South African president Cyril Ramaphosa heads a new government of national unity.
Shutterstock
The hope is for pragmatism to drive a transition process. Obsessive adherence to ideological preferences will not build national unity or a sound foreign policy.
ASANKA RATNAYAKE/Getty Images AsiaPac/AAP
China has used the animals to foster diplomatic goodwill for decades. However, with big differences between China and Australia, pandas perhaps can only do so much.
Donald Trump hugs and kisses the American flag as he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Md., in February 2024.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A second Donald Trump presidency would not necessarily implement a foreign policy any more destructive than what is normal for the United States.
Some U.S. lawmakers have grown concerned about TikTok.
Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images.
In China, ‘private’ businesses aren’t entirely private and the ultimate boss is the CCP, not the CEO.
Giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji and its mother Mei Xiang at the Smithsonian zoo in Washington DC on April 16 2022 when events were held to mark the 50th anniversary of the giant panda programme there.
Imago/Alamy
The arrival of two giant pandas in San Diego is a sign of China’s need to make friends in the US tech industries.
U.S. President Joe Biden greets China’s President Xi Jinping in Woodside, Calif., prior to their meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference.
(Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Relations between the U.S. and China have been particularly tense for the last few years. Can one summit between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping significantly improve relations?
President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are set to meet for the first time in a year.
Saul Loeb/AFP cia Getty Images
Scholars writing for The Conversation take a deeper look at some of the issues expected to be on the agenda when the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies meet.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin (left) talks to China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, prior to an ASEAN meeting last week.
Mast Irham/Pool/EPA
Beijing has dialled back its aggressive stance and is adopting a more proactive and confident diplomacy to counter US encirclement.
A U.S. artillery rocket system fires a missile during annual combat drills between the Philippine Marine Corps and U.S. Marine Corps in the northern Philippines in October 2022 in a region where the United States says it wants to deter China.
(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Why have U.S. allies refused to grapple with American global violence, despite its horrific consequences and the fact that it clearly affects how the non-western world responds to the country?
Leah Millis/Pool Reuters/AP
Both sides have stressed the importance of dialogue in order to avoid confrontation. Can relations between the two continue to improve?
Shutterstock
Washington’s protectionist industrial policy is fracturing trade and investment flows based on geopolitical considerations.
In this photo provided by Chad Fish, a large balloon drifts above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it, on Feb. 4, 2023.
(Chad Fish via AP)
Chinese balloons must be assessed within the context of decades of mutual espionage and an awareness of the many storms in the U.S.-China relationship — and the history of empires.
Keep your friends close: Xi Jinping and Joe Biden meet on the sidelines of the 2022 G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.
EPA-EFE/Xinhua/Li Xueren
Ukraine was just one of a number of potential areas of conflict that the two leaders discussed at their face-to-face meeting in Bali.
American president Joe Biden, left, with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa at the 2021 G7 Summit in England.
Leon Neal/Pool/AFP via Getty Images.
Both presidents are committed democrats operating in hostile environments. They are also committed to forging mutually beneficial ties.
Leaders of the ‘Quad’ alliance, including new member, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, left.
EPA-EFE/Yuichi Yamazaki/pool
The security landscape in the Asia-Pacific region is shifting in the face of China’s increasingly assertive foreign policy.
US Navy sailors for the Combined Joint Task Force in the Horn of Africa off the coast of Djibouti.
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images
The decision to redeploy in Somalia represents a renewed emphasis on the old rivalry with Russia.
Good to know you! Taiwanese newspapers hail the election of Joe Biden in November 2020.
EPA-EFE/David Chang
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised concerns about China’s intentions towards Taiwan.
Pondering a shift in strategy on Taiwan? Possibly not.
Nicolas Datiche/Getty Images
Biden’s suggestion that the US is prepared to intervene militarily if Taiwan was invaded was quickly walked back by White House officials.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Senegalese Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall in Dakar, Senegal.
Photo by Andrew Harnik /pool/AFP/via Getty Images
African countries should adopt measures that strategically play rivals against each other. They should implement long-term strategies and domestic policies for dealing with strategic partners.
KYDPL KYODO/AP
There are four potential flash points where conflict with China could break out. Beijing, though, has yet to present a ‘nail’ to the US ‘hammer’.