China News
Politics & Law
Political will is needed to foster multilateralism in Europe
On July 1st 2020, a large number of international affairs specialists gathered in Vienna, Austria, for the conference “From Victory Day to Corona Disarray: 75 Years of Europe’s Collective Security and Human Rights System”. The conference, jointly organized by four different entities (the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies IFIMES, Media Platform Modern … Continue reading
Iran deal: Has China stepped on a visible land mine
THE MOTHER OF ALL DEALS In a recent development in July 2020, Iran-China inked a $400 billion deal. This is a 25-year pact: Iran doesn’t gain much from the deal, other than immediate relief from the American sanctions. Which would get China a considerable bargain on the Iranian oil. China will invest $400 billion in … Continue reading
Will China be able to win over Europe?
As the global geopolitical sphere shapes up into a battleground between the US and China, Europe will have to ally either an erratic Donald Trump or a dubious Xi Jinping. The bright side of the Sino-European relationship Trade between the European Union and China has been booming and continues to be the least worrying aspect … Continue reading
The CIA sent a team of 4 operators on a spy mission targeting China. None came back.
As Tropical Storm Higos blew in from the Pacific, Stephen Stanek, a covert CIA operative, faced a decision. It was time to either cancel the operation he was running or go forward with it. The storm was barreling through the Philippines but was then projected to veer north and miss their area of operation. Stanek’s … Continue reading
China in Europe: Hit the (Belt and) Road Jack
Today at a broader diplomatic and strategic level, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become a symbol of China’s growing importance in international affairs, changing regional dynamics in geographical areas close to or even within Europe. At the most basic level, the strategic implications of expanding China’s policy in the EU stem not so … Continue reading
India-Israel Relations
India’s budding relationship with Israel has now blossomed under the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India forged diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992, 42 years after recognizing it as a country. During these 4 decades, India was chained by its commitment to the non-aligned movement, its vast Muslim population’s sentiment, its sympathy to the … Continue reading
Europe just declared independence from China
As the EU navigates an increasingly Sino-American world, it finally sees the need to stand together, even against Beijing. China’s diplomats were already having a terrible year in Europe, but this week they managed to make it even worse. At this rate, Chinese President Xi Jinping may achieve the dubious feat of alienating the Europeans … Continue reading
Why the Czech Republic is baiting China
“An act of international treachery” was how China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi described Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil’s official visit to Taiwan this week. Amid a broad downturn of Beijing’s relations with Europe, the trip is certain to impact more than just bilateral ties between China and what a Chinese tabloid mockingly called a “small, … Continue reading
2025: End Game China – War a Certainity (Part 2)
HOW TO DEAL WITH A TYRANT The war with China is a certainty. Whether it would be with India or any other country in the South China Sea, only time would tell. However, since the initiative has been taken by China, India should not disappoint them, else they would keep coming back like a chronic … Continue reading
China builds missile site at sacred lake revered by hundreds of millions in India
The Chinese regime has set up a surface-to-air missile site on the banks of a sacred lake, according to Indian media, which claims the installation is a desecration of a religious site revered by hundreds of millions in India. China started in April to build military infrastructure near a lake that’s part of the sacred … Continue reading
China and Russia: An alliance of convenience or trust?
After years of rivalry and mutual suspicion, the China-Russia relationship has been ameliorated by strong economic, military, and political ties. In 1969, limited but intense clashes between the USSR and China mushroomed the hostility and mistrust till the mid-1980s. It wasn’t until the fall of the Soviet Union that the diplomatic tensions thawed. As both … Continue reading
A costly affair for China
The Galwan Attack Seldom are the incidents that lead to ever lasting consequences remembered long after they have happened, less so the people involved. So likely will the world forget the sacrifice of Col Santosh Babu of the Indian army in Galwan Valley of Ladakh or that of the PLA soldier(s) that were the cause. … Continue reading
Chinese diplomat elected to Law of the Sea tribunal
The election of a Chinese diplomat as a member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea once again shows that certain countries’ attempts to contain and suppress the Chinese contender in the election were unpopular and futile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday. Duan Jielong, China’s ambassador to Hungary, was … Continue reading
2025: End Game China – War a Certainity (Part 1)
DECEPTION A WAY OF LIFE IN CHINA China draws heavily from two famous historical military bluffs and Sun Tzu’s teachings, in its day-to-day life. The legendary stories revolve around Li Guang and his 100 horsemen (144 BC), and Zhuge Liang and the Empty City (228 AD). The legend has it that Li Guang(nicknamed The Flying … Continue reading
Mekong countries must confront China over dam impact, experts say ahead of China-led meeting
China’s extensive damming of the upper Mekong River has reduced water flows, threatening downstream countries Cambodia and Vietnam with environmental harm and food shortages, said experts in advance of a summit meeting of the multilateral Mekong-Lancang Cooperation group. The summit, to be held on Aug. 24 as a virtual meeting, will be co-chaired by Lao … Continue reading
China’s Communist Party is a threat to the world, says former elite insider
Cai Xia is no stranger to defying expectations. During her years at the Chinese Communist Party’s top training center and think tank, the outspoken professor had surprised many with her liberal ideas and support for democratic reform. More recently, she caused a stir with a spate of scathing denunciations of China’s ruling elite and the … Continue reading
Sino-African relationship: Win-win or debt trap diplomacy?
China has had unparalleled involvement and success in Africa across trade, investment, and infrastructure financing in the past decade. As Africa’s biggest trade partner and the largest supplier of overseas construction projects, the Sino-African relationship is transforming the African economy and the Chinese geopolitical landscape. Africa and China, both being the victims of invasions, suppression, … Continue reading
US president’s ultimate challenge: stable relations with China
How to handle China and how to maintain America’s position ahead of its economic rival in the global pecking order is a major issue in the 2020 US presidential election. Both candidates – the incumbent Republican Donald Trump and the presumptive Democratic candidate Joe Biden – are united in their belief that whoever can bash … Continue reading
The US vs China: Who is in charge?
The dramatic evolution of the international order in the past few years has altered this pattern. Covid-19 has catalyzed the Chinese domination as a global superpower, bringing the nation in a face-off with ‘Uncle Sam.’ Continue reading
Hidden Hand book review: China’s true global ambitions exposed
This is a remarkable book with a chilling message. The Chinese Communist party, for which dominating rural China in order to encircle its cities and win the civil war is part of its historic backstory, is now intent on doing the same internationally. Using whatever lever comes to hand – generously financing a thinktank in … Continue reading
China’s assertiveness is becoming a problem for its friends, too
In the regular drumbeat of arrests of alleged Chinese spies, one case last month stood out. It did not involve the U.S. or another rival of China, but Russia, whose security services accused a prominent scientist of selling classified data on technologies for detecting submarines. Meanwhile a court in Kazakhstan in October convicted the Central … Continue reading
2025 End Game – Xi’s China is mirroring Nazi Germany
This is a chronological presentation of the events that led to World War II. It would be incredible to note that there are uncanny similarities between those events, and the events presently taking place in and around China. Our assessment at Insightful Geopolitics indicates towards a major war before 2025. In the following write-up, years … Continue reading
From the Victory Day to Corona Disarray
75 years of Europe’s Collective Security and Human Rights System – Legacy of Antifascism for th Common Pan-European Future. The first July day of 2020 in Vienna sow marking the anniversary of Nuremberg Trials with the conference “From the Victory Day to Corona Disarray: 75 years of Europe’s Collective Security and Human Rights System – … Continue reading
Gordon Chang predicts China collapse every year since 2001
Gordon Chang has predicted China’s collapse every year since 2001. Now he says China is like Imperial Japan, only worse. Conspiracy theorist and professional China-hater Gordon Chang is on the FOX news again for warning against evil China that, he claims, is aggressive as ever and teetered on war and destruction in the China seas, … Continue reading
COVID-19 and the new world order
On 1 July 2020, the first real-time conference in Europe past the early-spring lockdown took place at the Diplomatic Academy Vienna. This highly anticipated event, entitled From the Victory Day to Corona Disarray 75 years of Europe’s Collective Security and Human Rights System Legacy of antifascism for the common pan-European future, was organized by the … Continue reading
A new US tactic: Pompeo suggests to change CCP’s behavior
“…And if we don’t act now, ultimately the CCP will erode our freedoms and subvert the rules-based order that our societies have worked so hard to build. “If we bend the knee now, our children’s children may be at the mercy of the Chinese Communist Party, whose actions are the primary challenge today in the … Continue reading
Gordon Chang compares China to 1930’s Japan, warns of very dangerous activities by Beijing against US
Author and China expert Gordon Chang warned on Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co.” Monday that the Beijing government has undertaken “very dangerous activities, especially against the U.S. Navy and the Air Force” in recent years. “When a militant power wants to kill in great numbers, it usually succeeds,” Chang told host Stuart Varney in reference to … Continue reading
Chinese fugitive taken into custody as US claims Houston consulate was a part of espionage network
Senior US government officials said Friday that a Chinese scientist who had been hiding in the country’s San Francisco consulate after accusations of visa fraud is now in US custody and also charged that Beijing has been using its diplomatic outposts to run an espionage network to steal intellectual property from US businesses, universities and … Continue reading
Why is Xi Jinping pitting China against the world?
Xi Jinping has stifled dissent at home and is increasingly willing for China to assert itself abroad. Earlier this week, Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a rare meeting in Beijing with business leaders. Admitting that the Covid-19 pandemic had a “huge impact” on the country’s economy, Xi used a Chinese idiom to assure his listeners. … Continue reading
U.S. wants to build coalition to counter China’s ‘disgraceful’ menace
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday the United States wants to build a global coalition to counter China as he accused Beijing of exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to further its own interests. U.S. President Donald Trump identifies China as the United States’ main rival, and has accused President Xi Jinping of taking … Continue reading
Deep in the Thucydides Trap, but US-China is far from a ‘hot’ war
The term ‘Thucydides Trap’ has become a hot topic after American political scientist Graham T. Allison published his book ‘Destined for War: Can America and China Escape the Thucydides Trap?’ in 2017. It suggests that a war is likely to happen when an emerging power, say, a ranked number 2 power (#2), threatens to displace … Continue reading
The cold war between U.S. and China just got a lot hotter
So, this is what life feels like “in the foothills of a new Cold War,” as Henry Kissinger has called it.Though perhaps the better metaphor would be “in the trenches,” for this week one could hear the steady din overhead from the escalating U.S.-Chinese conflict that will define our times. On Monday, Secretary of State … Continue reading
2025: End Game China – The Balkinization
”Anyone attempting to split China in any part of the country will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones.” – Chinese President Xi Jinping on a state visit to Nepal in Oct 2019. The above statement clearly indicates the nervousness of the Chinese government. As they say, beneath every story; there is another story, and there … Continue reading
US considers travel ban on millions of Chinese Communist Party members
The US is reportedly considering imposing travel restrictions on Chinese Communist party members amid a deepening row, with president Donald Trump saying further sanctions were possible and Beijing vowing retaliation. A draft presidential proclamation would revoke visas for members of the Chinese Communist party as well as their families, according to the New York Times, … Continue reading
US allies once seemed cowed by China. Now they’re responding with rare coordination
Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised the world with a speech at Davos in 2017, defending free trade and joint action on climate change as then US president-elect Donald Trump argued for precisely the opposite. It might have been an overambitious pitch by Xi to position China as the world’s next leader, but it also seemed a genuine sign that Beijing … Continue reading
Philippines says no compromise on 2016 South China Sea victory against China
The Philippines will adhere without compromise to a 2016 court victory that nullified China’s claims in most of the South China Sea, its top diplomat said. “The award is non-negotiable,” Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin said in a statement on Sunday. He was commemorating the fourth anniversary of a Permanent Court of Arbitration’s decision … Continue reading
China now claims Bhutan’s territory, Bhutan rejects Chinese claims
In yet another new move to claim land in Bhutan, China at the 58th meeting of the Global Environment Facility Council tried to “oppose” funding to a project for the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary situated in Bhutan saying that it was “disputed” territory. In reality, there has never been any dispute about where the sanctuary lay … Continue reading
Pyongyang helping Beijing strengthen ties with Seoul
North Korea kept its promise to dismantle its nuclear facilities but still the US refused to lift the economic sanctions. What was worse was that Washington did not allow Seoul to engage in normal trade with Pyongyang within the Korean Peninsula. It is so silly and illogical that when the two Koreas want to enjoy … Continue reading
Australians at risk of arbitrary arrest in China, Australian government travel advice warns
The Federal Government has issued new travel advice warning Australians they could face “arbitrary detention” if they go to mainland China. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also said Chinese Government authorities have detained foreigners because they were allegedly “endangering national security”. The department was already advising travellers not to travel to China — … Continue reading
The world is finally uniting against China’s bully tactics
Twenty Indian soldiers are murdered in a surprise cross-border attack by the People’s Liberation Army. A Philippine fishing boat is sunk in its own territorial waters by increasingly predatory Chinese ships. Peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong are beaten bloody by riot police on Beijing’s orders. Australia’s farmers and miners are hit with trade sanctions … Continue reading
Hong Kong man accused of terrorism in first use of China’s new security law
A man carrying a “Liberate Hong Kong” sign as he drove a motorcycle into police at a protest against the territory’s Chinese rulers became on Friday the first person charged with inciting separatism and terrorism under a new security law Beijing imposed the legislation on the former British colony earlier this week despite protests from … Continue reading
Vietnam could face blowback from legal row with China
If Hanoi files an official complaint in its South China Sea dispute with Beijing, it could lose more than it win. Pundits are predicting that Vietnam will soon file a complaint under the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) dispute-settlement mechanism regarding China’s actions in the South China Sea. As an indication that … Continue reading
Trump’s national-security adviser says U.S. ‘has finally awoken to the threat’ posed by China
President Donald Trump’s national-security adviser warned China on Wednesday that the United States is waking up to the threat that the Chinese Communist Party poses “to our great way of life” and will act to check the spread of Beijing’s ideology. Robert O’Brien said his speech challenging China was the first of many planned for … Continue reading
World War III is getting uglier
Continue Reading From Part 1: This is a regular working day in New York City, U.S.A. The lines outside the ATMs and Bank tellers are getting serpentine, and people are losing their patience, the banking servers have crashed. In a short while stock market servers crash, and airlines & train bookings are not accessible. Almost … Continue reading
As ‘not-re-elected’ Trump may refuse to quit, Beijing is preparing for US chaos
“… the military will escort Mr. Trump out of the White House if he loses the election and doesn’t leave …” said Joe Biden when being asked about such a scenario (CBS News June 11). Do not be so naïve because should Trump really refuse to step down, he probably had had some sort of … Continue reading
Understanding and navigating Hong Kong’s security law
US Secretary of State Pompeo says new security law will be a ‘death knell’ for Hong Kong’s autonomy.” “China warns UK of economic damage unless it backs down.” “National security law for Hong Kong to boost ‘one country, two systems’ and ensure freedoms beyond 2047.” What are business leaders to think as they wake up … Continue reading
ASEAN, C-19 and Vietnam’s Chairmanship
COVID-19 (C-19) event is posing serious challenges for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2020. But Vietnam, as current ASEAN chair, is trying to make the best of the situation and demonstrate leadership. As 2020 marks a mid-term review of the implementation of the ASEAN Community Building Blueprints 2015–25, Vietnam chose ‘Cohesive … Continue reading
America and China: A possible post COVID-19 future
“Americans performed three very different policies on the People’s Republic: From a total negation (and the Mao-time mutual annihilation assurances), to Nixon’s sudden cohabitation. Finally, a Copernican-turn: the US spotted no real ideological differences between them and the post-Deng China. This signalled a ‘new opening’: West imagined China’s coastal areas as its own industrial suburbia. … Continue reading
How to avoid a China-led world order
As the COVID-19 crisis has unfolded, it has opened our eyes to China’s rapidly expanding role in the international order and global economy. Beijing’s outsize role in the World Health Organization has come under attack, as has the muscular diplomacy used by China’s foreign ministry in responding to criticism. Three decades of American global hegemony after the … Continue reading
MPs from eight countries form new global coalition to counter China
What does the chair of the Australian parliament’s Intelligence Committee have in common with a Greens MP, a former Japanese Defence Minister, and a former Liberal Canadian attorney-general? The answer is China. Today, a group of 19 MPs from eight countries and the European Parliament, representing a swathe of parties from right across the political … Continue reading
