double-skinned crabsVietnamese crab exporter
Advertisement
Advertisement
Opinion /

World Opinion

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
US-China relations

Opinion | Low-hanging fruit for Xi and Trump to pluck at Shenzhen Apec summit

The meeting between the two leaders this month is an opportunity to firm up initiatives that promote ‘constructive strategic stability’.

Artificial intelligence

Opinion | In US or China, firms need AI they can independently verify and trust

Artificial intelligence

As I see it | Will AI save us or kill us all?

10
China-EU relations

Opinion | Europe urgently needs solidarity on China

EU states have learnt not to pick fights with China. They should see their most vital trade weapon is not the ‘kill switch’, but solidarity.

6
Illustration: Mario Cameira
Illustration: Mario Cameira
China-Africa relations

Opinion | China’s new industrial strategy in Africa has global implications

The shift in economic geography from mining to manufacturing is especially evident in East Africa’s Kenya and Tanzania.

BN(O) passport

Opinion | Britain must stop moving the goalposts for Hongkongers on BN(O) scheme

That the five-year settlement remains unchanged under new, stricter immigration rules should never have been in question.

30
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
China-EU relations

Opinion | China-Swiss trade partnership offers a model amid fraught EU ties

The China-Switzerland free-trade upgrade is a practical rebuttal to the trends of unilateralism and protectionism.

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao with Swiss President Guy Parmelin in Bern on August 20, where they concluded negotiations for a free-trade upgrade deal. Photo: Mofcom
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao with Swiss President Guy Parmelin in Bern on August 20, where they concluded negotiations for a free-trade upgrade deal. Photo: Mofcom
Artificial intelligence

Opinion | From filmmaking to maths, AI tide is rising faster than official responses

Before deciding how to respond to developments in artificial intelligence, Beijing and Washington need a better sense of just how quickly the tide is rising.

United States

Opinion | In the Pacific century, Chinatowns in the US deserve more than preservation

The question today is whether a new economic geography can create the opportunities denied to earlier generations.

Diplomacy

Opinion | Can China champion the Global South without speaking for it?

China’s challenge is to turn its economic relationships into constructive partnerships without expecting political loyalty in return.

6
Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Plus meeting in Tianjin, China, on September 1, 2025. Photo: EPA/Iranian Presidency handout
US-China relations

Opinion | Midterm swing won’t change trajectory of US-China rivalry

At its core, this isn’t about Democrats vs Republicans, national power or even AI. It’s really about how each institutionalises its capital.

Voters waiting to cast their ballots in the US midterm elections at El Tianguis Mercado in Guadalupe, Arizona, on November 3. Photo: Reuters
Voters waiting to cast their ballots in the US midterm elections at El Tianguis Mercado in Guadalupe, Arizona, on November 3. Photo: Reuters
United States

As I see it | Democrats’ blue wave means rough waters ahead in US-China relations

From tariffs to the tech war and AI, a Democrat-run Congress and a Democratic White House in 2028 could be more hardline on China than Trump.

14
US-China relations

Opinion | Chances are, US-China truce will be extended at Shenzhen Apec summit

The relationship between the US and Chinese leaders will be critical to consolidating the detente and developing cooperation on key issues.

Artificial intelligence

Macroscope | The AI sell-off is a taste of things to come

Companies with aggressive AI spending plans and negative free cash flow are being punished. Beneficiaries of AI spending might be next.

4
Google co-founder Sergey Brin speaks to US President Donald Trump during the Golden Age of American Innovation summit at the Institute of Peace on October 8. Shares of Google parent Alphabet had their worst day on October 29, after the company reported a second straight quarter of negative free cash flow. Photo: Getty Images via AFP
US-China tech war

Opinion | 4 reasons Washington doesn’t want Chinese labs testing US-bound electronics

The FCC ban on Chinese testing labs exposes a strategic weakness: Beijing does not control whether its test results are accepted by a major export market.

16
Workers produce electronic products for export at a workshop in the Yuexi Economic Development Zone, in China’s Anhui province on September 9. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images
Workers produce electronic products for export at a workshop in the Yuexi Economic Development Zone, in China’s Anhui province on September 9. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images
US Politics

Opinion | How Trump’s weakened grip on Congress complicates talks with China

For Beijing, the crucial question is no longer only what Trump wants on Taiwan but whether he can still compel Republicans to follow him.

Diplomacy

Opinion | As US-Iran war shows, China’s influence can’t secure its line to Gulf oil

The conflict has made clear the limits of China’s efforts to cultivate commercial and diplomatic clout among its energy suppliers in the Middle East.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Canada

As I see it | The new Canada is much like the old one

As the neoliberal world order recedes, Mark Carney, in seeking closer European ties, faces challenges similar to those of the late Pierre Trudeau during the Cold War.

9
(From left) European Council President Antonio Costa, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a signing ceremony at the Canada-EU Summit in Montreal on October 30. Photo: Reuters
(From left) European Council President Antonio Costa, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a signing ceremony at the Canada-EU Summit in Montreal on October 30. Photo: Reuters
Ukraine war

Opinion | European unity in spotlight after Finland and Norway’s Russia call

For Russia’s neighbours, direct diplomatic contact is a chance to voice concerns that don’t receive equal attention in broader negotiations.

4
Artificial intelligence

Opinion | China and US need to join hands against another powerful adversary: AI

If the two AI superpowers cannot draw up rules together, a global body staffed by respected experts should be set up.

United States

My Take | Washington’s unending vendetta against Cuba

The energy embargo is just the latest chapter in a decades-long US playbook of sabotage and economic warfare stretching from Nicaragua to the Congo.

9
Mike Waltz, US ambassador to the United Nations, speaks at the UN headquarters in New York on October 28. Photo: AP
Artificial intelligence

Opinion | SI is the future of AI – just not in the way Trump thinks

The next big leap in AI will come from self-intelligence: systems able to recognise what they don’t know, acquire that knowledge and decide how to act safely.

A man poses for a selfie with a humanoid robot at the Dubai AI Festival in Dubai on October 27. Photo: AP
A man poses for a selfie with a humanoid robot at the Dubai AI Festival in Dubai on October 27. Photo: AP
Australia

As I see it | The flaw in Australia’s ‘China threat’ thesis

Instead of adopting Washington’s security priorities, Canberra should leverage superpower rivalry to its own advantage, argues policy veteran John Edwards.

70
Ukraine war

Opinion | A Xi-Trump-Putin summit in Shenzhen could kick-start peace in Ukraine

There will be no diplomatic masterstroke in Ukraine’s absence but serious consideration of a ceasefire can lay the groundwork for peace.

US-China relations

Opinion | Trump’s days of running US-China relations on personal ties are numbered

Democrats are poised to win the House, and perhaps the Senate too, in the midterm elections, undermining Trump’s power to fulfil his promises to Xi.

US President Donald Trump speaking to reporters during a tour of the South Lawn of the White House with Chinese President Xi Jinping on September 24. Photo: AP
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW