NEW DELHI: “I cannot comprehend the situation you are referring to.”  That was Mao Ning, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, replying to a question on the disappearance of Defence Minister Li Shangfu, during a media briefing recently. Mao Ning is otherwise articulate and fluent, so her inability “to comprehend” probably reflects how sensitive the issue is.   […]Read More

NEW DELHI: The announcement of the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) at the G20 summit in Delhi, is drawing considerable interest from Chinese social media. Some of the comments are negative, others say these represent opportunities Beijing would do well to plug in to.   Guancha.cn, a Shanghai-based news site, published an article titled “Competing against the […]Read More

NEW DELHI: In a little over two months from now, China will host the third edition of the Belt and Road Forum at a time when it seems to have lost much of its sheen. Some of the current discourse about the BRI centres around how projects in various parts of the world and especially […]Read More

A month after he disappeared from public view, it was left to China’s state-run news agency Xinhua to make it official. “China’s top legislature voted to appoint Wang Yi as foreign minister. Qin Gang was removed from the post of foreign minister.” That was it, no explanation as to why he was removed, what explained […]Read More

In less than 10 days, the politburo of the Chinese Communist Party will meet with the economy in focus: it is widely expected to take a slew of measures including injecting more stimulus into the economy to boost confidence and investment. Reform may also figure on the agenda although it’s clear this government’s preference for […]Read More