World

How Trump’s absence marks leadership opportunity for China at G20
21Nov By Grace TsoiNo Comments

How Trump’s absence marks leadership opportunity for China at G20

US President Donald Trump’s decision to snub the G20 summit in South Africa this year has handed an opportunity to China, as it seeks to expand its growing influence in the African continent and position itself as an alternative to the dangers of a unilateralist United States. Washington said it would not attend the two-day summit set to kick off on Saturday over widely discredited claims that the host country, previously ruled by its white minority under an apartheid system until 1994, now mistreats white people. Recommended Stories list of 3 items list 1 of 3China suspends Japanese film releases amid diplomatic row over Taiwan list 2 of 3Britain’s MI5 warns lawmakers over Chinese spies posing as ‘headhunters’ list 3 of 3A dangerous tipping point? An
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UK expected to approve plans for Chinese mega embassy
21Nov By Grace TsoiNo Comments

UK expected to approve plans for Chinese mega embassy

The UK government is expected to approve China's plans for a new mega embassy in central London. A final decision has not yet been formally taken, but the advice ministers are understood to have received from the intelligence agencies clears the path for the controversial project to be given the go ahead. The expected green light – first reported by the Times newspaper – will become the latest case study in the growing public argument about how wise a close relationship with Beijing is. The approval or rejection of the planning application lies with the Housing Secretary Steve Reed – in what is known as a quasi-judicial decision. But given the sensitivities of this judgement call, many others have been consulted – including MI5 and MI6. The decision has repeatedly been
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The ‘Paranoid Style’ Pathology of American Politics Is in Full Bloom
11Nov By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

The ‘Paranoid Style’ Pathology of American Politics Is in Full Bloom

A lot of the current political paranoia is an outcome of the deindustrialisation of the US that has given substantial strength to its right wing by creating economic anxieties that its populist politicians exploit. For Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, the victory of Zohran Mamdani in New York seems to be a fusion of several conspiracy theories – the immigrant “takeover” of America, the Soros-funded promotion of radicals, and the Islamist and communist conspiracies to destroy the US. American history tells us that once every thirty or forty years or so, the US goes through a political or social churning that decisively shapes the country’s future. While some of this churning can be political or religious, it is often triggered by conspiracy theories that have profoun
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Beijing rebukes EU over Taiwan vice-president’s visit to Parliament
11Nov By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Beijing rebukes EU over Taiwan vice-president’s visit to Parliament

Beijing has condemned the European Parliament for allowing Taiwan’s vice-president, Hsiao Bi-khim, to address lawmakers in Brussels last week, calling the move a violation of the “One China” principle. Hsiao’s visit to the European Parliament was kept confidential and not announced in advance. She spoke on 7 November at the annual summit of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), which this year brought together lawmakers and experts from across the world. “Despite China’s strong opposition, the European Parliament allowed leading ‘Taiwan independence’ figures to attend the summit and carry out separatist activities,” China’s mission to the EU said in a statement. The mission said the move “undermines China’s core interests … and seriously erodes political mutu
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Art of the deal meets great power politics: Trump 2.0’s approach to China
8Nov By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Art of the deal meets great power politics: Trump 2.0’s approach to China

The US president is prioritizing economic and technology concerns over any strategic China policy, says George Yin. Whether this will strengthen his hand remains to be seen. With much anticipation, US President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Busan, South Korea, on October 30, 2025. After the meeting, Trump hailed it as a success, declaring, “On a scale of zero to ten, with ten being the best, I’d say the meeting was a twelve.” While observers may not share Trump’s optimistic assessment, the Busan meeting nonetheless marks the first real test of the new Trump administration’s approach to China: a transactional drive for quick solutions to pressing issues that happen to involve China, rather than a China strategy in
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Government shutdown latest; Trump administration will partially pay for SNAP benefits
4Nov By Nectar GanNo Comments

Government shutdown latest; Trump administration will partially pay for SNAP benefits

The Trump administration said Monday it will send out partial payments to the tens of millions of Americans who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits – but not all of the normal funds for families relying on the resource. The administration said in a court filing that it would "fulfill its obligation to expend" funds during an emergency, using a reserve to cover "50% of eligible households’ current allotments." As the showdown over the essential program played out over the weekend, President Donald Trump called on Democrats to abandon a push for expanded health care subsidies and vote for GOP-backed legislation to reopen the government. Voting for the short-term Republican bill, which would continue spending at current levels whil
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The X factors that could end the shutdown
4Nov By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

The X factors that could end the shutdown

It’s Election Day 2025. And the results in New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere Tuesday could be some of the most significant dominoes to fall in the federal government shutdown, which is set to become the longest in history on Wednesday. But the election isn’t the only X factor in the monthlong shutdown that’s evolving even as we speak. Let’s check in on a number of key variables and sources of potential leverage in the shutdown and how they’re playing. Election Day 2025 The big ones to watch here are the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia. (The New York City mayor’s race and a redistricting ballot measure in California are fascinating for other reasons, but less instructive when it comes to Republican vs. Democrat power dynamics.) The blue lean of th
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Government shutdown could become longest ever as Trump says he ‘won’t be extorted’ by Democrats
3Nov By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Government shutdown could become longest ever as Trump says he ‘won’t be extorted’ by Democrats

The government shutdown is poised to become the longest ever this week as the impasse between Democrats and Republicans has dragged into a new month. Millions of people could lose food aid benefits, health care subsidies are set to expire and there are few real talks between the parties over how to end it. President Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Sunday that he “won’t be extorted” by Democrats who are demanding negotiations to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the year for millions of Americans. Echoing congressional Republicans, the president said on CBS’ “60 Minutes” he’ll negotiate only when the government is reopened. Trump’s comments signal the shutdown could drag on for some time as federal workers, including air traffic control
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Five ways US government shutdown is hurting – and why it’s about to get worse
31Oct By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Five ways US government shutdown is hurting – and why it’s about to get worse

The US government shutdown has entered its fifth week and there is no clear end in sight. With Democrats and Republicans deadlocked over passing a spending plan that would reopen federal agencies, millions of Americans are feeling economic pain that could soon grow worse. The fiscal fight means millions of Americans may not receive food aid, thousands of troops could have to work without pay, and millions may go without heat. Here’s how the shutdown has affected everyday people. Food assistance More than 40 million Americans use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) to feed themselves and their families. While that programme had enough funding to survive the first four weeks of the shutdown, the Trump administration has said the money will run out on 1
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Russia Deploys Missile in Ukraine Sparking U.S. Withdrawal From Nuclear Treaty
31Oct By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Russia Deploys Missile in Ukraine Sparking U.S. Withdrawal From Nuclear Treaty

Russia has used a ground-launched cruise missile in Ukraine whose secret development prompted the United States to withdraw from a landmark nuclear arms control treaty in 2019, according to Ukrainian officials. The revelation raises concerns that Moscow is employing weapons once banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and escalating the risks for European security as efforts intensify to negotiate an end to the war. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told Reuters that Russia had fired the 9M729, known by NATO as the SSC-8, at targets in Ukraine in recent months — the first confirmed use of the missile in combat. “Russia’s use of the INF-banned 9M729 against Ukraine in the past months demonstrates President Vladimir Putin’s disrespect to the United Stat
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