Introduction In December, a war of words raged across the Pacific over the very meaning of the word “democracy” (China Brief, December 14, 2021). The United States held its Summit for Democracy, inviting other democracies of various stripes, while China convened its own competing “Dialogue... MORE

Introduction The failure of military talks in the fall to ease a one-and-half year border standoff between India and China could lead to further militarization of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto China-India boundary. The commanders from both armies held talks on October... MORE

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) official narrative holds that China is at a decisive moment. In the CCP’s telling, China’s long-sought goal of “national rejuvenation” is within reach, and can be attained by rallying around General Secretary Xi Jinping’s leadership to fully implement “Xi Jinping... MORE

Introduction After striking a deal to terminate the U.S.-European Union bilateral dispute over steel and aluminum tariffs, U.S. President Joseph Biden hailed the opportunity to curb imports of “dirty steel” from China (Straits Times, October 31). The U.S. and EU jointly agreed to support sustainable... MORE

Introduction Over the last year, Chinese politics have been acutely driven by President Xi Jinping’s quest to further cement his leading role in the hierarchy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Xi’s drive to stamp his “strongman” image and personality-driven political ideologies on the CCP... MORE

Introduction During the 6th Plenum of the 19th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee, held in November 2021, China’s top political leadership passed a “historical resolution” that cements President Xi Jinping’s (习近平) status as a transformative leader and secures his political legacy (People’s Daily, November... MORE

In the run-up to the U.S. “Democracy Summit” hosted by President Joe Biden on December 9-10, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pulled out all the stops to convince the world that China’s “whole-process democracy” (全过程民主, quanguocheng minzhu) is superior to the democratic ideals championed by... MORE

The triannual Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC, 中非合作论坛, Zhongfei hezuo luntan) convened in Dakar, Senegal this week (Xinhua, November 29). This year’s meeting was held at the ministerial level, a departure from the last two fora, which were leader-level summits. More African heads of state,... MORE

New revelations on the laundering of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda through local actors in the Czech Republic point to an underresearched aspect of influence operations. The CCP’s tactic of “borrowing a boat to go out to sea” (借船出海, jie chuan chu hai), i.e., coopting local... MORE

Introduction In May, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Carrier Strike Group (CSG) led by the HMS Queen Elizabeth set off for the Indo-Pacific region on a seven-month deployment, which is the first of its kind (UK Ministry of Defence, May 22). The CSG has so far... MORE