A lecture by Professor Li Jinshan of Zhejiang University on 27 April surprised the BICCS (Brussels Institute for Contemporary China Studies) with the complexity of the Chinese governing structure.  This illustrates why the enforcement of laws passed by the Central Government is not easy, as foreign companies have found to their disadvantage.  China has five [...]

Ian Bremmer’s article in the March 2010 issue of Prospect is well worth reading.  The world’s two great powers are growing dangerously hostile to one another. Could this be worse than the cold war? Previous posts have raised the increasing conflict between China and the US.  President Hu Jintao’s attendance at the nuclear disarmament conference [...]

The UK has never faced such a fascinating General Election than the forthcoming one on 6 May.  The list of uncertain factors is long.  For example the effects of: the size of the turnout tactical voting the influence of Scottish and Welsh nationalists achieving or preventing a hung parliament on the Liberal Democrat vote social [...]

I have expressed growing concern over the dangers of the deterioration of US-China relations – the Obama visit, Taiwan arms sales, Dalai Lama, Google, cybersecurity and the trade deficit, with the likelihood of China being branded a ‘currency manipulator’ by the US Treasury on 15 April.  The leaders on both sides have realized these dangers [...]

It is now widely accepted that the surge is only a means to an end: the end to establish a stable society in Afghanistan.  This is a mammoth task requiring honest, fair leadership.  The hopes of America and the West are pinned on President Hamid Karzai, the questionable election victor.  Karzai has to find a [...]

Three days ago, 39 commuters were killed by two female suicide bombers in the Moscow metro system.  Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, told Canadian network CTV, “Whether you are in a Moscow subway or a London subway or a train in Madrid or an office building in New York, we face the same [...]