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Diplomacy

Diplomacy
Latest news, features and analysis on global diplomatic relations, with a focus on China’s international ties – especially with the US, its Asian neighbours and the European Union.
Open Questions series

Zheng Yongnian on what US’ ‘neocolonialism’, Venezuela operation mean for China

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Liu Qian on Chinese innovation, the US rivalry and women holding up half the sky

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Garcia

Fuchsia Dunlop tells how she fell for China’s cuisine and names her perfect dish

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Mitter

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

‘Delusional’: Jeffrey Sachs on why Western hegemony has ended

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Illustration: Henry Wong

Scholar Jing Qian on right-sizing China’s economy in the age of Trump

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Zheng Yongnian on what US’ ‘neocolonialism’, Venezuela operation mean for China

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15
Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Liu Qian on Chinese innovation, the US rivalry and women holding up half the sky

7
Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Garcia

Fuchsia Dunlop tells how she fell for China’s cuisine and names her perfect dish

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5
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Mitter

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18
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

‘Delusional’: Jeffrey Sachs on why Western hegemony has ended

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93
Illustration: Henry Wong

Scholar Jing Qian on right-sizing China’s economy in the age of Trump

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40
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
MORE FROM THIS SERIES
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen Defenders of Ukraine, St Michael’s Cathedral, Kyiv, Ukraine on Sunday. Photo: Reuters
Ukraine war

Exiled Belarus opposition leader visits Ukraine as Kyiv warns of escalation

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met Ukraine’s Foreign ‌Minister Andrii Sybiha, on what she said was her first ‘working visit’ to Kyiv.

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Donald Trump

Trump says Iran deal should include additional countries joining Abraham Accords

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Cambodia

Hun Sen pardons detained Cambodia opposition leader Kem Sokha

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US-China relations

Opinion | How the US and China can ensure their board of trade is effective

Both sides need to learn from past failures, agree on a mandate and appoint officials with the clout to push decisions.

Illustration: Craig Stephens
Middle East

Israeli far-right ministers want ‘return to war in Lebanon’ despite peace talks

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich advocated for strikes on Beirut and cutting off electricity to Lebanon.

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India

India orders new deportation centres days after BJP election victory

The Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has ordered detention centres for undocumented migrants in West Bengal state, sparking fear of arbitrary expulsions.

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Pakistan

UAE deports Pakistani Shiites: jobs lost and savings frozen amid Iran war

Over one hundred deported Pakistanis said they were unable to retrieve their luggage or savings before being placed ‌on deportation flights.

A Pakistani Shi’ite Muslim man, who was working as a building security officer in the UAE, speaks with reporters in his village after being deported along with many others following the US-Israeli war against Iran, in Chakwal, Pakistan on May 5. Photo: Reuters
China’s military

China boosts peacekeeping budget share amid warnings UN may be sidelined

SIPRI says Beijing’s participation in such UN missions helps ‘project an image of itself as a responsible major power’.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Netanyahu increasingly isolated as Trump pursues Iran peace deal

The lack of a decisive victory in the Iran war has led Trump to lose confidence in the Israeli prime minister, analysts say.

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Asean

Shock absorber: will Asean’s power grid be up to the task by 2045?

With only eight of 18 links built and a 100-terawatt demand surge looming, analysts say the blueprint may need an overhaul for the AI age.

The sun sets behind power lines in San Fernando town, Pampanga province, the Philippines, last month. Photo: AFP
Mainland China

Opinion | Trump, Putin summits show an Eastward power shift

Beijing is signalling confidence and shaping the tempo of the China-US-Russia triangle – in which it is central.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Serbia

Opinion | Serbia can help build bridges between Europe and China

Serbia’s experience proves that cooperation with China brings concrete benefits to ordinary people, workers and families.

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The Philippines

US tech supply chain hub tackling China hits Philippine sovereignty wall

Manila pushes back against reports that a US-backed AI industrial hub will come under US laws and diplomatic protections.

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China’s Communist Party

Video | How a rural French town became the cradle of Chinese communism

Late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping was among the many Chinese students who studied in Montargis in the early 20th century.

Late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping was among the many Chinese students who studied in Montargis in the early 20th century
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India

Rubio renews US ties with India after Trump’s China visit

The US secretary of state called India a natural partner and invited PM Modi to the White House.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends an event at the US embassy in New Delhi, India, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters
South China Sea

Why the largest-ever US-Philippine drill, and Japan’s role, makes China uneasy

The scale of this year’s Balikatan exercise has been described as part of a trend that will ‘exacerbate regional instability’.

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The Philippines

Why Sara Duterte is altering tone on South China Sea dispute

The vice-president’s calls to ‘defend sovereignty’ are an attempt to please voters at home while not alienating Beijing, experts say.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Israel thrusts a reluctant UAE into the open over defence ties

Disclosures about Iron Dome batteries and secret meetings have exposed ties analysts say the UAE would rather handle ‘more discreetly’.

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Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets in October 2023 during the opening days of the Gaza war. Photo: Reuters
US-China relations

Letters | The Xi-Trump summit stabilised ties, but the rivalry persists

Readers discuss who holds the strongest cards in China-US ties, why Hong Kong should abandon the US dollar peg, and the merits of Indonesia’s social programmes.

US-China relations

Asian Angle | What the China-US stability pact means for Southeast Asia

The real test of Beijing and Washington’s adoption of ‘constructive strategic stability’ will be how words translate into action.

Iran

UN event on nuclear non-proliferation treaty stumbles, US and Iran clash

There was no consensus among the 191 parties to the NPT, the third failure in a row at a conference reviewing the treaty.

A plenary session of the review conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty held on Friday at the UN headquarters in New York. Photo: Kyodo
2026 Xi-Trump summit

How can China and the US escape ‘history as usual’? Xi has a message

Prominent Harvard scholar says the Chinese leader sees rivalry with Washington as a path to catastrophic war unless both sides rethink their ties.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and US President Donald Trump visit the Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing on May 15. Photo: AP
Donald Trump

Trump won’t attend eldest son’s wedding: ‘I have a thing called Iran’

‘I have a thing called Iran,’ the US president had earlier said on why the timing of the event was bad for him.

China-India relations

Rubio expected to brief New Delhi on Xi-Trump summit during India trip

US Secretary of State arrives on Saturday for four-day visit, with relations between the two countries strained and continuing to fluctuate.

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US-China relations

Two Chinese nationals charged in US drug cartel money-laundering case

Prosecutors say pair used mirror transfers, encrypted apps and trade schemes to launder cartel drug profits globally.

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US prosecutors said co-conspirators operating across the US, Mexico, Latin America and China allegedly laundered proceeds from trafficking narcotics including fentanyl and cocaine. Photo: Reuters
France

France’s youngest PM Attal to run for president

Gabriel Attal was just 37 when he became France’s youngest prime minister in 2024.

France’s former prime minister Gabriel Attal will turn 38 next March, just ahead of the presidential election scheduled for April. Photo: Reuters
US-China relations

Opinion | Xi-Trump summit a triumph for China

The future of the relationship is likely to be unscripted and messy at times, even full of friction, yet somehow maintaining a rhythm.

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Indonesia

‘So rough’: father of Indonesian on Gaza flotilla claims Israeli mistreatment

Nine Indonesians were among those detained when Israeli forces intercepted the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla on Monday.

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