About Asia

In-depth analysis of the speech by China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the 77th United Nations General Assembly, and China's relationship with the UN, from Professor Rosemary Foot, Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relation at Oxford University and author of China, the UN, and Human Protection: Beliefs, Power, Image.

In a week dominated by the UN General Assembly in New York, Post correspondent Khushboo Razdan analyses the distinct chill between China and India, and the ambiguity both have shown towards Russia over its Ukraine invasion; Carnegie Endowment for Peace fellow Temur Umarov unpacks Xi Jinping’s visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and how Moscow’s war has pushed Central Asian nations to pivot towards...

Post diplomacy expert Shi Jiangtao pulls apart the language of the Xi-Putin meeting in Uzbekistan and looks at the agendas at play, how they relate to China’s troubled domestic politics and what this means for the future of the Sino-Russian partnership. Europe correspondent Finbarr Bermingham looks at the state-of-the-union speech from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and how it...

What does it mean for Russia and China to declare they will use the ruble and the yuan instead of US currency for their oil and gas deals? Have Chinese refineries decided they can avoid sanctions and buy cheap Russian crude? Siqi Ji analyses the growing Sino-Russian energy relationship, while William Zheng looks at the geopolitics of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting and how X...

Post journalists Finbarr Bermingham and Mimi Lau unpack the UN human rights report on conditions in China’s Xinjiang region and subsequent vehement rejection of it by Beijing; Kinling Lo on worries about drones flying over Taipei-controlled islands west of Taiwan as the US reaches another big arms deal; Japan-based correspondent Julian Ryall analyses Tokyo's concerns over Sino-Russian military dri...

Post North American bureau chief Rob Delaney looks at two announcements that may feature highly in the US-China political narrative to come. What is the agenda behind a proposed formal trade deal between Washington and Taipei? Has a lone Republican in Dakota proposed legislation that could blacklist Chinese agribusiness investment? London correspondent Chad Bray unpacks the anti-China rhetoric com...

Beijing ends its massive military exercises around Taiwan and issues a white paper laying out exactly its ambitions for when it "re-unifies" the self-ruled island with the mainland. The US Congress moves forward its Taiwan Act which declares Taiwan to be an important non-NATO ally. Post journalists Jacob Fromer and Shi Jiangtao analyse the reactions from each side, and Brussels based correspondent...

What are the political and diplomatic ramifications of Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan? Post US Bureau chief Rob Delaney analyses how the House Speaker’s visit has changed US politics, the G7 reaction and if her agenda included lobbying Taiwan’s semiconductor industry; Post diplomacy expert Shi Jiangato unpacks the nationalist and political pressures on Xi Jinping and how mainland analysts view the...

US-based Post journalist Owen Churchill goes beyond the "playing with fire" headlines to analyse what was discussed – and what was not – in the 2.5-hour phone call between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, as well as the domestic pressures from Nancy Pelosi's potential visit to Taiwan. Post diplomacy expert Shi Jiangtao looks at political scientist Graham Allison's theory of the 'Thucydides Trap', its for...

Post North America bureau chief Rob Delaney looks into the hype around US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s reported plans to fly to Taiwan, as  preparations continue for US President Joe Biden’s vital call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, and US lawmakers consider legislation targeting Beijing. Indonesia-based reporter Resty Woro Yuniar analyses President Joko Widodo's visit to Beijing amid co...

The Post's Beijing-based diplomacy correspondent Laura Zhou analyses Beijing's political and economic relationship with Sri Lanka, “debt traps” and the Hambantota port; tech desk editor Zhou Xin discusses the US pressure on Netherlands-based ASML, the world's premier builder of semiconductor-making machines, to ban exports to China and its impact on China's tech industry.

Post political economy editor Wendy Wu reports from Beijing on China’s reaction to the assassination of Shinzo Abe. Wendy analyses the complex relationship the former Japanese prime minister had with Xi Jinping and the legacy Abe leaves of economic cooperation and heightened militarism; Professor James Laurenceson of the Australia-China Relations Institute analyses the Wang Yi/Penny Wong meeting a...

Grave warnings on China from the FBI and MI5 on the eve of the G20 conference in Bali: how will this affect the agenda? SCMP correspondent Mark Magnier and Beijing-based political economy editor Wendy Wu analyse the pressures on Joe Biden to reduce tariffs to lessen inflation while not looking “weak” on China and what Beijing will do in response; veteran trade lawyer Ben Kostrzewa analyses how fou...

Veteran SCMP diplomacy correspondent Shi Jiangtao reports on Beijing's response to US president Joe Biden's trip to South Korea and Japan, with angry phone calls to Tokyo, warnings to Jake Sullivan and corresponding incursions of Chinese bombers and naval vessels amid increasing concerns among Chinese analysts of a "NATO for Asia" being assembled. Trade expert Dr Deborah Elms unpacks the reality o...

What comes next after the historic election of Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jnr as the Philippines' new president, with Sara Duterte as his VP? Veteran analyst Lucio Blanco Pitlo III unpacks what to expect for Sino-Philippine ties, economic development and how the US will seek to wedge Beijing over fishing disputes and island development in the South China Sea. Global fisheries expert Prof Rashid S...

SCMP's Washington-based corrrespondent Kinling Lo reports on the diplomatic full-court press delivered by the White House for the two day ASEAN summit, and picks up on the significant omissions in the offers of support from the US. Korea Times journalist Kim Bo-eun analyses the inauguration ceremony of South Korea's new president Yoong Suk-yeol and why the attendance of China's vice premier and Ja...

SCMP tech desk editor Zhou Xin looks at reports the US Treasury is about to sanction the world’s biggest maker of surveillance tech and why this worries Wall Street and China’s tech sector. Analyst Edward Cavanough, specialising in ties between the Solomon Islands and China, looks at comments by PM Sogavare on China’s links to Christian communities and why Australia’s Pentecostal PM Scott Morrison...

Finbarr Bermingham reports onthe EU's legislative tools aimed at trade with China; why Xi Jinping phoned French president Macron; and complications for the UN human rights mission headed to Xinjiang. Hear a deep-dive into the security pact signed by Beijing and Solomon Islands: Dr Anna Powles, geopolitics and security expert analyses the Pacific balance of power; former Solomon Islands diplomat an...

SCMP senior Asia correspondent Maria Siow analyses the geopolitical bombshell deal signed by the Solomon Islands with Beijing for security and a possible military base. What does this mean for the US Asia-Pacific pivot, and is this Australia’s single biggest foreign policy failure? Mark Magnier in New York looks at Chinese ambassador to the US Qin Gang’s courting of conservative opinion over China...

SCMP Europe correspondent Finbarr Bermingham analyses the fallout of the meeting between the EU senior leadership and China’s Li Keqiang and Xi Jinping, labelled a ‘dialogue of the deaf’ by one attendee. While Beijing refuses to discuss the Ukraine war or China’s state media amplifying alleged Russian disinformation and war crimes denials, Bermingham reveals the US is actively modelling the types...

SCMP's Brussels-based reporter Finbarr Bermingham previews the China-EU summit, and what the EU leaders want from Xi Jinping regarding the Ukraine war. China desk reporter Shi Jiangtao analyses Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. China desk senior editor Peter Langan reports from Tokyo about Japan’s recent discussions on nuclear weapons, and how J...

Beijing is under growing pressure to offer diplomatic assistance for peace negotiations as Nato issues a historic statement taking aim at China’s state media for pushing Russian misinformation. Mumbai-based journalist Kunal Purohit unpacks the agenda of Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi as he visits the Taliban before landing in India. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping makes an unprecedented ca...

The Post’s Europe correspondent Finbarr Bermingham reports on the one-year anniversary of China’s sanctions on European politicians and diplomats over Xinjiang, as the EU’s foreign and defence ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the war in Ukraine and Beijing’s support for Moscow. North America bureau chief Rob Delaney analyses the words used by Chinese ambassador Qin Gang on US television to ba...

SCMP's EU reporter Finbarr Bermingham analyses Xi Jinping’s phone call with his French and German counterparts and provides the latest on the UN human rights chief visit to Xinjiang. Chad Bray analyses sanctions on Russian oil, its financial system and high-profile resignation of Huawei executives. China foreign policy expert Dr Courtney Fung analyses China’s abstention at the UN General Assembly...

When China’s foreign minister Wang Yi held his annual extended press conference on the sidelines of the Two Sessions this week, there was one pressing question: what will China do about Russia and Ukraine? SCMP’s Beijing-based reporter Shi Jiangtao analyses Wang’s comments on Ukraine and Russia as well as what his words revealed about Beijing's policy for the EU, India, South Korea and Japan, amid...