About Asia

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 coming from the two contenders for Boris Johnson’s job as well as the blocking of the sale of a…

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 Finbarr Bermingham reports on an increasingly concerned Europe, as Baltic nations suddenly pull…

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 visit; Asia correspondent Maria Siow reports on reaction from Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and 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 forecast of war between the US and China and its relevance to the current state of Sino-US relations.

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 concerns over rising costs for a Belt and Road-funded high-speed rail project and his need to draw…

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 at the G20, whether claims of Beijing’s “demands” were lost in translation as Australia embarks on 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 four years of tariffs and trade war has changed trade between the US and China.

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 of Biden's IPEF trade agreement and how it might (or might not) work within the existing RCEP and…

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 Sumaila looks at the science of China’s recently announced fishing ban in the disputed “nine-dash…