Category: The Diplomat

China launched a three-member crew to its orbiting space station on Thursday as part of its ambitious program that aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030. The Shenzhou-18 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China atop a Long March 2-F rocket at 8:59 p.m. (1259 GMT). The spacecraft’s three-member crew will relieve the Shenzhou-17 team, which has been staffing China’s Tiangong space station since last October. The China Manned Space Agency, or CMSA, held a send-off…

Following his initial visit in June of last year, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making his second visit to China from April 24 to 26. On the 23, Chinese state media CCTV’s new media platform “Yu Yuan Tan Tian” (玉渊谭天) published five key objectives outlined by the head of the North American and Oceanian Affairs Department of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Blinken’s visit. Among these objectives, the third point emphasizes that the United States should respect China’s “red line” on Taiwan. However, comparing this with the…

During the late 1970s, China implemented the “one-child policy.” The primary goal was controlling population growth, which could have hindered the country’s economic development. The policy was enforced through severe fines, forced abortions for women, and denying government benefits to children born outside the state plan, who couldn’t receive hukou registration. The human cost of the policy was significant, but it worked – for a time. China’s one-child policy effectively created a demographic dividend, which occurs when a country’s birth and death rates both decline. The consequence was an astonishing…

One of China’s top military leaders took a harsh line on regional territorial disputes, telling an international naval gathering in northeastern China on Monday that the country would strike back with force if its interests came under threat. The 19th biennial meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium opened in Qingdao, where China’s northern naval force is based, providing a vivid backdrop to China’s massive military expansion over the past two decades that has seen it build or refurbish three aircraft carriers. The two-day talks have drawn representatives from partners…

On March 19, Hong Kong’s Legislative Council passed the Safeguarding National Security Bill, which took effect four days later. The speed of the legislation’s passage was astonishing: The draft bill was only submitted by the government to the Legislative Council on March 8. The members of the Legislative Council, who had been visiting Beijing at the time of the National People’s Congress, were recalled to Hong Kong to consider the draft. On March 16 and 17, a weekend notwithstanding, the Legislative Council convened and passed the bill with unprecedented alacrity.…

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, commonly known as Jokowi, yesterday hosted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta. The meeting followed a recent trip by Defense Minister and President-elect Prabowo Subianto to Beijing, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping praised the strong ties between Indonesia and China and outlined a vision for regional peace at a time of escalating tensions in Southeast Asia. If Prabowo’s recent visit to China underscored the significance of China to Indonesia, Wang’s visit highlights Indonesia’s reciprocal importance as a key partner for…

Recent foreign policy reporting has spent what might seem to be an absurd amount of time talking about pandas. In November, the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. returned its pandas to China after more than 50 years of hosting the bears in the U.S. capital. The four remaining pandas in the United States – all at the Atlanta Zoo – are also slated to return to China sometime this year. This would have left the U.S. without any of the furry giants for the first time since 1972.  Fortunately, a…

Most of the Cabinet appointments of the incoming Lai Ching-te administration in Taiwan have been announced in the last week. Despite Taiwanese media initially expecting that most positions would be announced at once, the announcements largely took place in stages. This seemed to be because some appointments were not confirmed at the time that the initial slate was announced.  Lai’s choice of premier and vice premier were the subject of much interest in Taiwanese reporting. Lai’s initial premier will be former Executive Yuan secretary-general and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)…

Recently, Apple has been meeting with Chinese technology firms about using homegrown generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in all new iPhones and operating systems for the Chinese market. The most likely partnership appears to be with Baidu’s Ernie Bot. It seems, if Apple is going to integrate generative AI into its devices in China, it will have to be Chinese AI. The certainty of Apple adopting a Chinese AI model is the result, in part, of guidelines on generative AI released by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) last July,…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens global security, in an apparent call for China to apply greater pressure on its neighbor and close strategic partner to resolve the conflict. Scholz also said the use of nuclear weapons in the two-year-old war should not even be threatened, according to a German government transcript of his brief remarks at the start of a meeting with Xi in the Chinese capital. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last month that his government is…