It looks at last that the Lisbon Treaty will come into force – even as hoped for – on 1 January 2010.  Discussion so far has been mainly on whether Tony Blair should be given the first post, and to a lesser extent on what should be the determining criteria.  It seems clear that Blair [...]

Everyone is waiting for President Obama’s decision on whether to send more troops to Afghanistan, and if so, how many.  There is no acceptable and achievable way to ensure peace, stability, and reasonably prosperity in the whole of Afghanistan.  What then does the West do, bearing in mind the huge negative contribution made to the [...]

The following are my concluding remarks at the 6th China-EU Think Tank Roundtable (CIIS-EPC) held in Changzhou, PRC on 21-22 October 2009:   We have had a rich and fruitful discussion facilitated by excellent time discipline.    Underpinning all discussions was the search for mutual understanding and the elimination of misperceptions.  We do not sufficiently [...]

Pallavi Aiyar, recently lived for over five years in China, speaks Chinese and has written a charming and engaging book seeing China through young Indian eyes.  Smoke and Mirrors closes with her insights on China and India: • India is good at software, China has hardware. • India should learn from China to invest in infrastructure, while [...]

Introduction This is a revised version of the paper delivered to the FUDAN CES/IFRI/SIES/CSEUS roundtable in Shanghai on 24 September 2009.  It has been revised in the light of discussions at the roundtable and in Beijing with senior Chinese government officials, EU officials, business representatives, journalists and scholars.  It is inevitably based on western perceptions [...]

A G20 summit was held in Pittsburgh on 24-5 September 2009.  Hosted by President Obama, there was quite a turnout.  Leaders in attendance were: States Argentina   Cristina Fernández de Kirchner President  Australia   Kevin Rudd     Prime Minister  Brazil   Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva  President  Canada   Stephen Harper    Prime Minister China   Hu Jintao     President France   Nicolas Sarkozy    President  Germany   Angela Merkel    Chancellor  India    Manmohan [...]

Professor Zhang Wei-Wei, in an op-ed published in the New York Times on 30 September, on the eve of the 60th anniversary celebrations, offers eight ideas which have enabled China to change within one generation from a poverty-stricken country to one of the world’s largest economies. Zhang, of the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International [...]

The following greeting is addressed to Chinese readers Dear Friend Happy Anniversary!  Who would have thought, sixty years ago, that we would be celebrating 60 years of the PRC amidst such remarkable progress?  To mention just some of results of the Chinese miracle: • 3-400 million citizens have been lifted out of poverty. • China will become [...]

There appears to be some misunderstandings over the issuing of a single visa in China to include all the Schengen area countries.  This post clarifies the position. • If a visa is granted by any Schengen area country, it is automatically valid in all 25 Schengen area  countries. • These are: all EU Member States except Bulgaria, [...]

The op-ed in today’s Financial Times by David Milliband, the UK Foreign Secretary, convincingly argues that the Tories are stuck in the past over Europe.  The outcome of the domestic political battle in the UK today will have major implications for Europe and indeed internationally. When and if David Cameron becomes prime Minister, the Lisbon [...]