UK-US Relations

Britain can no longer treat China as optional

As US instability grows, Britain must rethink its China posture. Neither ally nor adversary, Beijing demands engagement with clarity, pragmatism and a strategy that reflects shifting global power, says UK academic Kerry Brown.

Kerry Brown

A familiar rift: Why US-Europe tensions shouldn’t alarm you

The recent conflict between the US and Europe is nothing new and nothing to be alarmed about, says academic Guo Bingyun. He lays bare the true dynamics of US-Europe relations and argues that tension and resentment have always plagued the relationship.

Guo Bingyun

Keir Starmer: The leader Europe needs amid Trump’s chaos?

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been on a roll recently, following several diplomatic wins with US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the EU. With so many factors in his favour, will he be able to seize the opportunity to establish the UK as a regional leader? Writer Yue He Parkinson offers her thoughts.

Yue He Parkinson

Why AUKUS’s expansion is inevitable

Chinese military affairs commentator Song Zhongping thinks that AUKUS is turning into a new military organisation that promotes the exchange of advanced new military technologies and technological expansion. He explains why China is highly concerned about countries in the region and even NATO looking to be involved with AUKUS. 

Song Zhongping

UK-China policy under Liz Truss likely to align with US outlook

While the UK's China policy would largely be business as usual with new Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss at the helm, China may be in for a tougher time where it counts as the UK finds a renewed opportunity to influence European partners to work in concert with the US against China.

Zeno Leoni

[Photo story] The Cairo Conference and Taiwan's liberation

In 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Fifty years later, amid World War II, Taiwan was returned to China following the Cairo Conference involving the US's Franklin D. Roosevelt, the UK's Winston Churchill and the Republic of China's Chiang Kai-shek. Historical photo collector Hsu Chung-mao gives us a glimpse into those times.

Hsu Chung-mao

Will the UK's Royal Navy conduct a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea?

As a British Carrier Strike Group heads towards Southeast Asia, speculation is rife that a Royal Navy warship will conduct a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea. A recent incident in the Black Sea may shorten the odds of that happening.

Ian Storey

Can Biden's new infrastructure plan rival China's BRI?

US President Joe Biden has suggested an alternative to China's BRI - one that is enterprise-led, rather than country-led, bringing together democratic nations to help developing nations to upgrade their infrastructure. How attractive would this option be amid some countries' fears that China is extending its influence through the BRI?

Yu Hong

What is behind the UK's decisive stance on Huawei?

US President Donald Trump was furious when his friend, British Prime minister Boris Johnson, decided to give Huawei a role in building the UK's 5G infrastructure. German Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to be going a similar direction in a position paper announced yesterday. Chinese academic Zhang Jingwei ponders the UK's move and thinks ahead to implications that it may have on the UK's wider relations with China and the US.

Zhang Jingwei