Analyses
China
Tectonic Shifts, Not Total Decoupling: Shaun Breslin
on U.S.-China Trade War
Alessandra Tommasi 17 April 2025
Tit-for-tat tariff hikes have paused (for now) at 145% on Chinese imports into the U.S., countered by 125% levies on American goods heading to China. But the trade war shows no signs of ending: the White House is already threatening to raise tariffs again – this time to a staggering 245% – “as a result of China’s retaliatory actions,” and is not ruling out that countries – from neighboring Latin America to Europe – may soon have to choose between Beijing and Washington. Xi Jinping has vowed that China would “fight to the end.” For a Chinese perspective on this trade war, Reset DOC has reached out to Professor Shaun Breslin, Director of the European Hub for Contemporary China.
  • Trump’s Old-World Vision Clashes with China’s 21st-Century Rise (p. II)
    Seán Golden 3 March 2025
    It is extremely difficult to accurately predict what will unfold in Trump’s relations with China or their effects on the rest of the world, but it may be possible to identify and analyze some of the major scenarios in which they will unfold, including the emerging post-Bretton Woods world order, world trade, the role of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in a global setting, and security issues.
  • Trump’s Old-World Vision Clashes with China’s 21st-Century Rise
    Seán Golden 7 February 2025
    Trump promised to impose 60 percent tariffs on Chinese trade immediately but has for the moment only imposed 10 percent. Whether this is an attempt to keep face with his voters or a tactical move in a longer-term strategy remains to be seen, as does China’s response and the global consequences. The initial Chinese response has been a cautious tit-for-tat, but the situation is fluid.
  • After the Exodus: The Hong Kong Diaspora Engaging in UK Politics
    Owen Au 3 December 2024
    Hong Kong, once a vibrant city celebrated as an international financial hub, is now witnessing a significant new wave of mass exodus. While official data on the scale of this migration is unavailable, estimates suggest that between 200,000 and 500,000 people have left the city over the past few years. Hong Kong has long been familiar with migration; cross-border employment and split families are nothing new to Hongkongers. However, the mass migration taking place is still something worth a glance at – not only because of the factors driving it but also because, for the first time, it has created a Hong Kong diaspora.
  • Beyond the West: China’s Strategic Push with BRICS and Belt and Road
    Giovanni Panzeri 4 November 2024
    In the past decade, China has emerged as a strategic contender to the US-led international system, actively reshaping global economic and geopolitical dynamics. This repositioning has unfolded through China’s proactive involvement in the BRICS+, the launch of the One Belt One Road Initiative (OBOR, or Belt and Road Initiative), and, more recently, through a concerted push to mediate in crises worldwide, capitalizing on both political and economic opportunities. Reset DOC discussed these developments with Claudia Astarita, a professor of Chinese Studies at Science Po University in Paris.
  • Chinese-English Communication Risks: Can We Bridge the Semantic Gap?
    Seán Golden 5 August 2024
    Cultural plurality is the playing field of international affairs. Ignoring this fact runs the risk of continuous communication failure. Concepts and the terms used to express them have connotations that are rooted in their native context. Often there are cultural equivalents in other cultural contexts that share these connotations. But often enough, the equivalents do not exist, or the connotations do not coincide.
  • The Dalai Lama’s Visits to Taiwan Intertwined with Cross-Strait Relations
    Kristina Kironska 5 June 2024
    The Dalai Lama has visited Taiwan three times – in 1997, 2001, and 2009 – and there are calls for his return. Since his first visit, Tibetan Buddhism in Taiwan has grown significantly. The total number of Tibetan Buddhist centers has increased from 82 in 1996 to 473 in 2018, while the community of Tibetan Buddhists soared to approximately half a million. From this perspective, the Dalai Lama’s visits to Taiwan have achieved their goal of disseminating Tibetan Buddhism, making his potential return to Taiwan of paramount religious significance. But there is also a political significance to his visits.
  • Hijacked Discourses Impede Cultural Plurality in International Affairs
    Seán Golden 24 April 2024
    Jürgen Habermas’ theory of civic discourse imposes binding rules on debate in order to subsequently bind behavior. Perhaps this could be extended to international affairs. Scholar Wang Minmin advocates establishing “a set of negotiable yet binding communicative rules and values, [and] world opinion [that] would both allow civic discourse and act as the binding power of an international norm.” Such an approach would require “that we must first acknowledge the differences in moral orders on both sides, but then also move beyond this to realize the common ground on which both sides stand.”
  • What did the 2024 Double Legislative Session Reveal in China
    Seán Golden 25 March 2024
    From March 4 to 11, 2024, the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress held their annual joint double session, Lianghui (两会) in Chinese. The former is the highest legislative body in China’s governmental structure. The latter is the highest advisory body. In theory, all branches of government are subordinate to the National People’s Congress. In practice, government leaders present their work reports, and the Congress approves both the reports and the government’s accompanying proposals.
  • Myanmar’s Struggle for Freedom Three Years After the Military Coup
    Kristina Kironska 22 February 2024
    Three years after the failed military coup in Myanmar, there is genuine hope within the country for democratic resistance. By the end of 2023 and into the beginning of 2024, Myanmar reached a turning point, with significant successes achieved by the revolutionary movement, particularly on the battlefield. For the first time since the coup, there is a growing possibility that the resistance movement may prevail against the military dictatorship.
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