US President Donald Trump said he would be “quite disappointed” if his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping broke a personal promise not to arm Iran, even as he revived his accusation that long-time US health official Anthony Fauci helped shield Beijing from scrutiny over the origins of Covid-19. The comments came as Fauci, who led the US response to the pandemic, appeared before a Senate committee. Separately, Reuters has reported that Iran is expected to receive 300 to 400 Chinese-made...
One morning in February 1784, a converted privateer called the Empress of China sailed out of New York harbour. It was bound for a country almost no one aboard had ever seen – China, then ruled by the Qing dynasty. Six months later, it dropped anchor at Canton, the only port where the Qing government allowed Western maritime trade. At the time, the Declaration of Independence was less than a decade old, and the Treaty of Paris recognising American independence had been signed less than a year...
Mid-July should have been a moment of quiet satisfaction in Beijing. Fresh data showed China’s favourability surpassing that of the United States in 25 of 37 nations surveyed by Pew Research Centre, including key European countries. Domestically, the second-quarter gross domestic product growth of 4.3 per cent, while softer than the first financial quarter, kept the annual target within reach. The logic was simple: with the US distracted by Donald Trump’s erratic trade wars and isolationist...
Scientific ties can be a stabilising force in relations between China and the US but as the two countries jostle for a hi-tech edge, maintaining these links will mean going beyond simple competition versus cooperation. To get there, Beijing and Washington will need to keep in continuous contact and have clearly defined boundaries, with narrower areas of collaboration. That was the finding Zhao Minghao, a professor at Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies, and Chen Yutong, a...
China and the United States have stayed in contact about exchanges between their leaders this year, Beijing said just hours after America’s top diplomat downplayed the possibility that allegations of Chinese meddling in US elections would derail high-level engagement. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday that the Chinese and American sides had “maintained communication regarding the arrangements for the heads of states’ interactions later this year”. “Head-of-state...
Washington’s decision to end sanctions on nine Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials, including Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok and two national security staffers, is an olive branch from the US to China to improve relations after their two presidents met in May, political observers have said. They and legal experts said the lifting of sanctions on the nine individuals marked a “friendly gesture” and was “significant”, but little had changed for dozens of others whose sanctions had...
As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. Here, Meredith Chen looks at how tensions and shrinking academic exchange may be eroding America’s deep, experience-based understanding of China. Long before China could be studied through satellite images, social media, big data or...
Delegates representing a United States congressional advisory panel are making their first trip to China in seven years to investigate how the two countries’ economic and trade relationship affects national security. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission has requested meetings with Chinese government officials, academics and industry leaders in key technology sectors such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology and robotics. It said it would also meet with US diplomats and...
Chinese social media users reacted with mockery, scepticism and concern after US President Donald Trump accused Beijing of meddling in US elections in a prime-time address. In a speech on Thursday evening Washington time, Trump focused heavily on US election security and made explosive claims about China, accusing Beijing of orchestrating the “largest compromise of election data in history” and declaring an end to complacency in the face of “Chinese interference”. He alleged that China had...
US President Donald Trump’s prime-time attack on China over alleged election interference marks a significant escalation in the rivalry between Washington and Beijing, elevating the issue from a cyber dispute to a broader national security confrontation, analysts say. “This speech is significant not simply because it criticises China. It is significant because it elevates alleged Chinese election interference to the level of a central national security narrative, comparable to how Russia was...
Chinese foreign vice-minister Ma Zhaoxu is expected to head to the United States next week on a trip likely to lay the groundwork for President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington later this year, the South China Morning Post has learned. Sources familiar with the matter said Ma, who has played a prominent role in overseeing US-China relations, would be in Washington next week. According to the sources, a stop in Miami – host city of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in December – was also likely to be...
The United States’ nominee for director of national intelligence told lawmakers on Wednesday he could be “extremely helpful” in shaping economic strategy with China during a confirmation hearing that framed Beijing as a leading economic and geopolitical challenge. Jay Clayton, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, appeared before the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on his nomination, where he was questioned on several key intelligence issues. When pressed on the top three threats...
We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. US lawmakers push for fewer tax breaks to reduce reliance on China technology A growing number of US lawmakers see the tax code as a way to shift corporate America’s reliance on Chinese technology, framing economic ties as a national security risk. Read the full story here. 2. Anthropic hits...
China is an existential threat to the United States, and Washington needs to slow Chinese momentum and accelerate US technological advances, or fall well behind the Asian giant, witnesses told lawmakers at a Congressional round table on Tuesday. Among the possible strategies needed to counter Beijing’s growing prowess, analysts said, included expanding the Silicon Shield – an attempt to remove China from semiconductor supply chains – to drone and other vital technologies; drastically reducing US...
The United States’ National Science Foundation (NSF) is set to ban collaborations with Chinese research institutions designated as restricted entities, as well as their employees, under a new policy that moves away from seeking to balance security risks with the benefits of international collaboration. The policy reflects a broader congressional push by House Republicans to curb academic partnerships between China and the US, amid lawmakers’ concerns that such ties could contribute to Beijing’s...
China has defended its inspections of Panama-flagged ships as routine safety checks, rejecting US and Panamanian accusations that it is weaponising shipping lines for geopolitical leverage. In Beijing on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the measures were lawful and aimed at protecting navigation and the marine environment. “At present, port-state control inspections are an important measure for countries to manage the safety of foreign vessels calling at their ports and...
As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. Here, Khushboo Razdan looks at how books shape public perceptions and inspire lifelong connections between the US and China even as their geopolitical rivalry intensifies. Alexander Boyd was 14 when a book about China altered the course...
China on Friday accused the United States of misusing its national power by blacklisting more than 60 Chinese companies, alleging that Washington has “disregarded the consensus” reached between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in May. In early June, the Pentagon blacklisted dozens of Chinese companies – including Alibaba, Baidu and BYD – as “Chinese military companies operating in the United States”. Days later, China announced export controls against leading US...
A new round of US-China dialogue on the risks of artificial intelligence, even just for the sake of dialogue, will be important for furthering US national security, according to former senior US officials responsible for China affairs. The assessment comes after the world’s two leading AI superpowers agreed to a new round of intergovernmental talks on AI safety following the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing in May, though few details about the dialogue have been announced. Jeannette Chu, one of the...
Washington criticised China on Wednesday for providing only a few hours’ notice ahead of its launch of a submarine-fired ballistic missile into the Pacific, saying Beijing’s actions fell short of standards followed by other major nuclear powers. The US State Department said China failed to provide sufficient information ahead of Sunday’s test, which it said took place amid Beijing’s “rapid and opaque nuclear weapons build-up”. “We monitored China’s submarine-launched ballistic missile test on...
As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. Here, Dannie Peng looks at what is at stake amid the countries’ historic low in scientific collaboration. In late May, Zhang Ning, founder of TopEdit, a Maryland-based company that provides editing services for academic publications,...
A significant generational gap over China is emerging in the United States, with younger Americans significantly less likely to see Beijing as a cause for concern, according to a new survey. “Across almost every potential concern tested regarding Beijing, American unease climbs steeply with age,” the 2026 Reagan Institute Summer Survey said. It also found that despite the deep political divisions within the US over foreign and domestic policy, there was less sign of a bipartisan split over China...
In a departure from convention, Chinese leader Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to the United States on Independence Day. “This year marks the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States. President Xi Jinping, on behalf of the Chinese government and the Chinese people, has already sent a congratulatory message to US President Trump,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in Beijing on Monday. Beijing does not usually publicise presidential greetings on July 4...
Wu Xinbo is the dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai and a leading Chinese researcher on the US. In this interview, he analyses how shifts in US foreign policy are changing the relationship between the two countries. This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here. As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, how do you assess US foreign policy and the future direction of its relations...
China and the United States may have agreed to establish a “constructive” relationship characterised by “strategic stability” but deep-seated differences have left the future shape of the relationship looking uncertain, a forum in Beijing heard on Saturday. Looking ahead to President Xi Jinping’s possible US visit later this year, Sun Yun, director of the China programme at US think tank the Stimson Centre, said such trips typically required a list of deliverables, “but to my knowledge, both the...
An unmistakable pattern has emerged in the US’ strategy to contain China. Washington has sought to deny China access to frontier technologies and key commodities, and to redirect related supply chains to revitalise American industries. In this context, US President Donald Trump’s intense interest in America taking over Denmark’s Greenland becomes clear. Deny the Chinese their favourite seafood, which many can’t live without, and revive the US food industry. You think I am pulling your leg. This...
China is such a giant player in the global economy that understanding how the US-China contest of the century for international primacy will evolve has become crucial. Some Westerners, especially those in the United States, feel so threatened that they have resorted to protectionism, with global fragmentation and perhaps even preparations for a third world war already in the cards. Kishore Mahbubani’s book Has China Won? highlighted deep misunderstandings and structural tensions between China...
As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. Here, Teresa Elena Frontado and Igor Patrick look at how Beijing is testing long-standing US influence in the western hemisphere. Asked during the 2024 presidential campaign whether he was concerned about Brazil and Mexico drifting...
Wu Xinbo is the dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai and a leading Chinese researcher on the US. In this interview, he analyses how shifts in US foreign policy are changing the relationship between the two countries. SCMP Plus readers get early access to articles in the Open Questions series. As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, how do you assess US foreign policy and the future direction of its relations with China? Simply put, US...
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi warned the US to approach Taiwan affairs with “utmost caution” in a call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling for Washington to expand cooperation and manage risks with Beijing. According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, the two top diplomats held a “positive and constructive” phone call on Tuesday. It is the first reported cabinet-level communication since US President Donald Trump’s landmark visit to China in mid-May. During that visit, the two...
We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Trump thinks he is playing hardball. But China is playing Trump: analysts As the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump fades in the rear-view mirror, marked by anaemic deliverables, poor transparency and missed opportunities, analysts and former US...
US Senator Steve Daines has urged Washington and Beijing to avoid escalating tensions through tit-for-tat actions, citing China’s recent export controls against American rare earth firms and the Pentagon’s decision to blacklist several Chinese technology companies. “These are unfortunate developments,” the Republican Senator from Montana said on Monday. Daines is a member of two of the most powerful committees in the US Senate: the Foreign Relations and Finance Committees. “The escalation on...
A US congressional hearing on Tuesday urged the United States to innovate faster, smarter and better to counter China’s growing technological muscle, even as several lawmakers slammed the US President Donald Trump administration for policies they said undercut US national interests. The testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce comes as the two economic giants increasingly and aggressively face off over standards, economic models and supply chains, despite last month’s summit...