Publications

China’s Ambassador Scolds the west to flatter Xi

On The Asia Dialogue, the online platform of Nottingham University’s Asia Research Institute Ardi Bouwers, director of China Circle, and I published an op-ed on China’s radical break with its traditional public diplomacy in 2019. To understand China’s new hostile public diplomacy one has to first look at internal party political manoeuvres within the People’s Republic, we argue.

Key Quotation:

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).

Chinese ambassadeur scheldt om xi te vleien (‘Chinese ambassador curses to flatter xi’)

In de Volkskrant, a Dutch national newspaper, Ardi Bouwers, director of China Circle, and I published an op-ed on China’s radical break with its traditional public diplomacy in 2019. To understand China’s new hostile public diplomacy one has to first look at internal party political manoeuvres within the People’s Republic.

Key Quotation (translated): 

“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 their swipes are a consequence of China’s rise to prominence. But to understand China’s assertive public diplomacy, one has to look at internal party politics inside the People’s Republic, argue Joris Teer and Ardi Bouwers.”

Testimonial joris teer for the netherlands-Asia Honours Summer School website

I contributed a testimonial to the website of the Netherlands-Asia Honours Summer School, a selective exchange program for Dutch honours students, that started my China journey in 2014.

Key Quotation:

“The Netherlands needs:

“1. policy-makers and academics who understand China's political system and foreign policy

2. businesspeople who understand China's commercial culture and

3. engineers who grasp the vast technological developments taking place in China.

Due to their diverse academic backgrounds, the participants of the NAHSS are perfectly positioned to take on all of these roles together. They can help the Netherlands become 'future proof' in a world in which China will make its presence felt.”

China in the persian gulf crisis - why it can’t be overlooked

Alex Krijger and I expand on our earlier Dutch-language publication in De Volkskrant. We delve deeper into what drives the Sino-Iranian relationship. Before, we warned that commentators discuss the Crisis in the Persian Gulf as merely a conflict between the West and Iran. As a consequence, they overlook the geopolitical dimension of the conflict: competition between Rising Power China and Ruling Power the United States.

Key Quotation:

“Commentators in the West discuss the current crisis in the Gulf region as if we still live in the 1980s. Following the drone attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities that disrupted a staggering six percent of the world’s daily oil supply, they focus on either Pompeo’s finger pointing at Iran or on Tehran’s firm denial of complicity. This paints the picture of a conflict with two main parties: Iran and the United States. The broader geopolitical dimension of the conflict remains ignored: competition between rising power China and ruling power America. Beijing intends to build up Iran as a corner stone of its new world order. Washington won’t stand for it.”

Sustainable finance in asia: helping Asian green bond issuers to access international capital markets

A team of ING China and the Sustainable Finance APAC team have worked with the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF), an influential think tank from China, to publish a report on sustainable finance in Asia. The report was launched in Beijing on 15 September.

The report, 'Sustainable Finance in Asia: Helping Asian Green Bond Issuers To Access International Capital Markets' is written by Joris Teer and Mathias Lund Larsen of the IIGF, in partnership with Leon Wijnands, global head of Sustainability, and Herry Cho, head Sustainable Finance Asia Pacific at ING.

Our conclusion: In order to develop Asia sustainably in line with the goals of Paris Climate Agreement, Asian green bond issuers will have to go global in order to attract sufficient capital. In the report Teer and Larsen explained what specific policies could make this reality.

Bekijk golf conflict niet louter door westerse bril

In de Volkskrant, a Dutch national newspaper, Alex Krijger and I warn that as a consequence of commentators choosing a narrow view of the Crisis in the Persian Gulf (regarding it as merely a conflict between the West and Iran) they overlook the geopolitical dimension of the conflict: competition between Rising Power China and Ruling Power the United States.

This article was reprinted under the title 'Let op de rol van China in het Golfconflict' in Het Nederlands Dagblad, another Dutch national newspaper.

All Under Heaven - Including Europe?

Interview-based article with Ties Dams, China expert and author of ‘De Nieuwe Keizer' a biopic on Chinese President Xi Jinping, published in Are We Europe’s Special European Elections Issue (May 2019).

Key Quotation:

“Should Europeans view China’s expanding influence as a blessing or a curse? Dams, who thinks that Europe should wake up to the new Chinese reality, revisits the events that have shaped “President-for-life” Xi, and the mystical, Imperial Chinese concept of “All Under Heaven” in order to answer this question.”

XI’S NEW ERA MAY COMPLICATE TRUMP’S PLANS FOR IRAN

For the London Globalist, I contributed one article on how China’s growing assertiveness complicates Trump’s future plans for Iran. I review how China worked with the United States to push Iran towards accepting the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal. Then I explain why, if Trump tears up the agreement, China is unlikely to support American efforts to again isolate Iran.

Key Quotation:

“China was central to concluding the Iran Nuclear Deal. There is no guarantee it will play ball a second time.”

"In the event that the United States does unilaterally pull out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, Trump will not only find the European Union in his way: he will also run into a more resolute President Xi. The deal the United States currently has with Iran reflects the previous balance of power: one characterized by China’s determination not to ruffle too many feathers. The political reality of either a re-negotiated deal, or that of not having a deal at all, might very well reflect a new balance of power: a balance of power marked by a Chinese leadership that no longer fears the limelight."