Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the European Union’s top diplomat on Wednesday that Beijing cannot afford a Russian loss in Ukraine because it fears the United States would then shift its whole focus to Beijing, according to several people familiar with the exchange. The comment, to the EU’s Kaja Kallas, would confirm what many…
For months since the return of US President Donald Trump, there has been a roaring trade in papers and speeches about how to make Europe a truly independent geopolitical player. The term “strategic autonomy”, championed by the French government during Trump’s first term, is back in vogue. But the independence movement was on the ropes…
According to one China watcher, Beijing may be a “long-term beneficiary” of the American retreat from stable leadership, as Washington’s strikes on Iran have revealed it to be an uncertain and unpredictable global power. More significantly, the conflict has revealed Washington’s reluctance to engage in a prolonged war, offering the Chinese leadership clues on how…
US President Donald Trump’s declaration on Tuesday that China “can now continue” to buy Iranian oil did not signal a change in Washington’s policy on banning such trade, the White House said. Trump’s earlier comments about the China-Iran oil trade were made to highlight the continuation of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical…
Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend next week’s Brics summit in Rio de Janeiro, marking his first-ever absence from the gathering of leading emerging economies, the Post learned from multiple sources on Tuesday. According to officials familiar with the matter, Beijing told the Brazilian government that Xi had a scheduling conflict. Instead, Premier Li…
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas Monday called for what she called “a dose of realism” in its relations with China after EU foreign ministers discussed security aspects of relations with China. The ministers met to set the agenda for a planned July 2 Brussels meeting between Kallas and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi…
Western and other developed countries are welcome to use services offered by Hong Kong’s newly established global mediation centre, a senior official has said, dismissing concerns over the institute’s founding members being primarily developing nations. Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan on Saturday also addressed the possible direct competition with other dispute resolution hubs,…
Hong Kong’s new global mediation centre can help resolve territorial or sovereignty disputes if participants are willing to come to the table, the city’s justice minister has said. Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi presided over a landmark signing ceremony for the establishment of the International Organisation for Mediation in the city. Thirty-three countries…
The new International Organisation for Mediation launched in Hong Kong will be an efficient, fair and credible mechanism for dispute resolution and attract investors from the Global South as the world economy shifts towards these developing countries, the city’s finance minister has said. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday that the inauguration of…
Hong Kong made a groundbreaking move on Friday when it became the headquarters for a new intergovernmental mediation body but the unit’s real tests will be in the types of substantive cases it handles and whether more countries will join the convention, experts have said. While the China-led International Organisation for Mediation launched on Friday…