Wei Da

Wei Da

Researcher, commentator

Wei Da is an expert on intercultural communication strategic studies, and an adviser living in the US.

 

People at a shopping mall in Beijing's central business district, China, on 7 September 2023. (Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

Is China’s development losing steam?

The world is concerned that the Chinese people are beginning to lose confidence in China’s future, dampening the prospects for sustainable development. Researcher Wei Da believes that there is little connection between this crisis of confidence and the cyclical boom and bust of the economy, but China’s severe economic problems are ultimately political problems.
People march as they participate in a May Day rally on 1 May 2023 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images via AFP)

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?
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a minute of silence for pilots killed in clashes with the mutineers during a revolt by Wagner mercenaries as he addresses troops from the defence ministry, National Guard, FSB security service and interior ministry gathered on the Cathedral Square at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on 27 June 2023. (Sergei Guneyev/Sputnik/AFP)

Putin’s dilemma: ‘Two-faced people’ in the authoritarian regime

Wei Da points out that the Wagner rebellion could only have happened because of the “two-faced people” in Putin's inner circle. Such people often emerge from the woodwork at critical moments, taking risks and rebelling. China and other countries may sit up and take notice: whether or not these rebellions work, they are usually fatal blows to authoritarian regimes.
This picture taken on 14 April 2023 shows people walking down a street at the Ximen district in Taipei, Taiwan. (Sam Yeh/AFP)

Why Taiwan’s future is no longer just a dispute of sovereignty

Wei Da explains why issues such as Taiwan’s chosen civilisational path, great power competition and geostrategic rivalry are critical in the Taiwan issue. In the end, the question of the superiority and inferiority of civilisational development will determine Taiwan's future.
A Ukrainian soldier of the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade "Edelweiss" fires a French MO-120-RT61 mortar towards Russian positions at a front line in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on 4 March 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Anatolii Stepanov/AFP)

US strategists are rethinking the way they see China and Russia

Researcher Wei Da observes that amid increasing US-China tensions and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, US strategists are rethinking the way they see China and Russia. This revised worldview keenly shapes their calculations of various flashpoints, not least the Ukraine war and the Taiwan issue.
Air Force soldiers prepare to load US-made Harpoon AGM-84 anti-ship missiles in front of an F-16V fighter jet during a drill at Hualien Air Force Base in Taiwan on 17 August 2022. (Sam Yeh/AFP)

Three big changes in China-US competition after Pelosi’s Taiwan visit

In the wake of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan and the mainland’s retaliatory actions in the Taiwan Strait, researcher Wei Da believes that China-US rivalry has transformed in three ways: political confrontation is becoming more ideological and acute; military confrontation is becoming more symbolic; and further decoupling of major economic and trade initiatives may reach a critical point.
A man holds a cutout of Russian President Vladimir Putin during the "Immortal Regiment" march in Belgrade on 9 May 2022. (Andrej Isakovic/AFP)

Putin and Russia's greatest 'contribution' to history

Researcher Wei Da notes that the end of the Cold War left many questions unanswered, including the role of ideological tussles and the clash of civilisations. Among other things, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine shows that a truly strong state is one with a limited government and a developed civil society. The international community has been jolted into action, and it is time to recognise that there is still some way to go to achieve modernisation.
A journalist takes a picture of the national flag during a visit to the Museum of the Communist Party of China, in Beijing, China, on 25 June 2021. (Noel Celis/AFP)

The US has AUKUS. Where are China's alliances?

The formation of the AUKUS security pact involving Australia, the US and the UK will likely give the US and its allies greater strategic depth in the Indo-Pacific, says Wei Da. He believes that the containment of China has moved up a notch and China has to recalibrate its thinking accordingly. One way is to shore up its own alliances, which have traditionally neither been strong nor constant. What can China do about it?
People walk over the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan in New York City, US on 19 August 2021. (Angela Weiss/AFP)

China-US competition: Letting the enemy self-destruct

Based on the experience of the Cold War, the US can see merit in letting the enemy undo itself in its strategy against China. For the Soviet Union, it was the ills of Stalinist socialism and the failure of the command economy. For China, will its inherent contradictions lead to its own unravelling?