South East Asia

China is Russia’s best hope to blunt sanctions, but wary

China is the only friend that might help Russia blunt the impact of economic sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, but President Xi Jinping’s government is giving no sign it might be willing to risk its own access to U.S. and European markets by doing too much. Even if Beijing …

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The Eurasian Nightmare

Chinese-Russian Convergence and the Future of American Order The greatest strategic problem the United States faces is the convergence of its two main rivals, China and Russia—countries that don’t always like or trust each other but nonetheless derive great benefits from their simultaneous assaults on the existing international order. And …

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China Reiterates That Taiwan Is Their Territory, Sends 9 Aircraft To Taiwanese Air Space

While the world looked to Ukraine during its time of crisis amid the Russian invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, his close ally China and Chinese President Xi Jinping has been busy reiterating that Taiwan is part of their sovereign territory after it had previously stated in a UNSC …

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In phone call, China plays a balancing act over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, held a phone call with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday after Russian troops invaded Ukraine and began airstrikes on numerous Ukrainian cities. The call is part of a delicate geopolitical balancing act on China’s part. Beijing has been careful not to explicitly endorse …

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China and Russia are proposing a new authoritarian playbook. MENA leaders are watching closely.

When President Donald Trump lost the 2020 US presidential election to democratic candidate Joe Biden, many leaders in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) saw an ominous warning that democracy may again take center stage in US foreign policy, with autocrats trying to consolidate power in their hands. However, …

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Chinese fighter jets sortie into Taiwan’s air zone on heels of Ukraine invasion

Taiwan scrambled fighter jets Thursday in response to nine Chinese aircraft entering its air defense identification zone, the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense said on its website. Chinese aircraft have encroached on Taiwan’s air defense zone with increasing frequency during the past year, but Thursday’s sorties come at a particularly …

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Pakistan’s Taliban Plans

Pakistan’s Taliban movement, led by its most vicious and largest group, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and apparently buoyed by the recent triumph of their ethnic Pashtun cousins in Afghanistan, is revitalizing its strategy either for regional autonomy or to overthrow Pakistan’s government and replace it with an Islamic Emirate of Pakistan …

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China and Russia are proposing a new authoritarian playbook. MENA leaders are watching closely.

When President Donald Trump lost the 2020 US presidential election to democratic candidate Joe Biden, many leaders in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) saw an ominous warning that democracy may again take center stage in US foreign policy, with autocrats trying to consolidate power in their hands.

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Pakistan’s acquisition of Chinese J-10C fighter jets significant for both sides: analysts

After alleged images of the J-10C fighter jet with the marking of the Pakistan Air Force recently emerged on social media and were widely circulated by media outlets, Chinese analysts on Sunday lauded the latest defense cooperation between China and Pakistan, saying that the move yields great significance to both …

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Why Is China Fanning the Flames of Ethnic Politics in the Balkans?

The fragile geopolitical nature of the Balkans has allowed Russia to consistently undermine Western integration attempts in the region. While foreign interference is nothing new in Europe’s underbelly, it has historically been limited to regional powers and the U.S. But China’s recent collaboration with Russia in supporting ethnic separatism in …

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