Edward Howell

As another academic year begins, the hallowed walls of universities are filled with anticipation, whether for the bright-eyed fresher or the veteran don. Yet we must remove our rose-tinted spectacles. If today’s universities remain complacent, they risk being captured by hostile forces. It is not just the malevolent marriage between EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion) agendas and woke ideology that degrades our elite institutions from within. There is, and has long been, a third person in this marriage: China. MI5’s recent espionage alert rightly caused alarm. When agencies of the Chinese Communist party (CCP) fund academic research in British universities and funnel research findings back to Beijing, it is no laughing matter. This, however, is hardly news.

If you were Kim Jong-un, you’d be pretty happy right now. North Korea’s third supreme leader is not only the hermit kingdom’s most successful leader – he is also the richest. With the sanctions-stricken country having amassed over $20 billion (£15 billion) in foreign currency earnings as of last year, Kim is at his most emboldened since he took power in December 2011. As more North Korean artillery, missiles, and manpower head in Moscow’s direction to aid its war against Ukraine, Kim knows that for now, North Korea can count on its Cold War patrons of Russia and China for brotherly support. Pyongyang’s neighbours offer a crucial helpline in circumventing international sanctions and ensuring the Kim regime continues to reap rewards.

Does Andy Burnham have a plan? The new Prime Minister may have announced his intention to unveil a ten-year programme for the country, but beyond domestic politics, both he and his inexperienced Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, have said little when it comes to the elephant in the room: foreign policy. This silence can only last for so long. The question of what Britain ought to do about the increasingly acute threat from Beijing cannot be pushed to one side forever. The Starmer government’s policy on China was not just disastrous; it was non-existent. The China audit, due to happen after Sir Keir took office in July 2024, was swept under the carpet, never to be seen or heard of again. Instead, Starmer’s approach was tantamount to appeasement.

When Xi Jinping visited North Korea in June 2019 for his first state visit, he would not have expected nearly seven years later that the hermit kingdom would be in an alliance with Russia. As Xi concluded his second visit to the country yesterday, the Chinese president’s pledges to 'strengthen strategic coordination' and 'uphold regional peace and development' with his North Korean counterpart emphasised how Beijing wants to ensure that its northeastern neighbour does not cross any red lines. With Beijing having been Pyongyang’s largest economic partner for nearly two decades, Xi’s visit serves as a clear reminder to North Korea that China wants to maintain close ties and, crucially, ensure stability on the Korean Peninsula.

On Donald Trump's sojourn to China – the first visit by a US president in almost a decade – North Korea was hardly at the top of the agenda. Trump and Xi Jinping had bigger fish to fry, be that China’s desire to secure rhetorical US concessions on Taiwan, Trump’s wishes for greater Chinese investment in US manufacturing or whether Beijing can compel Iran to ease the effects of the Iran War. But US-China relations are not just a two-player game. Only last weekend, history was made as North Korean soldiers participated in Moscow’s Victory Day parade for the first time. A day beforehand, Kim Jong-un had pledged to Vladimir Putin that North Korea would ‘give top priority’ to its relations with Russia.

It was only a matter of time before Japan’s Iron Lady would be targeted by China. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi mentioned how Tokyo might resort to force were Beijing to take military action over Taiwan: 'If there are battleships and the use of force, no matter how you think about it, it could constitute a survival-threatening situation,' she said. In response, China’s consul-general in Osaka, Xue Jian, threatened, on Monday, to ‘cut off’ the Japanese prime minister’s ‘filthy neck…without a moment’s hesitation’. Xue’s vitriolic online reaction, which he subsequently deleted from his X account, underscores how China’s wolf-warrior diplomacy has anything but abated.

It is rare to see Xi Jinping burst into laughter. But something must have tickled China’s Paramount Leader when he met South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea. The summit will largely be remembered this year for Donald Trump’s tête-à-têtes with East Asian leaders, whether Xi Jinping, Lee Jae-myung, or Sanae Takaichi – despite the US president deciding to give the actual summit a miss. Yet, in what was a bumper week for South Korea, the summit’s host, other bilateral meetings must not go unacknowledged. When Lee met Xi Jinping on Saturday, few expected the two leaders to guffaw in unison.