Rubio, until recently, was hawkish about fighting foreign influence campaigns. In 2023, a second diplomatic source with direct knowledge said, he supported reauthorizing funding the GEC into the 2030s. “It’s not just Russia—Iran, China, North Korea, and even Cuba are pushing disinformation into America,” he posted last September. But afterContinue Reading
The Diplomat author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Dr. Julie Yu-wen Chen – professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Helsinki in Finland and a participant in the EUContinue Reading
Reporting on April 9 suggested that the Trump administration in the United States had reversed course on restricting the export to China of H20 chips – Nvidia’s most advanced offering to remain outside U.S. export controls. Reportedly, the White House’s change of heart followed President Donald Trump’s dinner with NvidiaContinue Reading
President Donald Trump’s tariff rollercoaster has had many unexpected impacts—including threatening the sex toy industry and possibly making smartphones dumber. But the most recent odd aftershock from his yo-yoing decisions on whether to instigate tariff hikes against China has been good news for a previously little-known app called DHgate. TheContinue Reading
“IMPLICIT WARNING” ASEAN member Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, was slapped with 46 per cent tariffs and Cambodia — a major producer of low-cost clothing for big Western brands — was hit with a 49 per cent duty. Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy, was hit with a 24 per cent tariff.Continue Reading
After Vietnam and the United States upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in September 2023, China swiftly responded to avoid losing strategic influence in Hanoi. Three months later, President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Vietnam – and this week, he returned with what is arguably theContinue Reading
BEIJING: China appointed as its new trade negotiator on Wednesday (Apr 16) a former representative to the World Trade Organization who replaces Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen, amid an escalating tariff war with the United States. Li Chenggang, 58, a former assistant commerce minister during the first administration of USContinue Reading
As the United States officially launched a tariff war against China, China convened an unusual Central Conference on Work Relating to Neighboring Countries on April 8 and 9. All members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), China’s top political body, attended. At the meeting, CCPContinue Reading
WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (Apr 15) that China has gone back on a major Boeing deal, after a news report that Beijing ordered airlines not to take further deliveries of the US aviation giant’s jets. Trump’s comments on social media followed a Bloomberg news reportContinue Reading
When one factory in one of these towns designs a new product, others nearby can quickly copy it or produce their own, slightly different version. There’s even a Chinese word for these kinds of dupes: shanzhai. Creating such a densely concentrated and rapidly iterative ecosystem like this took years ofContinue Reading
