China

As President Trump’s tariffs begin to bite more widely, hard data on their actual consequences will soon arrive. Of course, the rationale for many of the tariff levels remains opaque, and, despite the August 1 “deadline,” negotiations continue with several important trading partners. The tariffs’ economic impact is emerging, but the international diplomatic and political effects remain hard to measure. From a geopolitical perspective, it is logical to ask how tariffs fit into America’s grand strategy. But the Trump administration has not done so. Unfortunately, based on international reactions so far, the U.S. by levying tariffs on friend and foe alike has likely suffered a considerable loss of trust and confidence, built up over decades of effort, in exchange for minimal econom

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has said that 21 donor countries, including the United States and China, will not be invited to the region’s top political meeting, a move that follows pressure from Beijing to exclude Taiwan. China’s biggest security ally in the Pacific Islands, the Solomon Islands is hosting the annual meeting of the 18-member bloc’s forum in September. Three island states have diplomatic ties with Taiwan and not China, and they had expressed concern Taiwanese officials would be blocked from entering the country. Solomon Islands switched ties from Taiwan to China in 2019, and removed Taiwan from a list of countries eligible for concessional entry in April. Beijing, which has deepened its ties in the Pacific, claims Taiwan as its own territory.