Alarming and outrageous, certainly. The reaction in Washington to reports that China trawls America’s open innovation ecosystem pocketing prized technologies got that much right. AI and quantum computing, to name just two of them, could change the balance of global power. Read Here | WarOnTheRocks
Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced Canberra was canceling two agreements by Victoria, the country’s second most populous state, to participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. She said they were “inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or –adverse to our foreign relations” but did not elaborate. Read Here | Asia Times
China’s behavior in other territorial disputes also offers lessons for the future of the Sino-Indian border dispute. Despite a commitment to not militarize disputed islands and islets in the South China Sea, Beijing has continued to do so through incremental advances employing so-called grey zone tactics. Read Here | WarOnTheRocks
A new consensus has emerged in American politics: that the United States has recklessly pursued international economic openness at the expense of workers and the result has been economic inequality, social pain, and political strife. Read Here | Foreign Affairs
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga received renewed commitments from the United States to the two sides’ alliance and the kudos due to the first foreign leader to be greeted by US President Joe Biden in Washington. Read Here | Asia Times
A more assertive China is extending its influence across the Indo-Pacific and around the world. Existing alliances and institutions aren’t up to the task of addressing the consequences, and domestic politics across the region mean that an “Asian NATO” is off the table. That’s where the Quad comes in… Read Here | Foreign Affairs
This diplomatic process, which is crucial to avoiding further conflict in the Middle East and allowing President Biden to focus on competition with China, will falter unless the Biden administration moves quickly. American negotiators should list the sanctions that the United States is prepared to remove in exchange for Iranian compliance. Read Here | NYTimes
The spectre haunting India today is that its worst-case scenario in Afghanistan is becoming reality – a Taliban takeover. Delhi watches with disquiet the United States unceremoniously dumping its “conditions-based” troop withdrawal agenda, cutting loose and quitting the war. Read Here | Asia Times
To consolidate its post-pandemic growth momentum in 2021, China should not be in a rush to exit from expansionary fiscal and monetary policy. The government may have to issue more bonds than planned, and the People’s Bank of China may need to implement quantitative easing to facilitate this. Read Here | Project Syndicate
The US intelligence community has put China at the top of its annual report of national security threats, warning of Beijing’s struggle to realise “an epochal geopolitical shift”, including increased air and naval operations in Asia intended to assert its control in contested areas. Read Here | South China Morning Post Read the intelligence report […]
looking beyond borders 