Diplomacy
Politics
Bilahari Kausikan: The Korean Peninsula and the future of East Asian geopolitics
Former Singapore diplomat Bilahari Kausikan believes that a momentous strategic shift is underway on the Korean Peninsula, impacting the East Asian geopolitical landscape. The rise of a nuclear-armed North Korea and a transactional US alliance system are forcing a structural reset. An independent nuclear path for South Korea and Japan may be next.
Bilahari Kausikan
16 Oct 2026
Politics
A new foreign minister, but who really calls the shots in Indonesia?
The appointment of a career diplomat has raised hopes of a return to Indonesia’s traditional foreign policy, with renewed emphasis on ASEAN. But Prabowo’s handling of China and the South China Sea raises questions about whether the country can change course while the president remains firmly in charge. ISEAS academic Leo Suryadinata gives his take.
Leo Suryadinata
14 Oct 2026
Politics
Shifting tides: Why global approval is swinging from US to China
China is surging past the US in global approval ratings from Latin America to Southeast Asia. Lianhe Zaobao China news editor Yang Danxu explains why Beijing’s popularity stems less from shared ideological values and more from growing dissatisfaction with US foreign policy.
Yang Danxu
07 Oct 2026
Politics
Are China and Indonesia model Global South partners?
China and Indonesia are partnering to reshape the world order as key members of the Global South amid a deteriorating Western liberal order and weakened US leadership. However, ISEAS researcher Lye Liang Fook notes that their differing national interests would limit the relationship.
Lye Liang Fook
07 Oct 2026
Politics
APEC Summit: Can Beijing pull off a Trump-Xi-Putin meeting?
Bringing together the leaders of China, Russia and the US during the APEC summit in November is one thing, but getting them to the same negotiating table is another. Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Sim Tze Wei takes a look at how Shenzhen could become host to high-stakes diplomacy.
Sim Tze Wei
05 Oct 2026
Politics
Popular at home, friction abroad: The limits of Japan PM Takaichi’s appeal
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s leadership style has won over the public, but navigating relations with China and building trust with world leaders remains her toughest test. Japanese academic Shin Kawashima analyses the first year of her premiership.
Shin Kawashima
05 Oct 2026
Politics
How Trump’s new Greenland deal locks China out
Trump’s Greenland deal falls short of full control, but it cements a crucial shift: turning informal curbs on Chinese and foreign economic influence into formal security policy. Academic Marc Jacobsen analyses the changes that entails.
Marc Jacobsen
05 Oct 2026
Politics
Neither exclude nor dominate: The new rules of China-US engagement
Xi Jinping’s US visit points to a new reality: neither China nor the US can exclude, dominate or remake the other. Coexistence is unavoidable, so keeping the rivalry stable will require both sides to manage their differences and learn restraint. Academic Zheng Wang gives his analysis.
Zheng Wang
30 Sep 2026
Politics
[Video] Trump and Xi meet again: What changed and what didn’t
This year’s historic Trump-Xi state visits delivered memes and pageantry, though Xi’s trip to Washington was shadowed by protests and Trump’s media ban. ThinkChina’s Yi Jina and Lingming Lu compare the two summits to see what changed and what didn’t.
Yi Jina, Lu Lingming
29 Sep 2026
Politics
US-China relations: No war, no peace, but a rivalry kept in check
The Washington summit did not end US-China rivalry, but pointed to a new model for managing it: fierce competition within clearer guardrails, selective economic interdependence and sustained dialogue to prevent confrontation from spiralling into conflict. Academic Tan Kong Yam explains.
Tan Kong Yam
29 Sep 2026
