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 3/2023

March 31, 2023: AUKUS: Rabiater Aufrüstungsschub im Pazifik +++ NATO’s Geostrategic Interests Towards China +++ Competing Peacemakers in Ethiopia +++ Grassroots mobilisation: Piraeus versus COSCO +++ Pakistan: Blame game around Chinese mine +++ Indonesien: Kosten des ‚Grünen Kapitalismus’ +++ Schuldenkrise: Welcome to the Club, Beijing! +++ Lesehinweise: „The Chinese ‚Debt-Trap’ is a Myth“+++ China in Africa: The Alternative

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’

Newsletter 1/2023

January 2023: Belt&Road Forum in diesem Jahr? +++ Was wird aus dem Seidenstraßenprojekt? +++ Central Asia: Forward Defense of Freedom +++ Chinas Rohstoffregime am Beispiel Graphit +++ Chinas neuer Außenminister auf diplomatischer Safari +++ Gipfel-Konkurrenz um Afrika +++ BRICS: Ein zerstrittener Fünfer-Club sucht neue Mitglieder +++ China-freundliche Regierung in Nepal? +++ Brasilien: Mit China aus der Krise? +++ Ups and Downs along the Silk Roads +++ Quote: Periphery Diplomacy

Central Asia: Forward Defence of Freedom

The Euro-transatlantic view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine largely ignores its significance for Central Asia. The Kremlin’s martial stop signal for further NATO expansion should probably also send a message to Russia’s eastern neighbours: We are still capable of defending our sphere of influence and interests in the region. The outcome of the Ukraine war is therefore also of decisive importance for the future credibility of this claim.

Newsletter August/September 2022

CONTENTS: Posts: USA-China: Freunde verzweifelt gesucht / USA-China: Striving for friends // News: Warnung vor Abhängigkeit von Rohstoffen aus China / Die Züge rollen – trotz Krieg // Countercurrents: Proteste in Kambodscha gegen Digitale Seidenstraße // Readings: China in the Americas / Internationalisierung des chinesischen Ordnungsmodells?

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

Merry-go-round in South Asia

In the last week of March, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi was on a whirlwind tour in South Asia, where the relations of several countries with Beijing, and thus the geopolitical constellations, seem to be shifting. After talks in Pakistan, where a serious political crisis is darkening the future of a Belt & Road flagship, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor CPEC, and a fly-by in Kabul, which has already been interpreted as a first step towards recognising the Taliban government, he made a visit to Nepal after a sensational detour into India.