Category: The Diplomat

On July 15, the Hong Kong national security police raided two bookstores in Mong Kok: Have a Nice Stay (founded by former journalists) and Greenfield Bookstore. The police arrested five people on suspicion of selling seditious publications.  This falls into a larger pattern of national security operations against bookstores, with Book Punch and Hunter Bookstore being targeted in March and June, respectively. Book Punch and Hunter are well-known and established bookstores within Hong Kong, and the government cracking down on them sends a signal to all independently operated bookstores and…

In recent years, Beijing has adopted a calmer tone in its foreign policy, as President Xi Jinping has called on officials to build a “credible, lovable, and respectable image of China.” This transition has led many observers to conclude that China has abandoned “wolf warrior” diplomacy. This is not entirely the case. Rather than retreating from its well-known “wolf warrior” diplomacy, which it adopted in 2019, Beijing has differentiated its diplomatic messaging according to audience, issue, and strategic objective. In short, China did not abandon wolf warrior diplomacy but has…

On July 16, a day before the annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, officials from 29 countries signed an agreement establishing a new body: the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO). The event was attended by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and the deputy prime ministers of Kazakhstan, Laos, and Pakistan, among other dignitaries. Foreign Minister Wang Yi represented China at the signing ceremony. The new organization, first proposed by China at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, will be headquartered in Shanghai and is meant to operate as…

On July 17, Xi Jinping delivered the keynote address at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, marking the first time China’s leader has addressed the event in-person since its launch in 2018. His appearance underscored the growing importance Beijing attaches to shaping the global governance of artificial intelligence (AI). In his speech, Xi emphasized four observations, including the promotion of “true multilateralism,” language Beijing increasingly uses to justify the establishment of a parallel global order under the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership. In line with China’s ambitions to embed its…

When EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič met Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Brussels on June 29, the encounter could easily be read as another episode in Europe’s growing anxiety over Chinese economic pressure. In 2025, China’s goods trade surplus with the EU reached roughly 360 billion euros, and by early 2026 the imbalance was still widening. Šefčovič himself warned after the Brussels talks that rising Chinese exports to Europe, combined with shrinking European market share in China, were “not sustainable.” Yet the meeting also revealed why Europe’s China debate…

EU-China relations are being defined in two very different ways at the same time.  On June 29, during Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao’s visit to Brussels, the EU and China reached a mutually agreed new definition of their economic relations – “stable and balanced key trading partners.” To give substance to the term, the two sides launched a trade and investment consultation mechanism (TIC), which consists of trade and investment balancing, export controls, intellectual property rights, and WTO reform. This new definition has since appeared multiple times in Chinese outlets…

On July 16, 2026, the foreign minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Justin Tkatchenko, abruptly announced the closure of Taiwan’s economic office in Port Moresby. “The physical presence of Chinese Taipei will no longer be recognized or required within the jurisdiction of Papua New Guinea,” the minister said in a statement posted online, using an alternative name for Taiwan. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, quickly welcomed the decision, reinforcing perceptions that Beijing’s growing influence in the Pacific shaped the move. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately rejected the announcement…

Taiwan has few embassies and no seat at the United Nations. On a good night at the ballpark, however, it can hold the world’s attention. That was what happened on November 24, 2024, when Taiwan defeated Japan 4-0 in a sold-out Tokyo Dome and won the WBSC Premier12. It was Taiwan’s first title at a top-level international baseball tournament. Captain Chen Chieh-hsien supplied the decisive hit, a three-run home run, while four Taiwanese pitchers limited Japan to four hits. The loss ended Japan’s 27-game international winning streak. Back in Taiwan,…

As China’s birth rate plunges to record lows, the country’s leaders have responded by offering childcare subsidies, expanded maternity leave, free preschool, and cash incentives for young families. The government is aware of the problem, but its proffered solutions assume that family planning is primarily shaped by the immediate costs of raising children.  For many Chinese families, particularly those from rural areas, a more pressing financial concern lies at the opposite end of the life cycle.  The problem of elder poverty deserves more attention in discussing China’s demographic woes. Fertility…

In June, a wooden plank vessel set out from Taiwan’s Orchid Island to Batanes in the Philippines. The vessel, named the Ovayan – meaning Golden Friendship – was a type of traditional vessel known as an ipanitika used by the Indigenous Tao people of Orchid Island.  Carrying 20 rowers at a time – accompanied by 40 other members of the Tao community on a support vessel, who helped take turns rowing – the Ovayan took about 24 hours to reach Batanes, the Philippines’ northernmost and smallest province. The Ovayan will…