Chinese foreign policy

Friday

Freddy Gray

Did the Trump/Xi summit achieve anything?

Air Force One is in the air as I write, whizzing from Beijing back to Washington – and Donald Trump leaves China with many questions unanswered. There were warm words on both sides and plenty of friendly symbolism in the President’s big summit with Xi Jinping. But the fundamental great power tensions remain – over trade, technology, and war and peace in the Middle East and Taiwan. Washington and Beijing agree that Iran should never have a nuclear weapon – though it remains unclear the extent to which China will help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Its closure hurts the Chinese economy, of course, but China has significant energy reserves and Xi knows that the pain spreads around the world to his advantage.

trump xi

Thursday

Jane Stannus

How Mark Carney sold Canada to China

As Can Force One moved toward Chinese airspace, the delegation’s electronic devices were powered down and secured in signal-blocking bags. Burner phones were passed out: the only machines the public servants, staff and journalists would be allowed to use for the duration of their stay. The Canadian Prime Minister’s security team was taking no risks. But Mark Carney himself was on his way to do something many back home would consider very risky indeed: signing agreements with Chinese President Xi Jinping on trade, global governance, energy, media access and law enforcement.

Carney

Tuesday

Juan P. Villasmil

Get ready for Trump’s ‘FAFO’ foreign policy

President Donald Trump posted an AI-picture of a gangster version of himself on Instagram at around 3 p.m. Sunday. Behind the fedora-clad figure, the text “FAFO” — short for “fuck around and find out” — appears alongside a smiling face.  What happened earlier that Sunday, and the machine-made picture that followed, tells us a lot about how Trump 2.0. will deal with the world.  After two planes carrying Colombian illegal aliens departed the United States this weekend, self-proclaimed humanist and former guerrilla fighter Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s president, refused to allow the plane to land. “I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory,” Petro said on X.

Monday

Juan P. Villasmil

Venezuela is essential for China’s ambitions

Venezuela has become a headache for Washington. Just after the Biden administration engineered a rapprochement strategy, Nicolás Maduro did more than just double down on not following through his promises of democratization: he is now pushing to annex neighboring Guyana. These developments, though, should have been anticipated, as Venezuela becomes a crucial part of China’s geopolitical strategy. "Ready for what will be a historic visit to strengthen ties of cooperation and the construction of a new global geopolitics. Good news will rain for the Venezuelan people," said Maduro after landing in the Chinese city of Shenzhen back in September.

Maduro china venezuela

Thursday

Juan P. Villasmil

China will miss Henry Kissinger

A hero to some and a villain to others, the late Henry Kissinger impacted American foreign policy thinking in the last six decades more than anyone else. Of the former secretary of state and Nobel Peace Prize winner's contributions, one of the most significant was the strengthening of Sino-American relations. His détente policy was once celebrated by Nixonites when the Soviets were seen as the US’s main competitor. More recently, though, as anti-China sentiment has risen in America, Kissinger’s desire to soften relationships with the Asian giant has gained him some detractors on the right — and he already had more than enough on the left. Arguably his death will be mourned more in China than America.

Kissinger

Tuesday

Daniel DePetris

Biden and Xi will resolve nothing in San Francisco

A year ago today, President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping shook hands with each other on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, in an attempt to reset the world’s most important bilateral relationship. The two men, who knew each other during their previous encounters at the vice presidential level, hoped to exploit their familiarity with one another to bring US-China relations onto a more productive plane. And for a moment, the Bali talkathon seemed to have that effect.

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