Following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the PLA launched a series of military exercises surrounding Taiwan, in a show of “locking in” the island. When the exercises ended, Beijing released a white paper stating that “peaceful reunification” is the “first choice” for the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government. But what are the other “choices”? Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong tells us more.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited and left Taiwan safely. While she spent 19 hours in Taiwan with seemingly little consequences to herself and the US for now, it is Taiwan that has to bear the brunt of Beijing’s wrath. Did Pelosi's visit accomplish anything? In the case of mainland China, its people are expectedly mad about Beijing's mild actions towards the US, but the current situation could be to Beijing's advantage.

During their phone call on 28 July, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping made their positions clear on Taiwan and asked their staff to explore an in-person meeting. The verdict is still out, but it is unlikely that either of them will let US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s surprise move checkmate US-China relations into a direct military conflict they both do not want.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has again announced plans to visit Taiwan, this time in August. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has also said that he will very likely speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping in the next ten days. Are these incidents related and what action is mainland China likely to take? Zaobao’s associate editor Han Yong Hong examines the issue.

Following former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s death, the pro-constitutional amendment camp retained a majority during the upper house election, marking a step forward for the revision of Japan’s post-war constitution. Nevertheless, Japan will still need to approach the matter with caution to avoid damaging the already delicate relations with the US and China. Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong shares more on the issue.

At his first Legislative Council meeting on 6 July, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee laid out his work plan and likened Hong Kong to a “gentleman” that has to respond robustly to attacks from “nasty people” bent on smearing the city. Zaobao’s associate editor Han Yong Hong examines how he plans to tell the Hong Kong story well.

The recent NATO summit in Madrid seems to indicate that NATO is making a comeback in full force. For China, painted as presenting “systemic challenges” to NATO, this should sound a warning that when the time is ripe for the US to contain China, key countries in the Asia-Pacific and the EU will not be on its side.

While virtual meetings between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden have usually followed in-person meetings between the countries’ top diplomats, there is no sign of a virtual summit taking place any time soon after China's Yang Jiechi and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met in Luxembourg. For the US, internal disagreement over trade tariff issues could be causing the pause. And in the case of China, it has already let go of any false hope for better ties.

China has recently begun a campaign to say that the Taiwan Strait cannot be considered “international waters” based on the UNCLOS. Zaobao’s associate editor Han Yong Hong sees this as Beijing's way to assert its jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait and that it is ready to boost and expand its scope of military actions over the area.