Newsletter 4/2023

May 31, 2023: Taiwan: One finger at the button will be German ++++ UN-Menschenrechtsrat fordert Beendigung einseitig verhängter Sanktionen +++ ‚Lula’ da Silva in Beijing +++ ‚Entthronung’ des US-Dollar? +++ Geopolitischer Hotpot im Südchinesischen Meer +++ Civil Society Dialogue in the Context of the Belt and Road Initiative +++ Frisches Geld für Erdölpipeline in Ostafrika +++ Guinea: Joint venture for the world’s largest iron ore mine +++ Wie Beijing die Schuldenkrise managen will +++ China’s Overseas Investment in the Belt and Road Era +++ Quote: China-USA: Hand outstretched or PR?

Taiwan: One finger at the button will be German

The remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron on the European positioning in the Taiwan conflict have made waves. A shitstorm erupted, especially in German media and among politicians. The consideration of whether he might be right, at least on some points, apparently occurred to few. The central question of how far this transatlantic solidarity would go, however, was left out of most of the commentaries.

Newsletter 2/2023

March 7, 2023: Wird Europa zur Kriegspartei im Chip-‚Krieg’? +++ Philippinen: Kurskorrektur in Beziehungen zu Washington +++ Tauwetter zwischen Australien und China +++ Laos: Auf dem Weg zur Kolonie? +++ Nigeria: Lernt Belt&Road Public Private Partnership? +++ Myanmar: China an der Seite der Militärjunta +++  Chinesische Palmölgeschäfte in Indonesien +++ Asiatisch gelesene Stand up-Comedians +++ Quote: ‚Ground Zero’

USA-China: Striving for friends

Applying the principle ‘winner takes all’ to the competition between China and the USA would probably mean, according to widespread view, that the one of them takes over world hegemony, either ‘authoritarian’ or ‘free’. However, the situation is far from that point, and the battle between the two rivals is continuing to rage unabated.

Newsletter July/August 2022

Contents: Blog Posts: Taiwan – Der Druck im Kessel steigt  // News: Is Beijing betting on the wrong horse in Myanmar? / Due to the debt crisis Beijing is becoming a multilateralist / Weitere Rückenstärkung für Taipeh durch USA und Europa / Beijing verliert in Osteuropa an Boden // Reviews: Western ‘Othering’ of China / Global Views on China and US-China relations

Newsletter November 2021

CONTENTS: Posts: Beijing reports boom in foreign trade / Konflikte um das Südchinesische Meer // News: Courting the Bride Africa / Under Observation by the Regional Rival / Kämpfe entlang der Seidenstraßen / Webinar: China and the World // Reviews: Patrick Bond, China’s Role in Africa’s Development / Zeitschrift ‘Wissenschaft und Frieden’: Chinas Welt? – Konflikte und Kooperation.

Newsletter May 2021

CONTENTS: Blog posts: Europe’s geopolitical ghost ride in the Indo-Pacific / “Debt diplomacy” as a popular refrain in the intensifying debate about China’s economic and political expansion // Readings: A new book on ‘how a former socialist country rescues world capitalism’ / Jonathan Hillman, ‘The Emperor’s New Road’ / Study on ‘social risks to sustainable development’ in China’s BRI.

Indo-Pacific: Europe’s geopolitical ghost ride

It may sound like a matter of routine: The German frigate ‘Bayern’ is about to set sail and spend several months cruising in the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific. The Defense Ministry merely wants to see this just as a “sign” to fly the flag where Germany’s “values and interests are affected”. However, behind this there is a fundamental paradigm shift.

Militarization: Adventure Trip to the Pacific

The deployment of the frigate ‚Bayern’ to a cruise in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific in summer this year is intended to lend substance to the “Guidelines on the Indo-Pacific” adopted by the German government last September and to the pronouncements of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Minister of Defense, that it “will expand its commitment to security policy to the Indo-Pacific”.