This week, just when China and India were making progress in easing weeks-long border tensions in Ladakh, the clashes between the two turned deadly for the first time in decades, leading to dozens of victims on both sides. Unfortunately, this tragic development is emblematic of the broader evolution of Sino-Indian ties and their gloomy [...]
Over the past 40 years, China’s economic rise has been powered by the work, sacrifices and creativity of hundreds of millions of citizens. Yet its rise as a global power has come about thanks to many unsung heroes: its diplomats. There are no movies, memorials or patriotic recruitment clips dedicated to them, but some [...]
China is slowly losing Europe. This is happening even though transatlantic relations are at a low point and right when the European Union is finally aiming to become a global geopolitical player. Ursula von der Leyen, the new president of the European Commission, has made it clear over the past months that she wants [...]
Many observers believe China is building up its military, especially its navy, to break through the first and second island chains and push the United States out of the Asia-Pacific. China’s military expansion in the region is thus seen as a major threat against U.S. interests and security. But there’s a big problem with the language [...]
When the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949, almost 40 years had passed since China’s territory had last been administered by a functional central government, the Qing Dynasty. This period of chaos and war affected hundreds of millions of lives. In 1949, life expectancy at birth in China was only somewhere between [...]
On September 1st, the world commemorated 80 years since Germany’s invasion of Poland, which marked the start of the Second World War. Over the next 5 years, German troops went on fighting all over Europe. The war eventually ended, not with the surrender, but the destruction and partition of Germany. It was the second [...]
“For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been.” – John Greenleaf Whittier *** On the first day of January 2039, in Washington, the presidents of China and the United States stood on the South Lawn, for a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment [...]
Seoul recently hosted the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, Teodor Meleșcanu. His visit comes after Moon Hee-sang, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, visited Bucharest last month. The reason for these bilateral visits is something that, unfortunately, few Korean or Romanians are aware of: 2018 marks the 10th [...]
Forty years ago, Deng Xiaoping was visiting Tokyo, as the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China was coming into force. There, Deng addressed the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands dispute, articulating his famous idea that the issue should be shelved, because “[t]he people of our generation don’t have sufficient wisdom to settle this discussion, [...]
Now that China has done away with presidential term limits, Xi Jinping can retain all his current titles and power long into the future. Most commentary defending the move argues that Xi is consolidating power to push through difficult reforms and strengthen China, and that he wants to remain in charge beyond 2022 to [...]