My new book is coming out in Spring 2024. The Ripple Effect: China's Complex Presence in Southeast Asia a.co/d/4h9ozwU #Amazon via @Amazon

New Paper: How the Chinese Public Perceives South-East Asia: Affinity, Annoyance and Apprehension | The China Quarterly | Cambridge Core - cup.org/49oGKpE

Higher education must rethink assessment practices in response to the growing integrity challenges posed by generative #AI, argue the authors of a new #SciencePolicyForum. scim.ag/49fG3Pc

China as a major halal food exporter! Who would have thought? scmp.com/economy/china-econo… Explore our updated app & enjoy a 7-day free trial. New users only. Download now: scmp.onelink.me/3586748601/d…

“China, they say, is equivalent to 0.7 Japans, nearly six Malaysias, five Mexicos, four Thailands and 1.4 Vietnams. No wonder it competes with all of them…Chinese…are relatively free to migrate from its Vietnam-equivalents to its Malaysias and Japans.” economist.com/finance-and-ec…

Stable US-China ties? It won’t last long, Evan Medeiros says scmp.com/news/china/diplomac… Explore our updated app & enjoy a 7-day free trial. New users only. Download now: scmp.onelink.me/3586748601/d…

Thai police disguise as dance troupe to arrest drug suspect, seize methamphetamine pills bit.ly/4nLn4C9

Brazil has overtaken Saudi Arabia to be China’s second largest source of oil imports after Russia. Meanwhile, Chinese brands are dominating Brazil’s EV market, which is BYD’s largest market outside China. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

Germany is in panic over Chinese companies taking over its markets at home, abroad and in China. Having spent quite some time in China in the 2010s, I can’t help but thinking back to the arrogance and quite frankly racism of German expat businesses people. Chinese engineers with Ivy League degrees speaking fluent English and German looked down upon by German engineers with a degree from some German university, unimpressive English and less than two sentences of Chinese. The Germans didn’t see it coming because they couldn’t imagine Chinese people becoming better at what they are doing than themselves. An industry insider told me at the time how keen Chinese entrepreneurs were to collaborate with German car companies on EV development. But all the Germans worried about was they are going to steal our IP. Well, here we are.

Is China becoming Europe’s top science partner amid an American brain drain? scmp.com/news/china/science/… Explore our updated app & enjoy a 7-day free trial. New users only. Download now: scmp.onelink.me/3586748601/d…

Cocktails with @PaulHuangReport visiting from Tokyo! He is predicting a KMT sweep in the November’s local elections. “The DPP has become a Leninist organization with Lai Ching-te in charge, but he’s got zero judgement. @pumashen is totally identified with last year’s failed Great Recall and he will drag other DPP candidates down by running for Taipei City Mayor.” This doesn’t mean he thinks KMT would win in 2028. “The KMT chairwoman is weak with the voters. They don’t like her. They don’t trust her. She’s too cerebral. She was a pundit for 20 years, she has no instinct for retail politics. The people like Han Guo-yu. Cheng Li-win could drag the KMT down and give the DPP another shot in 2028.” Paul is also pessimistic about the prospect of avoiding war. It will come eventually, he thinks, but not this year or next year. “The Iran war confirmed a lot of what we feared about the unfavorable maths of interceptors vs missiles. Yes, the US was wasteful with munitions. However, with a warning as serious as this they will ramp up manufacturing big time.” “Japan is militarizing. No need to change the constitution and no need to go as far as nuclear weapons. It’s better value to put a dollar into the Japanese military than the American military. Of course, the longer we go before the war happens, the less likely it is America is going to get involved. The balance of power will only get wider.” So if what Xi said in Beijing today is basically “on Taiwan we can do it the easy way or we can do it the hard way.” Paul is saying he thinks we’re gonna do things the hard way. Hope he’s wrong!

excellent reporting on a maddening (and familiar) dynamic: why are Democrats in Washington trying to out-hawk Trump on China?

Secretary Hegseth was seen speaking with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun during the banquet event. Expect the two to meet tomorrow and discuss mil-mil. Very rare for a U.S. SecDef to accompany POTUS during a high-level summit. In fact, it marks the first time a U.S. president has traveled to China with his defense secretary since Richard Nixon in 1972.

Many Asian-Americans feel excluded from ‘true’ US identity, survey finds. scmp.com/news/us/article/335…

.@IrrawaddyNews, citing its sources, says China FM Wang Yi met Aung San Suu Kyi during his recent #Myanmar trip Informal off record meeting attended by regime's Lieutenant General Yar Pyae, police chief, home & foreign affairs officials

all we need is two white men to talk about what China is for 1.4 billion Chinese who apparently don’t know.

If Afghan partners – whom the world witnessed standing with U.S. forces for two decades – can be transferred to the DRC, what assurance can the United States credibly offer to those it will rely on in the future? buff.ly/0gRbMtp

AI cheating has gotten so bad that I now feel genuine affection for horrifically bad essays clearly written by the student

“In a funny way, because America is playing the role of disruptor in living color in such a dramatic way, China is adopting a strategy of claiming to be almost the guardian of the order and the projector of stability,” says former U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. fam.ag/3OB6KXz

Thai Foreign Minister criticises the unpredictability of its treaty ally the US - cites Trump’s tariffs and dismantling of aid programs. By contrast, he says, China has presented itself as a more consistent partner to countries in Asia. washingtonpost.com/world/202…

Talk tomorrow @cckuik @HKUFoSS