Western Supremacy
Politics
How civilisational politics fuels today’s wars
Academic Ma Haiyun traces the history of civilisational conflict narratives in Western strategic thinking, built on Jewish intellectual foundations, long before the rise of Samuel P. Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Such approaches have had a profound effect on influencing the US’s behaviour in the Middle East and spillover effects in the region.
Ma Haiyun
22 Apr 2026
Politics
[Video] George Yeo: America’s deep pain — and why China won’t colonise
George Yeo, in an interview with ThinkChina editor Chow Yian Ping, explores America’s deep social pain, China’s struggle with corruption rooted in Confucian ties, and why change is hard. He also weighs the risk of war in the Taiwan Strait and Singapore’s future in a fast-shifting world order. This is the first episode of ThinkChina Conversations, a series of in-depth interviews with experts on China.
Chow Yian Ping
27 Feb 2026
Politics
China’s diplomatic blitz in Trump’s backyard — who will dominate the western hemisphere?
The high frequency of foreign dignitaries from Asia, Europe and South America visiting China at the start of 2026 indicates a strong focus and urgency behind Beijing’s effort to draw US allies closer and counter America’s efforts to restore preeminence in the western hemisphere, observes ISEAS researcher Lye Liang Fook.
Lye Liang Fook
27 Feb 2026
Politics
What the new US national security strategy means for China
From the latest US National Security Strategy document released by the Trump administration, it is clear that the US is intent on excluding China, limiting its global influence, not least in its own backyard of the western hemisphere. Commentator Deng Yuwen gives his take.
Deng Yuwen
11 Dec 2025
Politics
The 2024 Nobel laureates are not only wrong about China, but also about the West
Professor Yuen Yuen Ang notes that this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences should have been awarded 20 years ago, when few would have questioned Western-centric narratives. She contends that in today’s increasingly multipolar world, the simplistic binary of “inclusive, non-extractive” Western democracies versus “non-inclusive, extractive” non-Western non-democracies is misleading.
Yuen Yuen Ang
12 Nov 2024
Politics
US and China cannot defeat each other: They are their own biggest enemies
Healthy competition between systems to see what works best to improve the lives of the people would be a more productive framework of engagement between China and the US, which each have their flaws, says US academic Zhu Zhiqun. A little cultural humility in the process of self-exploration and self-critique will go a long way.
Zhiqun Zhu
04 Oct 2023
Politics
Can China and Russia reject Western political civilisation and still prosper?
Researcher Wei Da notes that while many things can be learned and embraced from the West, its political civilisation is one that China has rejected. But isn't that rejecting the core while transplanting the branches and leaves? Will that work?
Wei Da
02 Aug 2023
History
[Photo story] A history of Western illustrations insulting the Chinese
For over 100 years, the Chinese have been the target of stereotypes and racism from Western countries. The way they look, work and talk have all been captured in images and illustrations by Western artists, and not at all in a friendly way. Historical photo collector Hsu Chung-mao shows us some of these images.
Hsu Chung-mao
07 Jan 2022
Politics
Can there be a China-style democracy?
In a speech last week, Xi Jinping painted the broad strokes of China's views on democracy, including criteria for assessing democratic systems and what such systems ought to do for the people. However, with the West convinced that China lacks democracy and is not in a position to preach about it, how far can the country advance its brand of 'whole-process people's democracy'? Zaobao correspondent Yu Zeyuan explores the topic.
Yu Zeyuan
18 Oct 2021