Viewpoint
12.15.23Does America Have an End Game on China?
from Foreign Policy
This fall, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan noted that the Biden administration is “often asked about the end state of U.S. competition with China.” He argued that “we do not expect a transformative end state like the one that resulted...
China in the World Podcast
11.02.20The Korean Peninsula after the U.S. Elections
from Carnegie China
The result of the upcoming U.S. presidential election will directly impact how the United States, China, and Russia approach issues on the Korean Peninsula. How would a second Trump or first Biden administration deal with North Korea? How do...
Conversation
08.05.20What Now?
The past several months have been a particularly volatile period in U.S.-China relations. After last month’s closures of the Chinese consulate in Houston and the American consulate in Chengdu, we asked contributions to give us their assessments of...
Conversation
06.03.20Has COVID-19 Changed How China’s Leaders Approach National Security?
While the world is reeling from the cascading shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has continued a comparatively aggressive course in its foreign policy and security posture. Not only has it continued military and paramilitary activities in the...
China in the World Podcast
05.27.20Coronavirus and the Korean Peninsula
from Carnegie China
As nations confront the pandemic, rumors of Kim Jong-un’s death and a flurry of North Korean missile tests injected even more uncertainty in the international landscape. How do views in Washington, Seoul, and Beijing differ or align on North Korea?...
Viewpoint
10.01.19We Need to Pull U.S.-China Relations Back from the Brink. Here’s How.
Like it or not, the U.S. and China are in the process of “decoupling.” The two countries find themselves drifting dangerously back into a state of growing distrust, and even antagonism. Both sides have their narratives and grievances that prevent...
Viewpoint
09.18.19Beyond Hawks and Doves
Two recent documents—as well as the critiques they have elicited—furnish the basis for a more nuanced debate on U.S. policy towards China. First, on July 4, a group of roughly 100 figures from the policy, military, business, and academic communities...
The China Africa Project
04.15.19A Conservative American View on U.S.-China-Africa Relations
Colonel Chris Wyatt, Director of African Studies at the U.S. Army War College, joins Eric and Cobus to discuss a conservative U.S. foreign policy outlook regarding Africa and his views on Chinese engagement on the continent.
Conversation
02.08.19Where Is China’s Foreign Policy Headed?
In testimony last week before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats asserted that “China’s actions reflect a long-term strategy to achieve global superiority.” With China’s global influence and...
The China Africa Project
02.07.19Why China Doesn’t Need to Worry about Washington’s New Africa Policy
When U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton announced Washington’s new strategy for Africa last December, he mentioned China 14 times in his speech. So often, in fact, that a lot of observers commented that the new policy seemed to be more...
The China Africa Project
10.30.18The End of China’s Non-Intervention Policy in Africa
Obert Hodzi discusses his new book, “The End of China’s Non-Intervention Policy in Africa,” and why he thinks this major Chinese policy shift is happening in Africa faster than in other parts of the world.{chop}
China in the World Podcast
10.09.18The U.S. and China as Peer Competitors in the Indo-Pacific
from Carnegie China
The Trump administration has taken a more confrontational approach to bilateral relations with China, implementing tariffs on nearly half of all Chinese exports to the U.S. and treating Beijing as a strategic competitor across many aspects of the...
The China Africa Project
07.26.18Where Does Africa Fit in Xi Jinping’s Worldview?
The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit will take place at a delicate time for Chinese President Xi Jinping, as he confronts enormous challenges related to the ongoing trade war with the United States and, at the same time, huge opportunities...
Conversation
01.10.18Trump on China in 2018: Lover or Hater?
On December 28, 2017, Donald Trump told The New York Times “I like very much” China’s Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping, adding, “He treated me better than anybody’s ever been treated in the history of China.” In the same interview, Trump also...
ChinaFile Recommends
01.05.18China Unveils New Visa Program to Attract 'High-End' Foreigners
NPR
If you are a scientist, entrepreneur or a Nobel Prize laureate, you might have a future as an expatriate in China.
Conversation
12.19.17Trump’s National Security Strategy and China
On December 18, U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced the United States’ new national security strategy. He called China a “strategic competitor,” and, along with Russia, called it a “revisionist power.” Those two nations, Trump said, are...
Viewpoint
10.20.17Mao Wished He Could Upend the World Order. Does Xi?
In his October 18 speech opening the 19th Party Congress, Chinese Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping cautiously embraced the future. Eyeing thousands of Party delegates, Xi spoke for three-and-a-half hours about turning China into a “great modern...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.05.17Bannon’s Back and Targeting China
Bloomberg
As President Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon operated mostly behind the scenes to press his hard-right brand of nationalist politics, with only intermittent success. Since leaving the White House on Aug. 18, he’s taken on a much more public...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.05.17White House Conducting Wide-Ranging Review of China Policy
Politico
The White House is quietly conducting a comprehensive review of its approach toward China, according to administration officials and outside advisers with knowledge of the plan.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.03.17To Intervene or Not? China's Foreign Policy Experiment in South Sudan Raises Questions
South China Morning Post
Yanmei Xie and Casie Copeland say China’s growing involvement in South Sudan’s civil war differs from its past approach to non-interference, though there is debate on the long-term implications as its role in African, and global, security affairs...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.08.17Lacking a Point Person on China, U.S. Risks Aggravating Tensions
New York Times
The National Security Council is conducting a review of the White House’s China policy — taking into account Mr. Trump’s populist trade agenda and differences over how to curb the rogue government in North Korea. Aside from Mr. Trump himself, it...
ChinaFile Recommends
05.22.17Why Soft Power Could Be the Real Value of China’s Massive Belt and Road Project
CNBC
The real benefits of OBOR to China could be the international clout it stands to gain as its attempts to spearhead international policy and improve relations with OBOR partner countries.
The China Africa Project
04.14.17China Conducts Foreign Policy in Africa without Judgment
In this edition of the China in Africa podcast, we pull the focus back to look at China’s rapidly evolving foreign policy agenda in this new era of Western populism led by Donald Trump in the United States.François Godement, Director of the Asia and...
Viewpoint
04.05.17Xi Is Ready for the Summit. Trump Can’t Possibly Be. So What Should He Do?
At the summit in Mar-a-Lago, U.S. President Donald Trump hopes to alter deeply-rooted Chinese policies despite having no China strategy. China’s Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping hopes that by making deals on secondary matters important to Trump...
ChinaFile Recommends
03.22.17Rex Tillerson’s Deferential Visit to China
New Yorker
America’s top diplomat agreed that “the U.S. side is ready to develop relations with China based on the principle of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win coöperation.”
ChinaFile Recommends
03.21.17China and America Need a One-Korea Policy
Foreign Policy
The only way to stop North Korea is by guaranteeing the peninsula will eventually be united—and non-aligned.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.17.17Stephen FitzGerald: Managing Australian Foreign Policy in a Chinese World
The Conversation
This is an edited extract of the 2017 Whitlam Oration, delivered by Stephen FitzGerald, Australia’s first ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (1973-76), at the Whitlam Institute, Western Sydney University, on March 16, 2017.
ChinaFile Recommends
03.17.17Amb. Haley: China Must Prove to Us It Wants to Stop North Korean Aggression
Fox News
United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley said this morning that the Trump administration is taking a new, tougher approach toward China in an effort to deter North Korean aggression.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.22.17Chinese President Xi Jinping Has Vowed to Lead the “New World Order”
Quartz
Chinese president Xi Jinping has vowed for the first time that China should take the lead in shaping the “new world order” and safeguarding international security, one of the latest moves putting him in stark contrast to Donald Trump and the U.S...
The China Africa Project
02.21.17Africa to Pivot to China as U.S. Support Fades Under Trump
In this episode, international economist Anzetwe Were joins Eric and Cobus from Nairobi to discuss her recent column in Business Daily (Kenya) on how Africa is bracing for a Trump-inspired shift towards to China in response to the new U.S. president...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.15.17Russia, China, ISIS: Rex Tillerson Faces Daunting Global Challenges
NBC News
America’s new top diplomat will be tested during his maiden overseas trip to meet counterparts at a Group of 20 world powers gathering in Germany on Thursday and Friday.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.07.17China, United States cannot afford conflict: Chinese foreign minister
Reuters
There would be no winner from conflict between China and the United States, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned on Tuesday, seeking to dampen tension between the two nations that flared after the election of U.S. President Donald Trump.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.07.17How Trump Could Put U.S.-China Relations on the Right Track
Washington Post
Called “U.S. Policy Toward China: Recommendations for a New Administration,” the bipartisan report, produced by an 18-member panel.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.25.17Look out China, Mexico, Japan and Germany: How Trade Shapes Trump’s Worldview
Washington Post
In a nutshell, John Robb argues that trade—rather than national security—dominates Trump’s foreign policy thinking, inverting decades of U.S. practice.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.24.17Is Trump Ready for War in the South China Sea, or Is His Team Just Not Being Clear?
Washington Post
Was this a prelude to a major escalation in the South China Sea, or is the Trump administration having trouble articulating its foreign policy?
ChinaFile Recommends
01.06.17Cambodia Wants China as Its Neighborhood Bully
Foreign Policy
In the closing months of 2016, all of Southeast Asia seemed to be pivoting toward China. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was hailed as a “visionary leader” by fellow Malaysian politicians for “tilting to China.”
ChinaFile Recommends
01.06.17Taiwan Tries to Keep Central American Allies Away from China
Financial Times
Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen heads to four Central American countries this weekend in an effort to stop more of the self-governing island’s remaining diplomatic allies defecting to China.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.03.17As Trump and North Korea’s Kim Spar, China Poses as the Responsible Actor
Washington Post
President-elect Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been trading threats this week, while China poses as the mature, reasonable kid on the block.
Conversation
12.21.16Did Oslo Kowtow to Beijing?
In 2010, the Oslo-appointed Nobel Peace Prize committee bestowed the honor on imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Furious with the selection of Liu, a human rights advocate, who is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence on spurious...
Books
12.20.16The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom
From the clipper ships that ventured to Canton hauling cargos of American ginseng to swap for Chinese tea, to the U.S. warships facing off against China’s growing navy in the South China Sea, from the Yankee missionaries who brought Christianity and education to China, to the Chinese who built the American West, the United States and China have always been dramatically intertwined. For more than two centuries, American and Chinese statesmen, merchants, missionaries, and adventurers, men and women, have profoundly influenced the fate of these nations. While we tend to think of America’s ties with China as starting in 1972 with the visit of President Richard Nixon to China, the patterns—rapturous enchantment followed by angry disillusionment—were set in motion hundreds of years earlier.Drawing on personal letters, diaries, memoirs, government documents, and contemporary news reports, John Pomfret reconstructs the surprising, tragic, and marvelous ways Americans and Chinese have engaged with one another through the centuries. A fascinating and thrilling account, The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom is also an indispensable book for understanding the most important—and often the most perplexing—relationship between any two countries in the world. —Henry Holt{chop}
ChinaFile Recommends
12.15.16New Chinese Law Puts Foreign Non-Profits in Limbo
Wall Street Journal
Many NGOs could be made illegal on Jan. 1 amid campaign against unwanted foreign influences
ChinaFile Recommends
11.23.16China Expands UN Peacekeeping Role as U.S. Influence Wanes
Financial Times
‘Blue helmet’ deployments offer opportunity to burnish international image
China in the World Podcast
11.16.16Electing Donald Trump: The View from China
from Carnegie China
Donald Trump’s election in the 2016 U.S. presidential race ushers in a period of considerable uncertainty in regard to the future of U.S. policies in the Asia-Pacific and vis-à-vis its relationship with China. In this podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with...
The China Africa Project
07.30.16The Honeymoon between China and Africa Is Over and That’s a Good Thing
It wasn’t that long ago when it was all smiles between the Chinese and Africans. The headlines were all about “win-win” development, China’s role in helping Africa to rise above its colonial past, and investment—lots and lots of Chinese investment...
The China Africa Project
06.24.16Why the Stakes Are So High for China in South Sudan
Nowhere else in Africa do China’s financial, diplomatic, and geopolitical interests confront as much risk as they do in South Sudan. Beijing has invested billions of dollars in the country’s oil sector, deployed over a thousand troops to serve as U...
ChinaFile Recommends
06.23.16China Ambassador Wu Jianmin's Death Sparks Foreign Policy Debate
BBC
Mr. Wu’s past comments resonate with many at a time of high tension the East and South China seas.
ChinaFile Recommends
05.19.16US, Not China, Militarising the South China Sea: FM
Al Jazeera
In an exclusive interview, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi discusses a wide-range of global issues.
China in the World Podcast
05.13.162016 Elections in a Changing Asia-Pacific
from Carnegie China
With Tsai Ing-wen taking office in Taipei next week and the U.S. presidential election approaching, new players will be taking the reins in the Asia-Pacific. In this podcast with Paul Haenle, Douglas Paal discusses the future of U.S.-China relations...
China in the World Podcast
04.21.16China’s Relations with a Strategic Europe
from Carnegie China
For many years, China-E.U. relations have been driven singularly by mercantilism, but diplomatic engagement between Beijing and Brussels increasingly features a geopolitical component. In this podcast with Paul Haenle, Carnegie Europe Director Jan...
ChinaFile Recommends
04.18.16Reports
02.01.16Xi Jinping on the Global Stage
Council on Foreign Relations
Xi Jinping is the most powerful Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping, and with his sweeping actions and ambitious directives he has fundamentally altered the process by which China’s domestic and foreign policy is formulated and implemented. Xi’s...
ChinaFile Recommends
12.26.15China Plans a New Silk Road, but Trading Partners Are Wary
New York Times
Kazakhstan has limited Chinese investment and immigration for fear of being overwhelmed.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.23.15Would India Dare Risk Antagonizing China?
Council on Foreign Relations
I found a striking consensus about the relative stability between the two giant Asian neighbors.
Features
09.14.15Sino-Russian Trade After a Year of Sanctions
from Carnegie Moscow Center
After a year of intense flirtation, the Sino-Russian relationship is beginning to look like a one-sided love affair. Indeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China last week—his first since the United States and European Union enacted...
Media
09.10.15Chinese Web Users Grieve for Syrian Toddler—and Blame America
A photo of Syrian three-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying dead on a Turkish beach, who drowned as his family attempted to flee their war-torn homeland by crossing the Mediterranean Sea to find refuge in Greece, has stunned viewers across Europe and the...
Two Way Street
08.10.15A Response to ‘China’s Foreign Policy Isn’t Transparent? You’ve Got to Be Kidding’
from Two Way Street
I’m pleased that my article on the lack of transparency in China’s political system has stimulated this intellectually interesting commentary from Chu Yin. Chu elaborates my argument that China’s leaders keep the policy process secret because they...
The China Africa Project
08.04.15U.S. Not Concerned About Chinese Competition in Africa ... But It Probably Should Be
The difference between U.S. and Chinese foreign policies in Africa was on stark display in July when president Barack Obama made his landmark visits to Kenya and Ethiopia. The president brought along with him a vast agenda that transcended trade,...
Two Way Street
07.20.15How China and the U.S. Will Manage Competition for Influence
from Two Way Street
Washington refuses to accept that though the United States is not in decline, its international influence is not what it was. It is unlikely to regain the leverage it once wielded, because China and so many others now have more than enough economic...
Two Way Street
07.09.15The ‘Two Orders’ and the Future of China-U.S. Relations
from Two Way Street
The China-U.S. relationship may be the most complex relationship that has ever existed between two major powers. Ties between China and the United States are deepening, and at every level the interaction between the two countries is marked by both...
The China Africa Project
07.06.15China’s Expanding Military Presence in Africa
China is steadily expanding its military footprint in Africa, highlighted by the recent deployment of 700 combat-ready troops to join a multinational peacekeeping operation in South Sudan. In all, the People’s Liberation Army and Navy now have an...