On January 5, the 2024 Ruili China and Muse Myanmar Cross-Border Marathon came to an end. This event, marked by its distinctive “One Marathon, Two States” theme, is designed to highlight the unique characteristics of the border between China’s Yunnan Province and Myanmar’s Shan State. The race once attracted nearlyContinue Reading
Despite the winter season, dozens of volunteer groups are on the streets collecting signatures for recall petitions, aiming to recall Kuomintang (KMT) legislators one year after their election. Civil society is organizing independently, without any sponsorship from political parties, including the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Robert Tsao, former chairpersonContinue 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 Raymond Powell – founder and director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency project of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University,Continue Reading
China’s aviation ambitions are soaring to new heights, as evidenced by its latest push to persuade Vietnam to authorize domestically produced jets for operation. According to recent reports, China has engaged in months of discussions with Vietnamese regulators and airlines, culminating in an apparent charm offensive led by the CommercialContinue Reading
When was the last time you called an automated customer service hotline, desperate to explain your issue, only to find that none of the options fit your needs? Now imagine the hotline keeps parroting irrelevant responses – except millions of lives depend on you getting your point across. This isContinue Reading
Two new bills introduced in the U.S. Congress today seek to strip China of its permanent normal trade relations status. In the House of Representatives, John Moolenaar (R-Michigan), who also serves as the chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and Tom Suozzi (D-New York) introducedContinue Reading
On January 24, the Japanese government convened this year’s ordinary Diet session, which will run for 150 days, at least until June 22. The administration of Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru is planning to submit 59 important bills during the ordinary session. Among those 59 bills, the Active Cyber Defense LegislationContinue Reading
On January 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared on his various channels a new interview with one of the two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) captured this month. This testimony is significant for developing a deeper understanding of the secretive military collaboration between Pyongyang and Moscow, and – mostContinue Reading
As China’s foreign policy toward the African continent developed into a(n even more) pragmatic approach in the early 1980s – in particular, following the 11-country tour of Premier Zhao Ziyang in December 1982 – Sino-African relations became increasingly multifaceted. Since the first years of the reform and opening-up policy announcedContinue Reading
In 2014 I and roughly 150 others arrived to work for The Center for Teaching and Learning in China (CTLC), a company that since 1996 had brought a new cohort of teachers each year, mostly from the United States, and deployed them across Shenzhen to teach English in public schools.Continue Reading
