China

“The failure of the government to address the concerns of Hong Kong’s youth, as well as the relative sclerosis of its economic and political systems, may very well lead to further and more radical movements. Unless major changes occur in Hong Kong’s economy, superficial and piecemeal policies such as distributing ‘sweeteners’ to the poor and middle class or increasing land supply will not be enough to alleviate their grievances.

China’s future role on the global stage hinges upon a mixture of strengths and weaknesses. Beijing’s meteoric rise in economic terms has been coupled by increasing military expenditures and a more assertive foreign policy stance. But the country is also facing a potential backlash, exemplified by protests in Hong Kong, while it remains to be seen whether (and how) the governance of the coronavirus outbreak will affect China's image abroad.

As the Gulf diverted international attention in the past few weeks and the Taiwan elections distracted Asia observers this weekend, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi concluded his customary start‑of‑the‑year Africa tour, reconfirming Beijing’s

It has been nearly two decades since a Chinese head of state visited its southernly neighbour. The last time a Chinese head of state set foot in Myanmar, the country was still under full military rule and the capital was still Yangon. China was yet to be admitted as a WTO member and the champion of globalisation was still hiding its strength and biding its time.

On 14th January, the 15th round of the ‘China-Japan Strategic Dialogue’ was held in Xi’an, the ‘Terracotta Army’ city of China’s Shaanxi province. The mechanism is one of the few communication channels that remain active between the two countries: in addition to this Dialogue and regular diplomatic exchanges, the ‘China-Japan High-Level Economic Dialogue’, the ‘China-Japan Security Dialogue’ and the ‘China-Japan High-Level Political Dialogue’ make up for the entire system of bilateral consultations between Beijing and Tokyo.