Features
09.27.24Is China’s Cultural Outreach to Muslims in Indonesia Working?
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. So as Beijing ramps up its engagement with the Global South and with the Muslim world, it is unsurprising that it has been reaching out to various Muslim organizations and strengthening its...
Features
09.26.24Can China’s Scholarships and Cultural Diplomacy Efforts Succeed in Pakistan?
In Washington, D.C., China has a bad reputation for the way it treats its Muslim minorities. But views differ greatly in many majority-Muslim countries in Asia. Educational programs and exchanges are a key part of this. Pakistan is an exemplar:...
Conversation
08.19.24What to Make of China’s Moves in the Middle East
What does Beijing expect to gain from the intra-Palestinian peace talks? What considerations shape China’s position on the Israel-Gaza conflict, and on the wider geopolitical picture of the Middle East? How does China’s support for Iran factor into...
Viewpoint
12.07.23China’s Vision for World Order
In October, in front of leaders from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, Xi Jinping stood triumphant in a celebratory keynote address celebrating the tenth birthday of his Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The speech,...
Conversation
06.16.23The Stakes of Antony Blinken’s Visit to Beijing
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China on June 18, after repeated delays of high-level meetings and amid ongoing tensions between the two countries. In November, U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping...
China in the World Podcast
08.10.22The Strategic Importance of the Indo-Pacific
from Carnegie China
Spanning from East Africa to the West Coast of the United States, the Indo-Pacific is a complex region encompassing two oceans and countless islands and maritime powers. In this episode of the China in the World podcast, Paul Haenle speaks with...
Excerpts
10.06.21The Man Behind Xi Jinping’s Foreign Policy
The daunting task of keeping up with Xi Jinping’s foreign policy ambitions fell to Wang Yi. Born in Beijing in 1953, the same year as Xi, Wang also spent a good chunk of his adolescence as a “sent down” youth during the Cultural Revolution, when he...
Conversation
02.12.21Will China Be a Global Vaccine Leader?
Beijing stands to reap major rewards by becoming the supplier of choice—or necessity—throughout low- and middle-income countries. China has expanded its international aid efforts in recent years and stressed its commitment to “south-south”...
Conversation
09.17.20Europe and China’s ‘Virtual Summit’
Meeting via video conference on Monday, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, held a summit with European Council President Charles Michel, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Slimmed down in format thanks to the...
Viewpoint
09.10.20In Defense of Diplomacy with China
Critics of the last four decades of China policy have incorrectly and simplistically labeled diplomacy a failure because the People’s Republic did not become a liberal democracy. That was never the goal or an achievable objective of U.S. policy. The...
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...
Viewpoint
08.04.20Reciprocity in U.S. Relations with China Should Be a Tool, Not the Whole Strategy
Since the outset of the U.S.-China trade war, critics have castigated the Trump administration for its capricious approach to relations with Beijing. They have found fault in particular with Donald Trump’s flip-flopping on sanctioning ZTE, banning U...
Viewpoint
06.10.20For Me, the Breakdown in U.S.-China Relations Is Personal
In my childhood, they were the Red Chinese. In my husband’s upbringing, we were the American imperialists. U.S.-China reconciliation after ping-pong diplomacy enabled us to meet and marry 40 years ago. Those of us with a foot in each world find the...
Conversation
10.24.19Can China’s Government Advance Its Case on Twitter?
How successful have Chinese officials been at their use of English-language social media? Has the Chinese Party-state’s use of Facebook and Twitter been good or bad for Chinese soft power?
Conversation
10.04.19Taiwan Is Losing Allies. What Should Taipei (and D.C.) Do?
In a single week in September, the two Pacific nations of Kiribati and the Solomon Islands both switched their diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing, reducing the number of countries that still recognize Taiwan to 14 (and the Vatican)...
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...
China in the World Podcast
07.18.19China-India Relations One Year After the Wuhan Summit
from Carnegie China
In May 2018, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in Wuhan for an informal summit that many say helped reset the relationship following the Doklam crisis. In this podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with Rudra Chaudhuri, Director of...
Books
07.09.19Kissinger on Kissinger
St. Martin’s Press: As National Security Advisor to Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger transformed America’s approach to diplomacy with China, the USSR, Vietnam, and the Middle East, laying the foundations for geopolitics as we know them today.Nearly 50 years later, escalating tensions between the U.S., China, and Russia are threatening a swift return to the same diplomatic game of tug-of-war that Kissinger played so masterfully. Kissinger on Kissinger is a series of faithfully transcribed interviews conducted by the elder statesman’s longtime associate, Winston Lord, which captures Kissinger’s thoughts on the specific challenges that he faced during his tenure as the National Security Agency, his general advice on leadership and international relations, and stunning portraits of the larger-than-life world leaders of the era. The result is a frank and well-informed overview of U.S. foreign policy in the first half of the 1970s.{chop}
Conversation
07.08.19The Other Tiananmen Papers
In the wake of the lethal use of force by China’s military against demonstrators in Tiananmen Square and citizens of Beijing on June 4, 1989, the United States and other governments were confronted with a series of vexing moral and policy questions...
The China Africa Project
05.16.19Chinese and Africans are Having Totally Different Conversations About Their Relationship
Chinese news coverage and African and international reports are often starkly different from one another, even when discussing the same issues. With Chinese and African news consumers reading vastly different perspectives, what can be done to narrow...
China in the World Podcast
04.15.19Susan Thornton on a Crisis in U.S.-China Relations
from Carnegie China
Over three years into Trump’s presidency, U.S.-China trade and economic issues remain unresolved while security concerns are creeping into the bilateral agenda. Thornton contends that Washington and Beijing should quickly agree on an initial trade...
The China Africa Project
01.18.19African Governments Need to Negotiate Better Deals With China. Here's How They Can Do It.
The problem with the “debt trap” theory is that it too often strips Africans of their agency in the negotiating process. That either they don’t know what they are doing or they’re simply negotiating bad deals. While both of those may be true, in...
Viewpoint
12.06.18‘The Events Were Regrettable’
In late February 1989, a month after becoming president, Bush visited Beijing and invited roughly 500 people to a “Texas barbecue” at a posh Beijing hotel. The invitees included Fang Lizhi, the famous astrophysicist and political dissident. The...
Conversation
10.12.18Is America Overreacting to the Threat of Chinese Influence?
American civil and political discourse has seen a growing number of reports about worrying Chinese governmental influence in the United States. Most recently, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence decried the “malign influence” of China in the United...
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...
China in the World Podcast
09.20.18North Korea Diplomacy and U.S.-China Relations
from Carnegie China
Paul Haenle joined Kaiser Kuo to discuss next steps for DPRK diplomacy and tensions between the United States and China over trade, Taiwan, and the Belt and Road Initiative. Haenle shared his experience working as White House representative to the...
The China Africa Project
09.10.18Should African Governments Welcome Or Be Wary of Chinese Infrastructure Investment?
China announced a U.S.$60 billion financing package for African states to build out new roads, airports, railways, and other needed infrastructure. While no one questions the need for infrastructure, there are legitimate concerns as to whether it...
Viewpoint
08.23.18We Need to Be Careful about How We Use the Word ‘Chinese’
In recent years, the growing reach of the Chinese Communist Party’s (C.C.P.’s) political influence abroad has prompted numerous countries to reappraise their engagement with China. Optimism about Chinese convergence with international norms has been...
Conversation
08.20.18How To Fight China’s Sharp Power
There is a debate raging about China’s sharp power and how to defend against it, whether it’s investment screening, shuttering Confucius institutes, or forcing visa reciprocity for journalists. But how does a fractious, divided world not only resist...
ChinaFile Recommends
08.09.18China’s Power in the Middle East Is Rising
Washington Post
Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, his second Middle East trip after visiting Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt in January 2016. The most significant outcome was the elevation of the bilateral...
Sinica Podcast
07.09.18Kurt Campbell on U.S.-China Diplomacy
from Sinica Podcast
Kaiser talks to former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell about his career, his critique of engagement, and the fascinating events that happened on his watch—including the extrication of blind activist...
The China Africa Project
07.05.18A U.S. View on China’s So-Called ‘Debtbook Diplomacy’ Agenda
For the past year or so, senior U.S. government officials have been accusing China of engaging in so-called “debtbook diplomacy,” a tactic that Washington contends intentionally burdens developing countries with billions of dollars of loans. When...
China in the World Podcast
06.11.18A World in Transition
from Carnegie China
As the world is in the midst of considerable uncertainty and transition, Ambassador William J. Burns points to the emergence of rising powers like China and India, challenges to regional order in the Middle East, and revolutions in new technologies...
The China Africa Project
06.08.18Somalia Aims to Be Heard at Upcoming China-Africa Mega Summit
Around 50 African leaders are expected to be in Beijing in September for the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit. While Africa’s largest and most strategically important countries will likely do very well, receiving huge...
China in the World Podcast
05.09.18What Comes Next after the Panmunjom Summit?
from Carnegie China
Kim Jong-un became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea at the Panmunjom Summit in April 2018, setting the stage for President Trump’s meeting with Kim in June. Just days after the summit, Paul Haenle spoke with Tong Zhao, a...
China in the World Podcast
04.23.18The Corrections Needed in the U.S.-China Relationship
from Carnegie China
Stephen Hadley, former national security advisor to President George W. Bush, argues that the United States took false comfort in China’s hide-and-bide strategy and failed to recognize that China would increasingly assert itself as it became more...
Viewpoint
03.31.18Nixon in China, Trump in Pyongyang
On March 25, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Beijing in an armored train for talks with Chinese Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping, the first known time he traveled outside his country since his father and predecessor died in...
Conversation
03.13.18When Trump and Kim Meet, What Will Xi Do?
On March 8, South Korea’s National Security Advisor announced that Donald Trump had agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by May. Although now-ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson previously downplayed the announcement, a summit...
ChinaFile Recommends
03.13.18Beijing Watches and Waits While Trump Talks up His Meeting with Kim Jong Un
CNBC
The milestone summit suits Beijing's interests so the communist state isn't expected to interfere.
Conversation
02.15.18Is American Policy toward China Due for a ‘Reckoning’?
Former diplomats Kurt M. Campbell and Ely Ratner argue that United States policy toward China, in administrations of both parties, has relied in the past on a mistaken confidence in America’s ability to “mold China to the United States’ liking.”...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.12.18Trump Taps Harry Harris, Known for Being Tough on China, as Australia Envoy
New York Times
Trump announces plans to nominate a vocal critic of China as ambassador to Australia.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.05.18With Everyone Focused on Russia, China Is Quietly Expanding Its Influence across Europe
Washington Post
Two new studies suggest that European leaders appear to too willing to overlook China’s authoritarian ambitions.
The China Africa Project
01.30.18How Trump’s Vulgar Comments Towards Africa Play Right into China’s Hands
Somali-British freelance journalist Ismail Einahse joins Eric and Cobus to discuss his recent opinion column, “Trump’s Insults Will Nudge African Nations Closer To China.” The article, published on NPR.org, reflects a contentious debate going on...
ChinaFile Recommends
01.09.18Emmanuel Macron Targets Deals during China State Visit
Financial Times
French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to China’s imperial past during a state visit this week as he sought deals for French industry and co-operation on global issues such as climate change and terrorism.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.28.17Obama to Meet with Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi on Visits to China, India and France
Washington Post
The tour comes just two weeks after President Trump held a summit with Xi in Beijing and days after Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, a White House adviser, participated in a global economic summit in Hyderabad, India.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.27.17Aung San Suu Kyi Looks to China as Criticism over Rohingya Grows
Financial Times
Aung San Suu Kyi is to visit China in a sign that Myanmar is drawing closer to Beijing as international condemnation of the violent expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from the country grows.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.20.17Chinese Envoy Wraps up North Korea Trip after Meetings
ABC
A high-level Chinese envoy wrapped up a four-day trip to North Korea on Monday after meeting with top officials and discussing the tense state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula and other issues.
Viewpoint
11.10.17Bathed in the Xi Jinping Bromance
Sitting in a grand salon of the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square and awaiting the official arrival ceremony of President Trump was to be taken back to that period of Sino-Soviet amity when Stalin was Mao’s “big brother” and the Chinese...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.25.17Singapore’s Delicate Balancing Act between the US and China
CNN
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong may have been in Washington on Monday to consolidate his country's economic and political partnerships with the US, but he appeared to dedicate much of his time concentrating on another nation whose...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.12.17China Offers Support to Spanish Government amid Catalonia Crisis
South China Morning Post
China understands and supports the Spanish government’s efforts to protect the country’s unity and territorial integrity, Beijing said on Thursday, amid moves by Catalonia to declare independence.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.25.17US Commerce Secretary Visits Beijing Ahead of Trump Trip
Washington Post
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Monday that Washington is hoping for concrete progress during President Donald Trump’s planned trip to China amid rising trade tensions.
Media
09.18.17Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan, and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century
The following is an edited transcript of a live event hosted at Asia Society in New York on September 7, 2017, and named for a new book by Richard McGregor, the former Beijing Bureau Chief of the Financial Times, “ChinaFile Presents: ‘Asia’s...
Conversation
07.20.17Should the U.S. Play Hardball with China on Trade?
Last week, United States President Donald Trump suggested that he is considering leveraging tariffs on Chinese steel imports. Trump’s aggressive posture has left diplomatic experts uneasy amid an already divided U.S. diplomatic house in Beijing, and...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.19.17Singapore Will Not ‘Roll over’ for China
South China Morning Post
Despite assertions from a former top diplomat, an ambassador-at-large says the Lion City will always speak up when its interests are at stake
ChinaFile Recommends
07.11.17India, China Can Handle Border Differences, Senior Indian Official Says
Reuters
India and China can manage the differences that are likely to arise from time to time over their contested border, India’s Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said on Tuesday, commenting on recent tension sparked by Chinese road-building.
Sinica Podcast
06.28.17Top U.S. Diplomat David Rank on Why He Resigned to Protest Trump
from Sinica Podcast
David Rank became the leading diplomat for one of America’s most important embassies during the transition when Iowa governor Terry Branstad formally succeeded former Montana senator Max Baucus as U.S. Ambassador to China on May 24, 2017. He soon...
ChinaFile Recommends
06.22.17Trump Says ‘We Have a Great Relationship with China’ after Critical Tweet
CNBC
The United States pressed China to exert more economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to help rein in its nuclear and missile programs during a round of high-level talks in Washington on Wednesday.
Conversation
06.14.17The World Is Deserting Taiwan. How Should the U.S. Respond?
On June 12, the small Central American nation of Panama announced it was severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan so that it could establish relations with the People’s Republic of China. Now, only 19 countries and the Vatican recognize Taiwan. Why did...
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.
ChinaFile Recommends
05.08.17How Trump Gave China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Scheme a Boost
South China Morning Post
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ‘Belt and Road’ trade development initiative, always ambitious, has been given a boost by American counterpart Donald Trump’s protectionist trade agenda and isolationist diplomacy.