China

On 26-27 January, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to the US President, met in the Thai capital Bangkok. This event should be considered an important stepping stone in the overall process of re-establishing lines of communication between the two leading world powers, which was launched during the summit of their leaders held in San Francisco last November. NEO more or less regularly comments on any noteworthy developments in this undoubtedly positive process…

The term “Malacca Dilemma” was first coined by former Chinese President Ho Jintao in 2003. The term refers to potential menacing factors that could hamper Chinese economic growth and threaten its military might by choking its oil imports from the East Asian and Middle Eastern region through the Malacca Strait. The strait stretches to 1100 km in length and 2.8 km wide at its narrowest point, which makes the strait a great source of vulnerability for China. China is the top oil importer in the world…

For more than thirty years, China’s foreign policy activity in each new year has invariably begun with a tour of a number of African countries by the Chinese Foreign Minister. The increasing importance of the continent as part of the so-called “Global South” and for the main participants in the “Great World Game” has become a commonplace in texts devoted to analysing the processes taking place in the world today…