China’s Debt Bomb Has a Slow Fuse
China’s local governments owe at least $12 trillion, a hole the property bust has widened and Beijing’s patches have not closed. The strain will shape Chinese exports, the technology race and America’s
Breaking China’s Grip, One Circuit Board at a Time
Ten million dollars will not build a refinery. By the standards of heavy industry, it is small change. Yet the pledge Washington made in Atlanta on Saturday, to fund facilities in India
Can Trump and Xi Keep the AI Race Under Control?
When Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet in Washington on Thursday, they will return to a familiar set of disputes that have defined relations between the world’s two largest economies: trade, technology
The AI Race is Developing an Asia Advantage
When Xi Jinping sits down with Donald Trump in Washington on September 24, artificial intelligence will be near the centre of the table. Washington has plenty to discuss: AI-enabled cyberattacks, semiconductor controls
China’s Slowdown Isn’t a Blip. It’s a Warning.
For most of this year, Beijing’s economic managers have offered a familiar reassurance: growth is cooling, but it’s cooling in a controlled, deliberate way — the natural byproduct of a planned shift
The Sham Elections Won’t Buy Myanmar Legitimacy
When Senior General Min Aung Hlaing stepped off his aircraft at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport, inspectable under a full military honor guard and flanked by smiling Thai officials, the symbolism was unmistakable.
Japan, India, and the Case for Trust as Strategy
There is a particular kind of diplomatic language that gets deployed when two countries want to signal that a relationship has moved from courtesy to consequence. This week in New Delhi, Japanese
China Treats Diplomacy Like a Ledger. It Won’t Add Up
There is a seductive logic to treating foreign policy like a business. Cut the deal, extract the value, move on to the next counterparty. No sentimentality, no lectures, no expensive entanglements—just leverage,
The EU’s Asia Pivot: Why South Korea Matters—and Why India Matters More
South Korean president arrives in Brussels with a soundtrack. K-pop — long one of Seoul’s most effective soft power tools — sets the tone for the first EU–South Korea summit in three
Probable Paths for Trump’s Managed Trade Framework with China
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed in principle to create new bilateral mechanisms — including a Board of Trade and a Board of Investment — under a “reciprocal
Trump, Xi and the Island Left Off the Readout
The Trump‑Xi summit in Beijing was staged as a pageant of great‑power stability: honor guards on Tiananmen, children waving flags, two leaders speaking of partnership and peace. Yet the most consequential subject
Managed Rivalry: Why Trump’s China Visit Matters More Than the Photo‑Ops
Donald Trump is scheduled to make a state visit to China in mid‑May 2026, a trip widely seen as an attempt to stabilize a volatile but indispensable relationship between the world’s two
The Myth of China’s ‘Neutrality’ on Iran
China is not mainly arming Iran with finished weapons; it is enabling Iran’s missile and drone ecosystem through dual-use chemicals, electronics, machine parts, and financial networks. That distinction matters, because Trump’s threatened
