Communism

US President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, 14 November 2022. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

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.
A screen shot from a video featuring Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China, awarding Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Friendship Medal of the People's Republic of China during a ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on 31 October 2022. (Internet)

China-Vietnam party-to-party ties: A tie that binds

Vietnam appears to be drawing closer to the US with the recent upgrade in ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. This development, however, should not be overestimated as Vietnam-China relations, especially party-to-party ties, remain strong.
Members of an honour guard march out during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on 10 July 2023. (Andy Wong/Pool via Reuters)

Chinese politics is undergoing great change

While the ruling system in China, carried over from ancient history, has the features of power combined with moral authority, recent events show that change is happening in Chinese politics. With netizens increasingly challenging the central authority openly, refuting official views and commentaries, will there be greater adjustments to Chinese state-society relations?
Chinese paramilitary police stand guard on the Bund in the Huangpu district in Shanghai, China, on 10 April 2023. (Hector Retamal/AFP)

Is China ready to lead?

China is far from possessing the ability, experience and resources to maintain and safeguard the global order. Thus, it is in its own interest to continue supporting the US as the global leader. Even so, amid a challenging international climate, China can no longer maintain a low profile. It needs to improve its global image and quell fears of the China threat. More importantly, the CCP should resist its internal urge to go all out on its fighting philosophy, which may likely win itself more enemies than friends.
People hold white sheets of paper in protest over Covid-19 restrictions, after a vigil for the victims of a fire in Urumqi, as outbreaks of Covid-19 continue, in Beijing, China, 27 November 2022. (Thomas Peter/File Photo/Reuters)

China's elderly rulers must get used to the young criticising them

East Asian Institute senior research fellow Lance Gore observes that the recent protests in China have highlighted the deep generational gap between the leaders of the country and the protesters. In tandem with the modernisation of society, there needs to be the modernisation of politics, allowing greater room for political participation and dialogue.
People stand in a queue outside a restaurant along the popular Yaowarat Road in the Chinatown area of Bangkok, Thailand, on 5 September 2022. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP)

An imagined China and feeling Chinese in Thailand

Thai academic Sittithep Eaksittipong explains how the Thai rulers of the past used emotion as a political tool to assimilate the Chinese overseas in Thailand. Fast forward to today and the Thai Chinese are more confident of their identity, and feeling Chinese has less to do with developments in China. If anything, the latter is used as a means to chastise the Thai government.
US President Joe Biden gestures to the media as he walks towards Marine One for departure to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, 7 August 2022. (Ken Cedeno/Reuters)

The US's new National Security Strategy: An action plan to defeat China

The US’s recent release of its new National Security Strategy (NSS) represents its vow to outcompete its rivals, especially China, on the international stage. Political commentator Jin Jian Guo says that the ideological tussle between China and the US is becoming a new Cold War and for the NSS to be released during the period of China’s 20th Party Congress, the starter’s pistol has been fired in a strategic competition where there can only be one winner.
This photo taken on 31 August 2022 shows an emblem of the USSR, which was removed from Leninsky Avenue after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, displayed at the Modern History Sculpture Museon park in Moscow. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP)

What China can learn from the missteps of Mikhail Gorbachev

The collapse of the Soviet Union was sudden and shocking, not least for China, with which it once shared a similar ideology. Commentator Zhou Nongjian explores what China can learn from the missteps of the Soviet Union’s last leader Mikhail Gorbachev that ultimately led to the country’s downfall.
Visitors are seen silhouetted against a Chinese Communist Party flag displayed at the Museum of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, China, 3 September 2022. (Florence Lo/Reuters)

China's far-left narratives are leading the country into a dead end

Commentator Lew Mon-hung notes that recent public opinion in China has been advocating a closed-door policy, sharply diverting away from the national policy of reform and opening up taken in 1978. Will China change course and reverse its decades-long process?