The Aporia · Brics leaders act to hedge – not revolt

Khushboo Razdan

26 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 SCMP has previously reported that Quad and Squad meetings were being planned on the sidelines of Asean events US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth will travel to the Philippines this week to meet regional allies, the Pentagon announced on Sunday.

2026-10-26 · mixed framing · Pentagon chief Hegseth to visit Philippines to meet US allies at Asean events

🔮 Will Xi, Trump, Putin meet at Apec?

2026-10-20 · mixed framing · Will Xi, Trump, Putin meet at Apec? First, they must agree on an agenda

🔮 So what, exactly, does it mean to “talk” when the two countries are still competing over the technologies that will shape the next decade?

2026-10-16 · assertive framing · A US scholar’s take on how shifts in US-China relations are felt in a Tsinghua classroom

🔮 Tokyo is hoping for a visit by the US president that would signal the strength of the relationship between the two allies The US president spent three days in Japan ahead of last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and his meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was hailed as a sign of a “new golden age” in the countries’ relationship. But since then Trump’s growing rapport with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping has caused concern in Japan, which has seen its own relationship with Beijing deteriorate sharply following controversial comments by Takaichi about Taiwan.

2026-10-16 · mixed framing · Why Japanese PM Takaichi is still keen to roll out the welcome mat for Trump

🔮 ExclusiveBessent may skip Apec in Hong Kong to focus on Trump’s Shenzhen visit, sources say US Treasury secretary expected to meet Chinese vice-premier in Shenzhen ahead of summit in November as trade truce extension takes priority 3-MIN READ3-MIN 2 Listen US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent may skip a meeting of Apec finance ministers in Hong Kong later this month to focus on preparing for President Donald Trump’s historic visit to Shenzhen in November, sources told the South China Morning Post.

2026-10-09 · assertive framing · Bessent may skip Apec in Hong Kong to focus on Trump’s Shenzhen visit, sources say

🔮 US judge blocks release of alleged Beijing agent accused of filming Taiwan leader’s son Defence had argued the case was based on a ‘single day’ of surveillance and wasn’t proof she would flee, but a federal judge disagreed They argued that the US government’s case centred on a single day of alleged surveillance in Seattle and was not evidence that she posed a flight risk. US Magistrate Judge Steve Kim sided with prosecutors, who told him that Zhang’s parents and siblings lived in China and that her brother had a history of working with the Chinese government. “The alleged surveillance began and ended on a single day, September 1, 2025,” Zhang’s lawyers wrote in a brief opposing her continued detention.

2026-10-08 · assertive framing · US judge blocks release of alleged Beijing agent accused of filming Taiwan leader’s son

🔮 Days after Xi-Trump summit, top Taiwan diplomat opens de facto consulate in US No Washington stop planned during the three-day visit to Arizona’s semiconductor corridor, sources said Lin Chia-lung, Taiwan’s foreign minister, arrived in Phoenix late on Saturday for a three-day visit that highlights the deepening economic ties between Washington and Taipei. His visit will not include stops in Washington or meetings with anyone at the State Department, according to two sources familiar with the matter. A trip to Washington just days after Xi’s visit could have risked a blow-up with Beijing, which used the summit to press the US to harden its line on Taiwan.

2026-10-05 · speculative framing · Days after Xi-Trump summit, top Taiwan diplomat opens de facto consulate in US

🔮 Trump may also be accompanied by his wife, Melania, who has not travelled to Asia with her husband since 2020, sources say If the trip happens, Trump’s appearance at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting, expected to run from November 16-18 in Manila, will be his second consecutive appearance at the gathering during this term.

2026-10-02 · mixed framing · Donald Trump is planning trip to the Philippines for Asean summit

🔮 “He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some at one point,” the ambassador David Perdue said on Fox News after Xi’s state visit to the White House last week.

2026-09-28 · assertive framing · Trump asked Xi if Beijing wanted US weapons: a joke, a gambit or something more?

🔮 “He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some at one point,” the ambassador David Perdue said on Fox News after Xi’s state visit to the White House last week.

2026-09-28 · assertive framing · Trump ‘arms offer’ to China jolts Washington into moves to contain the fallout

Also by Khushboo Razdan

Hegseth pitches new US-Asean defence framework, but doubts run deep

2026-10-29 · South China Morning Post

Pentagon chief Hegseth to visit Philippines to meet US allies at Asean events

2026-10-26 · South China Morning Post

Will Xi, Trump, Putin meet at Apec? First, they must agree on an agenda

2026-10-20 · South China Morning Post

A US scholar’s take on how shifts in US-China relations are felt in a Tsinghua classroom

2026-10-16 · South China Morning Post

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 26 articles by Khushboo Razdan →

Cao Jiaxuan

19 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 China nominates Song Li for WHO chief as agency faces funding shake-up from US exit If elected, she would be the first mainland Chinese director general of the United Nations health agency If elected, Song would be the first person from mainland China to head the United Nations health agency.

2026-10-08 · assertive framing · China nominates Song Li for WHO chief as agency faces funding shake-up from US exit

🔮 US wraps up military mission in Iraq, giving Baghdad room to strengthen China ties Analysts say Beijing will pursue energy and commercial deals after American withdrawal but will not seek to fill a security role But they cautioned that the shift was unlikely to create a power vacuum for Beijing to fill, with China lacking both the ambition and capacity to take on the US security role. The mission, launched in 2014 to fight Islamic State, has been replaced by an Iraqi-led security effort, while Washington has said it will continue targeted training and intelligence support.

2026-10-08 · assertive framing · US wraps up military mission in Iraq, giving Baghdad room to strengthen China ties

🔮 “Today’s Xinjiang enjoys social stability, economic prosperity, ethnic unity and religious harmony,” Guo said, adding that China would provide more opportunities for foreign businesses to invest and operate in the country.

2026-10-04 · mixed framing · China lashes out at Xinjiang ‘lie’ after US lawmaker urges Starbucks to close new stores

🔮 Observers say a meeting between the three leaders in Shenzhen is possible but would rest on some groundwork A meeting next month between the leaders of the world’s three biggest nuclear powers is possible but hinges on the three sides finding common ground and setting realistic expectations about outcomes, according to analysts. US President Donald Trump is also expected to attend the forum, which will be Putin’s first since 2017.

2026-10-02 · mixed framing · Putin’s hopes for ‘productive’ Apec fuel talk of summit with Xi and Trump

🔮 The new US-Denmark-Greenland security agreement could narrow China’s room to engage in the Arctic – particularly in resource-rich Greenland – and potentially push Beijing closer to Russia, Chinese experts on the matter said.

2026-09-26 · mixed framing · Why US deal on Greenland could narrow China’s Arctic engagement

🔮 Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia test limits of Mecca regional security pact Turkey and Pakistan are unlikely to intervene despite the deal’s terms, which could hobble its deterrent effect, analysts say Just a month after Saudi Arabia signed a regional mutual defence deal with Pakistan and Turkey, attacks by Yemen’s Houthis against the kingdom’s energy infrastructure and military sites are testing the pact’s limits.

2026-09-26 · mixed framing · Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia test limits of Mecca regional security pact

🔮 How Peng Liyuan and Melania Trump opened a parallel track in US-China diplomacy First ladies’ cultural outings and apparently warm conversations a ‘clear signal’ on willingness to advance understanding, analyst says The pair charted a parallel path of soft power diplomacy – sharing conversations, cultural outings and moments of apparent warmth during a visit otherwise shadowed by trade tensions, and artificial intelligence and other strategic issues.

2026-09-26 · mixed framing · How Peng Liyuan and Melania Trump opened a parallel track in US-China diplomacy

🔮 BreakingChinese President Xi Jinping will pay state visit to US this week, Beijing confirms Rare airport welcome by Donald Trump will precede talks on trade, tech and other areas of friction during second in-person summit of 2026 3-MIN READ3-MIN Listen

2026-09-21 · assertive framing · Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay state visit to US this week, Beijing confirms

🔮 Citing Section 53 of Germany’s Residence Act, the letter said that for applications involving “study, research and similar employment”, particular attention had to be paid to the possibility that knowledge acquired in Germany could be misused in ways that harmed protected legal interests or other significant German interests.

2026-09-18 · assertive framing · Are the doors to German universities closing for China’s STEM researchers?

🔮 Advertisement Brics leaders act to hedge – not revolt – against US dollar dominance As New Delhi summit closes, the bloc pushes for a louder voice within global institutions while building parallel machinery, analysts say 4-MIN READ4-MIN Listen The family photograph did the political work the summit’s final declaration could not. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood shoulder to shoulder as the Brics summit closed in New Delhi on Sunday – a single frame capturing an 11-nation bloc that now spans four continents and nearly half the world’s population. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres attended the gathering of emerging economies alongside World Trade Organization Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, New Development Bank president Dilma Rousseff and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank president Zou Jiayi. Select Voice Select Speed 1x AI-generated voice

2026-09-14 · speculative framing · Brics leaders act to hedge – not revolt – against US dollar dominance

Also by Cao Jiaxuan