With the fifth anniversary of the China-Britain Comprehensive Strategic Partnership approaching, it is remarkable to see how dramatically this much-heralded “golden era” of relations has turned into one of deepening mistrust and bitter acrimony. In the past few weeks, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has banned Huawei from involvement in Britain’s 5G networks, suspended its...Read More

This year’s G7 annual gathering of developed economies in Biarritz, France, yielded very little in the way of solutions for a sagging and troubled global economy, and the various social and environmental challenges facing globalisation. The ineffectiveness of this select group in influencing the course of world development is doubtless due to a variety of...Read More

“Almost the single worst abuser of everybody.” This was how US President Donald Trump described Vietnam’s approach to trade in an interview in June. His damning verdict was followed a few days later by an announcement from the US Department of Commerce that it would be imposing duties of up to 456 per cent on Vietnamese...Read More

Bob Savic says China’s offer to mediate between Myanmar and Bangladesh – in order to solve the core issues of the Rohingya refugee crisis – is an extension of its diplomatic Belt and Road Initiative. When Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the “Belt and Road Initiative” in 2013, it seemed to be essentially an economic project, albeit one of...Read More

Bob Savic says having recently consolidated their power domestically, both leaders should have a freer hand to cooperate and advance common goals, among them a resolution of the North Korea nuclear stand-off. China’s 19th Communist Party Congress ended with the inclusion of President Xi Jinping’s name and political thought into the party’s constitution, elevating his status as a...Read More