In the pre-dawn stillness of Tokyo’s Nagatacho district, the lights on the fifth floor of the Kantei remain stubbornly ablaze. Inside, Japan’s first female Prime Minister is likely to be on her fourth cup of tea and her eighteenth hour of work. Sanae Takaichi does not believe in Japan’s legendary ‘lost decades’ (roughly 1991-2021) of […]
Kyō no teki wa, ashita no tomo is a famous quote by Miyamoto Musashi, the renowned Japanese swordsman, writer and artist. Translated, it means ‘today’s enemy is tomorrow’s friend’ and it is interpreted as an observation on the transient nature of conflict. History, of course, is littered with foes turned friends. Britain and France, Britain […]
The Chinese have formidable qualities, but they have rarely been credited with a sense of humour. Yet in that regard, we may be underestimating them. In response to the tariff contest, a number of witty, AI-generated memes have appeared, mocking Messrs Trump, Vance and Musk, depicting the three as unhappy-looking cobblers trying to replace the […]
What a difference power makes. From the opposition benches, Labour were robust in their criticism of China’s authoritarian regime, pushing for stronger action against its human rights abuses and its influence operations on UK soil. Now they are in government, such concerns have been sidelined in favour of commercial opportunity. This is dangerously shortsighted. Chasing […]
Since the general election this year, one could reasonably say that Labour have avoided standing by any of their strongly-worded statements and commitments on handling the UK’s relations with China. In opposition, the Labour Party were vocal in pushing the Conservatives to be more robust on human rights in China and on the way the UK […]
How happy are the Japanese? This question appears to be at the heart of the new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s plans for his administration. So concerned is Ishiba with his countrymen’s mental well-being that he plans to quantify it scientifically through a ‘happiness index’. Ishiba’s new policy was considered important enough to be trailed ahead […]
Football provides a useful way to understand the dead end into which Xi Jinping is leading the Chinese economy. This month, a 7-0 loss by China’s men’s team to Japan in an Asian Cup qualifier marked the colossal failure of a decade-long multi-billion dollar project to turn China into a footballing superpower. When Xi launched […]
Reading Tom Baldwin’s biography of Keir Starmer, our new Prime Minister’s passion for human rights comes through clearly. Not simply as legal theory, but the ways in which it impacts people’s lives. And his willingness to go the extra mile to defend human rights – involving many overseas visits to parts of Africa and the […]
The satellite imagery was dramatic: China has constructed a replica of the presidential palace and government buildings of Taipei in Alxa League, a remote area of Inner Mongolia. It hardly requires a suspicious mind to imagine that these facilities could be used to train soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army for an assault on the […]
Rishi Sunak has raised ‘strong concerns’ with the Chinese Premier after a young parliamentary researcher with links to security minister Tom Tugendhat and the Foreign Affairs Committee chair Alicia Kearns was arrested amid reports that he has been spying for China. But the PM knows that this is just the thin end of a very […]
One of the tricker aspects of writing spy fiction, Somerset Maugham observed, was that the clichés were also very realistic. Honey traps happen, dead drops exist, disguises aren’t unknown, and bright-eyed graduates with a keen interest in global affairs are rich pickings for hostile spymasters. This is the lesson that should be being drummed in to the thousands […]
Even by today’s standards of rapid geopolitical change it has been a fast moving few weeks. On March 7, China’s new foreign minister, Qin Gang, warned that ‘confrontation and conflict’ are inevitable unless the US stopped trying to ‘contain’ and ‘suppress’ his country. This threat was followed by President Xi flying to Moscow, where he […]
On the May 28, 1987, a light aircraft piloted by German citizen Mathias Rust took off from Helsinki airport. In his last radio communication, he told Finnish air traffic control that he was flying to Stockholm, yet not long after take-off he was spotted heading south across the Baltic before disappearing from radar. Finnish authorities […]
As China prepares to celebrate new year on January 22, luxury brands are gearing up for the year of the rabbit with an array of luxury rabbit-themed goods: a £29,000 gold and diamond-encrusted rabbit watch by Dior, perhaps, or an £850 floppy-eared hat from Burberry. Japanese streetwear brand Ambush has reportedly sold out of its […]
Earlier this week Rishi Sunak set out a new vision of Britain’s relationship with China. The headlines were clear enough: David Cameron and George Osborne’s ‘golden era’ is now over, and the relationship between the two countries must ‘evolve’. The People’s Republic represents ‘a systemic challenge to our values and interests’, and wishful thinking will […]
Public protests in China related to the government’s Covid-19 restrictions have hit the news worldwide over the weekend, following a fatal apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang last week which killed ten people. Many internet users claimed some residents could not escape because the apartment building was partially locked down, though authorities denied this. There have been reports some demonstrators have […]
Compare and contrast two very different economies. One is a free market economy struggling with chaotic politics triggering market instability, price volatility and rising uncertainty. The other has, arguably, the most stable politics on the planet but is also seeing its markets tumble and currency fall as government decisions panic investors. Both illustrate the critical […]
President Xi Jinping’s third term will be defined by a single geopolitical objective: the reunification of China and Taiwan. He made that much clear in his address to the Communist Party’s 20th Congress, where he told delegates that ‘the wheels of history are rolling on towards reunification and the rejuvenation of the great Chinese nation… […]
The appalling scenes of a protester being dragged into the grounds of the Chinese Consulate in Manchester yesterday afternoon, apparently by Chinese consulate staff, and severely beaten, have rightly been widely condemned by Parliamentarians from all parties. The newly elected Chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns MP, tweeted that: ‘The […]
For those who have been tracking the global growth of China’s digital reach, the message from the head of GCHQ this week was a very welcome development. In an unprecedented speech, Sir Jeremy Fleming warned that Beijing was looking to export its technology around the world to create ‘client economies and governments’ beholden to China for […]
Yesterday Pakistan celebrated its 75th Independence Day. It should be a cause for celebration, but unfortunately just serves as a reminder that the country is still beset with problems and has failed to live up to its potential. In the 1960s Pakistan was seen as a model of economic development and touted as the next […]
What a difference a decade makes. When David Cameron entered Downing Street for the first time in 2010, Russia seemed like a mere nuisance on the edge of Europe, the Arab Spring had not yet rocked the Middle East, and boosting relations with China was seen as the future. The UK was still a member […]
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