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Illustration: Craig Stephens
US-China relations

Opinion | Despite summit pledges, don’t expect US-China trade to improve

The near-term trajectory of China-US economic ties rests on several key timelines, any of which could trigger new tensions.

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Technology

Opinion | Quantum IPO wave is a milestone. It should also come with a warning

Diplomacy

Opinion | Xi-Trump summit affirms China’s role as world’s indispensable broker

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United States

Opinion | Birthright citizenship fight shows US identity debate is far from settled

The re-emergence of the debate despite the 14th Amendment shows the ongoing contest over American cultural DNA.

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Demonstrators rally in support of birthright citizenship outside the US Supreme Court in Washington on April 1. Photo: AFP
Demonstrators rally in support of birthright citizenship outside the US Supreme Court in Washington on April 1. Photo: AFP
US-China relations

Opinion | Xi-Trump summit reveals changing shape of US-China tech rivalry

Trump is acknowledging reality: if a full US-China decoupling is unrealistic, the alternative is to shape the terms of interdependence.

US-China relations

Opinion | China’s gift to the world we live in: predictability

Surveys of US public opinion and German investor sentiment point to the wisdom of China’s strategic composure.

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Stocks

Macroscope | Global stock markets are bubbling along on unjustified optimism

Hype around AI and some tech companies has inflated stock prices and left investors ebullient despite the rising risk of a market crash.

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Currency dealers celebrate in front of a screen showing South Korea’s benchmark stock index during a ceremony celebrating it breaking 7,000 points at the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on May 6. The market value of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics smashed past US$1 trillion for the first time on May 6 as the firm rides an AI chip boom that has sent Seoul’s Kospi stock index to record highs. Photo: AFP
Currency dealers celebrate in front of a screen showing South Korea’s benchmark stock index during a ceremony celebrating it breaking 7,000 points at the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on May 6. The market value of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics smashed past US$1 trillion for the first time on May 6 as the firm rides an AI chip boom that has sent Seoul’s Kospi stock index to record highs. Photo: AFP
Mainland China

Being Chinese | How to deal with this ‘very Chinese time’ in Western lives

The question is not whether outsiders are getting China or Chinese culture right, but what we choose to do with their attention.

US-China relations

As I see it | Beijing had already won before the Trump-Xi summit even started

There’s a lesson for the US president in Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in the early 19th century.

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Diplomacy

Outside In | Xi-Trump summit aside, 2 meetings in Asia matter for global trade

As Trump travelled to Beijing for the kind of bilateral dealmaking he prefers, two groups have continued their multilateral efforts.

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US tech bosses and officials attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14 as US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping arrive. Photo: AP
Brics

Opinion | Brics is less a structure than a sentiment

Despite lacking geopolitical alignment, Brics captures a prevailing mood among emerging economies that won’t fade away any time soon.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) and President Xi Jinping attend the 2023 Brics Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 24, 2023. Photo: AFP
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) and President Xi Jinping attend the 2023 Brics Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 24, 2023. Photo: AFP
2026 Xi-Trump summit

Macroscope | Trump-Xi summit puts US vulnerabilities on display

China weaponising rare earths turned the tables on Trump, showing how unprepared Western governments and firms were for a full trade war.

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China economy

Opinion | Why the world needs China to save more, not less

The IMF assumes China should save less. China’s saving is key to financing the developing world’s need for green infrastructure.

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US-China relations

As I see it | US’ scientific self-harm will only help China

While Washington slashes funding for the sciences, Beijing is clinching its lead in everything from patent applications to publications.

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A researcher checks the control wiring at a laboratory in the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, on January 21. Photo: Xinhua
US-China relations

Opinion | US maximum pressure tactics unlikely to work with China

As the Trump-Xi summit approaches, China will be going into negotiations with a new diplomatic posture.

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A US Air Force C-17 lands at Beijing Capital Airport on May 11, ahead of a visit by US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP
A US Air Force C-17 lands at Beijing Capital Airport on May 11, ahead of a visit by US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP
US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | Trump has few cards to play against Iran and in China

The impasse over the Strait of Hormuz is a long chess game across multiple arenas, not easily solved by a naval blockade or a mere poker bluff.

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Diplomacy

Opinion | Just because Brics isn’t a coherent bloc doesn’t mean it’s impotent

The grouping has a future, not as a binding structure demanding policy alignment but as a tool for members to enhance leverage and maximise options.

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Diplomacy

Opinion | Latin America is reassessing the benefits of warm ties with Beijing

From Honduras to Cuba and Venezuela, leaders are taking a more transactional view of what relations with Beijing really bring.

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Honduran President Nasry Asfura, seen during general elections in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on November 30, has ordered a review of deals with Beijing after Tegucigalpa cut ties with Taipei. Photo: AP
Honduran President Nasry Asfura, seen during general elections in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on November 30, has ordered a review of deals with Beijing after Tegucigalpa cut ties with Taipei. Photo: AP
Middle East

Opinion | The problem no one is naming as the UAE dramatically exits Opec

The fighting over oil production quotas was the symptom. Security realignment is the disease.

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US-China relations

Opinion | China shouldn’t view a tired US as signifying a Europe ready to pivot

As fractures within the US’ network of alliances deepen, China’s strategic window opens a little wider, with some key caveats.

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China economy

Opinion | Rise of China complicates ‘authoritarian’ vs ‘democratic’ binary

As China’s trajectory exposes the limitations of labels inherited from another era, understanding how governance systems work is more important.

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A large screen shows news footage of China’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe collecting a sample from the far side of the moon, in Beijing, China, on June 4, 2024. Photo: Reuters
US-China relations

Opinion | China’s challenges in engaging with the US during the Middle East war

China needs the global system to succeed. So it must not get entangled with Iran nor jeopardise US relations over Taiwan.

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US President Donald Trump greets Chinese President Xi Jinping at Gimhae Air Base on October 30, 2025 in Busan, South Korea. Photo: Getty Images
US President Donald Trump greets Chinese President Xi Jinping at Gimhae Air Base on October 30, 2025 in Busan, South Korea. Photo: Getty Images
United States

Opinion | Thanks to Trump, the gloves are off. There may be no new global order

With the UN, IMF and World Bank mired in old power structures, universities could be the platform to shape how the global future unfolds.

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China-EU relations

Opinion | China unsurprisingly puts its own interests first. Can Europe do the same?

As Beijing seeks to influence Europe, Brussels must shape on its own competitiveness agenda and policy aims for engaging with China.

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China economy

Outside In | Prepare for ‘China shock 3.0’ to the global food economy

Imagine China applying the same industry policy playbook for electric cars, solar panels and AI to agriculture and food self-sufficiency.

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A worker checks rice seedlings on vertical racks at an intelligent rice seedling factory on April 2 in Changsha, Hunan province. Photo: China News Service via Getty Images
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