For Xi Jinping, the COVID-19 pandemic – which has preoccupied the world’s governments for months – seemed like an ideal opportunity to make quick progress on his expansionist agenda. But by provoking India, he may have bitten off more than he can chew.
Read Here | Project Syndicate
A spiralling tech war between the United States and China has reinvigorated Beijing’s ambitions for semiconductor independence in recent months and turbocharged efforts in Washington to thwart its plans, leaving chip-making powerhouse Taiwan caught in the crossfire.
Read Here | South China Morning Post
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe managed to strike a delicate diplomatic balance between China and the United States. But as Sino-American tensions escalate, his successor, Yoshihide Suga, will find it increasingly difficult to avoid taking sides, especially on technology issues and security arrangements.
Read Here | Project Syndicate
One of the most serious is that supporters of the Quad as an alignment of democracies do not necessarily admire India’s charismatic but controversial prime minister, Narendra Modi. From an international relations standpoint, it makes perfect sense for democracies to work together to balance and contain China. But democracies, by definition, have their own internal politics. And in the internal politics of the West, many see Modi as an anathema.
Read Here | Foreign Policy
Both men would pursue plans to repatriate the production of critical medical and drug supplies, and both would try to minimise their nation’s reliance on China. But analysts say that Trump is likely to drive unilaterally forward in isolation from US allies, while Biden is expected to take a more multilateral approach.
Read Here | South China Morning Post
For more than five decades, the Indian military has feared one thing above all else — a two-front war with China and Pakistan. By leveraging its size, military strength, and eventually its nuclear arsenal, New Delhi believed it could deter or manage a conflict with either one of its nuclear-armed neighbours individually. But a collaborative threat from both adversaries would overstretch India’s resources and pose a formidable challenge.
Read Here | WarOnTheRocks
What is China up to in the Middle East? What are its intentions, and do they constitute a threat to the predominant U.S. order there? And will there soon be a transformation in its approach to regional conflict, especially through the emerging concept and practice of “peace through development”?
Read Here | WarOnTheRocks
China and Australia’s trade is interlinked in many areas but the largest value items are commodities Beijing arguably cannot readily source in sufficient supply elsewhere. This is often missed when Australia and China’s trade relationship is weighed against security ties with the US and a rapidly changing world order some view as a New Cold War.
Read Here | Asia Times
