European Union

With China-Russia trade leaping many-fold since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both sides have forged stronger cross-border transport and freight links, says US academic Chen Xiangming. However, this comes with challenges, due to Russia’s historical orientation toward Europe and severely underdeveloped Far Eastern regional and local economies.

Chan Heng Chee, ambassador-at-large and professor at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, Singapore University of Technology and Design, delivered a speech at the Reinventing Destiny conference on 14 August, held in commemoration of the 100th birth year anniversary of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding prime minister. She spoke about how strengthening Singapore as a nation and being part of an inclusive regional grouping like ASEAN could help the city state better survive these divisive and conflictual times. Here is the edited transcript of her speech.

Germany’s newly unveiled “Strategy on China” echoed much of EU language in highlighting risks concerning competitiveness, supply chain resilience, national security and values in its recalibrated approach to China. While a de-risking strategy carries difficult trade-offs, there seems to be a broad consensus on the goals Germany wants to achieve.

The recent Niger coup and conflicts from Mali to Burkina Faso, Chad and Sudan have cast uncertainty on the future of Chinese economic diplomacy in the Sahel and other parts of Africa. Academic Alessandro Arduino explains.

Former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who had a meteoric rise and just as swift a fall, was thought to have adopted a more measured tone in China’s foreign policy. Are fears of a return to wolf warrior diplomacy under Wang Yi unfounded? Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Edwin Ong assesses the situation.

Europe’s disunity may be working to its disfavour, says Italian academic Alessandro Albana. While Brussels and some EU member states emphasise “de-risking”, there are other factors to think about, such as Europe’s long-term economic relations with China and the possibility that China can play a role in bringing an end to the Ukraine war.

China’s special envoy for Eurasian affairs Li Hui's trip to Europe and Russia to discuss the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis could be a historic milestone for China, says academic Yuan Hang. The country has far played a marginal role in the shaping of European security affairs in the past century, but this could all change if recent approaches are sustained.

While the UK has deftly tried to protect its economic relationship with China while aligning with the US on certain policies, this is a difficult tightrope to balance, especially post-Brexit. Being no longer able to play the role of a political bridge between the US and Brussels, the UK could find its policy of ambiguity leading it closer to isolation.

Academic Ye Shengzhou explains why French President Emmanuel Macron has been aggressively pushing for EU strategic autonomy, more so after his visit to China. But even if France puts its weight behind the concept, the path of achieving strategic autonomy is paved with obstacles.