China’s ambassador scolds the West to flatter Xi

In 2019 China ushered in a new era for its public diplomacy. Its ambassadors – armed with new Twitter accounts – opted for confrontation with Europe and North America. The conventional explanation is that these swipes are a consequence of China’s rise to prominence. But to understand China’s assertive public diplomacy in the decade ahead, we argue that one has to look at internal party politics inside the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

JORIS TEERFebruary 3, 2020Xi, Public Diplomacy, China, The West, United States, Sweden, Canada, Meng Wenzhou, Deng, Mao, Chinese Communist Party

Escalation of the American-Iranian Soleimani Stand-Off: the Consequences for China

The American killing of Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s master general in early January 2020, will have consequences beyond the Middle East. In earlier writings I emphasized Iran’s centrality in China’s Middle East policy (reflected for instance by its central geographical position in China’s Belt and Road Initiative). In this blogpost I explore what the consequences of an escalation of the American-Iranian stand-off will be for Xi Jinping.

China MidEast Relations, ChinaJORIS TEERJanuary 6, 2020Xi, China, Iran, USA, Soleimani, IRGC, Quds, Oil, Geopolitics, Middle East, Trump, Khamenei