Asia

This opinion was originally published in japanupclose.web-japan.orgIntense diplomatic ballet in Africa The past two years have been marked by two important visits: that of Prime Minister Kishida visit to four countries in 2023, and his Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoko visit Yoko to three countries in 2024. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Visit: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was on an African tour from April 29 to May 5, 2023, visiting four African countries, including Egypt, G ...

China’s economy grew by 4.7% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, after 5.3% in the first quarter of the year (Figure 1). As in 2023, the official target has been set at 5% for 2024 (Figure 2). Naturally, great attention has been paid to the decisions of the Third Plenum of the 20th Communist Party of China Party Congress on July 15-18, a four-day meeting in which the country’s leadership sets out the direction of economic policy. The last such event was held in 2018. Do ...

This opinion was originally published in japanupclose.web-japan.org   On December 16, 2022, the Japanese government approved three important defense documents. The first is the National Security Strategy, which defines the general lines of the country's defense policy for the next decade. The second is the National Defense Strategy, which sets defense objectives and defines the means to achieve them. The third is the Defense Construction Program, which determines total defense spe ...

India’s general elections led to a political reconfiguration of unprecedented magnitude, for the first time since the 2014 elections that brought the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over a rare, third consecutive term in power, making him only the second Indian prime minister to do so after Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962. However, although Modi has secured a third term, the BJP failed to achieve an outright parliamentary maj ...

President Biden's announcement of new tariffs on China, though not economically significant on its own, symbolizes the deepening decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese economies. These tariffs, supported by both major political parties, represent the latest step in a broader strategy that favors policy interventions over traditional free-market principles and aims to protect domestic workers, maintain technological leadership, and prioritize economic security. This policy brief discusse ...

The Law of Self-Suffering Mahatma Gandhi, born 1869, assassinated 1948, demonstrated in his struggle for the independence of his native India (resisting British colonial arrogance), that passive resistance had a chance, despite being insulted by British statesman Winston Churchill as the “Hindu Mussolini”. Gandhi, a physically fragile man of just about 50 kilograms, dressed in white cloth (a white shawl and dhoti, allegedly woven by himself), and was, and forever is, the ‘bapu’ of ...

The Internaional Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook, issued on April 16, projected China’s economic growth rate at 4.6% and 4.1% for, respectively, 2024 and 2025. In 2023, after China’s economic reopening with the end of the ‘zero-COVID’ policy, the rate was 5.2%, above the official target of 5% (Figure 1). For 2024, the official target has been set at 5% again. Notwithstanding the challenges we discuss here, China’s macroeconomic performance in the first quarter of 2024 has been ...

The destruction of a vibrant and historic nation, sprinkled with color and culture, turned into a footnote of geopolitics. The more than 377,000 war victims disappeared from global headlines. The official fighting ended in Yemen on March 29, 2022. A ceasefire was declared by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition and the rebellious Houthis. China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, praised “the wave of reconciliation” that swept across the region. The main foreign supporter of Yemen’s Houthi—Iran— ...

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En octobre 2023, la Chine a organisé le 3ème forum de l'Initiative « Ceinture et Route ». Le choix de la date n’était pas anodin, étant donné qu’elle coïncidait avec la célébration du 10ème anniversaire de l'Initiative. Une initiative aux multiples composantes L’Initiative « Ceinture et Route », également connue sous l’acronyme BRI (Belt and Road Initiative), a été initialement conçue pour permettre à la Chine de renforcer ses liens commerciaux avec les Etats partenaires de son I ...

La pandémie de la Covid-19 était venue contribuer au ralentissement de la cadence des investissements chinois dans le cadre de l’Initiative Ceinture et Route « Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) ». Entamée dès 2016, cette tendance à la baisse a été accentuée par les tensions géopolitiques et les problèmes internes qui ont affecté l'économie chinoise. Nonobstant ces contre-temps, la Chine a atteint l’un de ses plus grands objectifs : étendre son influence à travers le monde. À l’occasion ...