(Originally published here by South China Morning Post on November 12, 2019.) American politics got a jolt last week when voters in the staunchly Republican state of Kentucky apparently opted for a Democratic governor, throwing out Governor Matt Bevin in an off-year election seen by many as a harbinger of next year’s battle for the White [...]
Mike Pence’s China speech is just a symptom of Donald Trump’s incoherent foreign policy
(Originally published here in South China Morning Post on October 29, 2019.) The bluster around US Vice-President Mike Pence’s China speech last week drowned out another China speech in Washington, which was more subtle but no less important. In a keynote address honouring the 75th anniversary of the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), [...]
China has no better friend than Donald Trump in today’s America, and Beijing knows it
(Originally published here in South China Morning Post on September 17, 2019.) In the US Democratic debate last week, Beijing should have taken note that the only candidate who appeared willing to negotiate an end to trade tensions with China, Julián Castro, is polling far behind the front runners. The rest voiced support for punitive [...]
Donald Trump has no deep convictions about Hong Kong or democracy
(Originally published by South China Morning Post on August 20, 2019.) It’s both funny and tragic to see Donald Trump’s messaging about the unrest in Hong Kong shift so quickly. Funny because his duplicity is about as subtle as the script of a low-budget sitcom, and tragic – mostly for himself – because it reveals that even [...]
When Hong Kong civil servants protest too, can China still blame American ‘black hands’ for the unrest?
(Originally published by South China Morning Post on August 6, 2019.) US diplomats and politicians talk endlessly about American ideals. When addressing audiences worldwide, many are so high on rhetoric, they can’t see how many eyes in the room they send rolling. Human rights and democracy, they will tell captive audiences from the four corners [...]
America needs to realize its real fight with China lies beyond economics
(Originally published in South China Morning Post on July 22, 2019.) America sees reciprocity differently from China, an official from Beijing told a group of former diplomats and foreign policy experts in New York last week. “When it comes to specific issues, you want reciprocity, but in general you want to stay on top of [...]
Trump’s bizarre theatrics distract us from the real crisis
(Originally published in South China Morning Post on July 8, 2019.) The spectacle of warplanes roaring over the Lincoln Memorial for Donald Trump’s “Salute to America” on July 4 – less than a week after the president squabbled with the United States’ strategic allies and made light of Russian election interference with his buddy Vladimir Putin at the [...]
