’s Andy Zelleke asks, “What ‘yesable proposition,’ fundamentally, is the United States offering China?” What might be the terms of a plausible U.S.-China equilibrium state?

Strategic autonomy in the face of competing US and China technology strategies: a European perspective (IFRI)

2 November 2020 Online editor Research and reports

An invaluable introduction to the complex and critical struggle for technological superiority which will the characterise the geopolitical environment for decades to come. This report sets out all the key issues and addresses the question of how the EU could maintain strategic autonomy in the face of this competition between China and the US.

China’s new 5 year plan: highlights of the 2021-2025 economic and social policy vision (Shannon Tiezzi)

31 October 2020 Online editor Analysis and comment

The fifth plenum of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s 19th Central Committee concluded on 29 October 2020. The gathering of China’s top leaders finalized the blueprint for China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, which will set China’s economic and social policy vision for the period from 2021-2025.

Chinese, US military chiefs hold crisis communication amid heightened South China Sea tensions

31 October 2020 Online editor In the news

It is reported that officials from China and the US held a video conference meeting about crisis communication on 28-29 October, amid amid heightened tensions in the South China Sea. According to Chinese defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper denied a media report suggesting the US was “studying” a plan to attack Chinese islands and reefs in the South China Sea using an MQ-9 drone.

Moving away from the China-America binary (Alan McCormack)

24 October 2020 Online editor Analysis and comment, International relations

Whether it is the West’s relative decline or the “rise of the rest,” the Eastward shift of geostrategic gravity is a reality. That reality presents major ideational and institutional challenges to the West’s domination of the international order. The challenge for international relations theorists and policy-makers is to demonstrate that Western-framed status quo versus revisionist analysis provides a disinterested assessment of “non-Western” institutional initiatives.