Author: Stuart White

Congressional Delegation Led by Khanna Visits Taiwan to Strengthen Silicon Valley Ties
15Mar By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
World

Congressional Delegation Led by Khanna Visits Taiwan to Strengthen Silicon Valley Ties

In an effort to strengthen ties between Silicon Valley and Taiwan, a delegation of U.S. Congress members led by Representative Ro Khanna has embarked on a visit to Taiwan. The delegation aims to deepen relationships with Taiwanese technology companies and explore potential partnerships that could benefit both economies. Khanna, who is a member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, expressed his enthusiasm for the trip and highlighted the importance of forging strong partnerships between Taiwan and the United States. He noted that Taiwan is a leader in semiconductor manufacturing and other high-tech industries, and that its expertise and resources could be instrumental in driving innovation in Silicon Valley. During the trip, the delegation plans to meet with gover...
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China’s Leadership Is Growing Old
15Mar By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
China

China’s Leadership Is Growing Old

In China's party-state hierarchy, lower-level cadres are constantly vying for promotions and avoiding being stuck in their current position without progress. The competition is fierce and the rules for advancement are vague, with age being one of the most transparent factors. To successfully climb the career ladder, these lower level cadres must be promoted early enough. For those who are the most ambitious and fortunate, reaching the provincial-ministerial rank (governors and ministers) is the coveted achievement that opens the door to a national level career. Typically, this rank must be attained in their early 50s, with outstanding cadres hoping for national leadership positions getting there in their 40s. These age limits were established in 1982, at the onset of the Reform and ...
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China ignored: Know why did Lego choose Vietnam for its first carbon neutral plant.
15Jan By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
China

China ignored: Know why did Lego choose Vietnam for its first carbon neutral plant.

With businesses looking for other places for their factories to escape expensive tariffs, Vietnam has been considered as one of the key winners of the US-China trade war. Vietnamese Post correspondent Erika Na recently visited the nation, and her three-part series examines Vietnam's progress over the last four years. She explores the effects on China's status as the "world's factory" in this second section.  The first carbon-neutral factory for Lego, the largest toy manufacturer in the world by revenue, just broke ground in Asia. The US$1 billion project will cover 44 hectares (108 acres) when it opens the following year. Modern technology will be used in the vast project, which will be powered primarily by solar energy, to mould, process, and pack the plastic interconnectable ...
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Discipline, compliance key routes to xi power in china
10Jan By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
China

Discipline, compliance key routes to xi power in china

President Xi Jinping describes his tenure in power as the “new era” and embarks on a gigantic national exercise to “discipline” the communist party and the cadres for better governance. In the second week of January, he addressed the plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China opened in Beijing that opened on January 9. The Chinese state media reported that Xi Jinping pointed out discipline is the “rule” for governing the party. It is also the standard and compliance for party members and cadres to restrain their behavior. The president proposed placing discipline in a more prominent position, and “strict requirements must be implemented in the entire process of party rule formulation, party discipline education, and di
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UK’s hardening stance towards China
8Jan By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
China

UK’s hardening stance towards China

During his first major foreign policy speech in London on November 28, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak outlined his government’s foreign policy orientation, where the highlight was China. He commented that the “golden era between Britain and China is now over” and added that “China poses a systematic challenge to our (UK’s) values and interests”.[1] Speaking further he said, “We are taking a long-term view on China strengthening our resilience and protecting our economic security”. He even outlined the malicious intentions of China which included all kind of state-led efforts to expand its global influence and warned that “short-termism” or “wishful thinking” will not suffice. According to Sunak, Britain can no longer depend on Cold War approaches of sentimentality and hence evolv
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“Both Sides Willing…”: New China Foreign Minister On Ties With India
4Jan By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Asia, China

“Both Sides Willing…”: New China Foreign Minister On Ties With India

In an opinion piece for the American journal The National Interest, China's incoming foreign minister Qin Gang stated that Beijing wants to strengthen ties with New Delhi.  Days prior to Wang Yi's replacement, Qin addressed India-China border disputes in an article titled "How China Sees the World," stating that "both sides are eager to ameliorate the situation and mutually protect peace along their borders." The Galwan Valley and Pangong Lake in the west of the LAC, have hosted flashpoints in recent years. In the east in Tawang, the site of the latest scuffle, there are discussions about Buddhist holy sites whose control can have implications for China's authority over Tibet and its next spiritual leader according to a report in Newsweek. On December 20, India and China con...
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China’s daydream of imperialism faces challenge in its backyards
29Dec By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Asia, China

China’s daydream of imperialism faces challenge in its backyards

Thanks to the attempts by the leaders of the Communist Party of China to exploit two neighbours of China of their resources, natural as well as financial, Chinese citizens are on the receiving end in Beijing’s all-weather ally Pakistan, as well as in Afghanistan which it has treated as its backyard since the exit of the United States from the scene. China’s “daydream of imperialism” seems to have received a jolt. A measure of the insecurity is that all Chinese nationals working in China Pakistan Economic Corridor in Pakistan have been asked to move in bullet-proof vehicles when outdoors; while on December 13, following a coordinated attack the previous day by Islamic State Khorasan Province militants on a Chinese-owned hotel in the heart of Kabul, Beijing advised Chinese citizens in Af
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Southeast Asia’s Red Line against China’s Hegemonic Approach
25Dec By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Asia, China

Southeast Asia’s Red Line against China’s Hegemonic Approach

China’s superiority not only as a regional powerhouse but also as a predator in the global arena has prompted many of its neighbouring countries to adopt a cautionary approach to the red dragon.  China on its part, has initiated its quest for power by intensifying its multi-trillion-dollar pet project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to ascend the Chinese state as the hegemon of the global world. The project however, has mostly been a contentious prospect of which global financial advisors have generally warned against. China’s ability to trap credit taking nations and is understood to be an economic bait in order to influence power over economically volatile countries. Throughout the previous decade, financial assistances in the form of developmental aid and financ
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After 8 decades, Japan gives up pacifism, joins arms race with China. Why?
6Nov By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
World

After 8 decades, Japan gives up pacifism, joins arms race with China. Why?

Believe it or not, Japan which has been committed to non-aggression since World War II, wants to re-arm up in next five years so that it can deter Beijing from war in East Asia. Continuing with its stepped-up acquisition of different kinds of arms and ammunitions, Japan has now stepped up efforts to undertake its biggest arms which is in sharp contrast to its pacifism. Even as China’s 20th Communist party Congress ended, Japan has taken a pledge with Australia to boost practical defence cooperation between their two nations amid China's growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese recently signed a joint declaration in which Japan and Australia agreed to deepen trilateral security relations with
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ASSESSING TRADE IMPACT IN CASE OF UKRAINE-LIKE CONFLICT IN TAIWAN
21Jul By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
World

ASSESSING TRADE IMPACT IN CASE OF UKRAINE-LIKE CONFLICT IN TAIWAN

With the Russia-Ukraine conflict disrupting supplies of oil, gas and wheat and compelling price rise across continents, international businesses are busy assessing the implications for global trade in a possible Taiwan conflict scenario. An authoritative current affairs website, neican.org, which specializes in China, predicts that if a China-Taiwan conflict were to ensue, “Asia-Pacific supply chains would enter a period of intense disruption and reconfiguration”. Both western and Asian analysts agree that while several possible scenarios exist for the Taiwan conflict to play out, the end result will be the same. It will “likely involve an economic or military blockade of Taiwan or its outlying islands”. The immediate impact of such a blockade will be that Taiwan may lose access to
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