Category: Analysis

Good Cop, Bad Cop: The Future of the Joint Russia-China Declaration

Commentary With great fanfare, China and Russia announced on Feb. 4 a new strategic partnership, as explained in their Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development—an English version of which was posted on the Kremlin’s official website….


China’s ‘Robo-Yak’: Not Its Best Foot Forward

Commentary In recent commentaries, I have written a lot about the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and its efforts to embrace “intelligentized” warfare. These means creating “intelligent weapons” such as autonomous systems, for example, robots. Robotics systems of warfare are basically drones, capable of operating without human controls. Increasingly, autonomous systems are being considered for any…


Russian Assets Plummet as Putin Moves to Invade Ukraine

Analysis The Russian stock market has plummeted in recent days, anticipating Russian president Vladimir Putin’s diplomatic recognition of Ukrainian separatist regions and the announced deployment of Russian troops. Stocks had fallen by 10.5 percent on the MOEX Russia Index on Monday, prior to the market closing and before the subsequent escalations of the conflict. However,…


Russian Assets Plummet as Putin Orders Russian Troops to Eastern Ukraine

Analysis The Russian stock market has plummeted in recent days, anticipating Russian president Vladimir Putin’s diplomatic recognition of Ukrainian separatist regions and the announced deployment of Russian troops. Stocks had fallen by 10.5 percent on the MOEX Russia Index on Monday, prior to the market closing and before the subsequent escalations of the conflict. However,…


China Scrambling to Seize Pricing Power in Global Iron Ore Market

The China Iron and Steel Industry Association (CISA) revealed its “Cornerstone Plan” on Jan. 10, aimed at mining more iron ore domestically and reducing import dependence, as well as increasing equity mines and exploring scrap steel resources outside China. The plan is seen as part of China’s long-term efforts to control iron ore pricing in…


‘Make-Big’ Ambitions Plunge Chinese Real Estate Sector Into Debt Over-Load

News Analysis While Vanke, a major Chinese real estate development company, set its target on fighting to survive in 2022, another real estate giant Evergrande was on the verge of a liquidity crisis. In the past years, changing policies and the “making-big” ambition of China’s Communist government have tipped the country’s real estate sector into…


Experts Warn of Vulnerabilities in US-led Efforts to Decouple from China

New Analysis Over the past three years, more tech companies around the globe are aligning with U.S. efforts to decouple from China—a campaign to cut China out of the high-tech supply chain started by the Trump administration. At a Feb. 11 press conference, the White House outlined its Indo-Pacific Strategy, and highlighted the Biden administration’s core…


Lithium Wars–It’s ‘Game On’ for China and the US

Commentary The United States is well on its way to creating a lithium demand curve that may only be met by China—but only if Beijing feels like it. That’s because the United States—along with the European Union—continue to pass laws and promote the replacement of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars and trucks with electric vehicles (EV)….


How Communist Chinese Animosity Toward America Began

Commentary Americans and many others have rightly been wary of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) intentions for many decades. Chinese communism and Western-style liberal democracy mix together about as well as oil and water do. Most observers realize that over the past 100 years, the CCP had made it clear that it intends to become…


CCP Not Serious About Reducing Carbon Emissions: Expert

During recent meetings between the World Economic Forum and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Politburo, Chinese leader Xi Jinping emphasized that the CCP would remain flexible in fulfilling its promise to reduce carbon emissions. Xi’s comments seem to contradict the aggressive claims CCP authorities made during the 2020 and 2021 United Nations Conferences that China…