United States - China Relations: Prospects during Xi - Biden Tenure

Bilateral relations between China and the United States have become strategic in nature with implications to the rest of the world. Both have been engaging and competing on a number of issues in the recent times. While both seek security and stability so as to pursue their respective national interests, they differ on the way they pursue these. While engagement has been the dominant theme in the previous administrations, since late Trump, bilateral relations exhibited tensions on a number of issues including what China considered to be its core interests. Chinas agenda of keeping a low profile has been changed to accomplish something and it intends to occupy the centre stage in the long-term. The election of Joseph Biden as the President of the US coincided with the ongoing reassessments on the bilateral relations as well as coming to the fore of tensions on a number of fronts with China. The spread of COVID-19 pandemic, decline in global growth rates, disruptions in supply chains, and the growing uncertainty have only further exacerbated the US - China relations. Below is a review of the bilateral relations in the recent times by eliciting cooperative and competitive trends between China and the US. It is argued that the US - China relations are undergoing major shifts due to the tensions even as both are for ushering in strategic stability. Chinas perceptions at the leadership level, media and academic levels are outlined in brief to suggest that relations with the US are exhibiting tensions on a number of issues that pose challenges and opportunities for other countries

China’s Perceptions of Russia during the Ukraine Conflict

The ongoing Russian military operation in Ukraine since February 2022 has presented significant challenges to China's foreign and security policies, as well as its economic and technological ties with the West. Initially, China refrained from criticizing Russia's military actions and adopted a "neutral" or "independent" stance in response to Western criticism. However, China was taken aback by the protracted nature of the conflict and Russia's inability to successfully conclude its military operation. This raised concerns within China, considering its own situation of potentially reunifying with Taiwan through military means if necessary. While there are distinctions between the situations in Ukraine and Taiwan, the initial speculation of China conducting military operations against Taiwan has gradually diminished, although military pressure on Taiwan remains. The conflict in Ukraine has also caused internal divisions within China and has had an impact on its relations with the West, which are crucial for China's rise on the global stage. This article aims to examine China's interests and positions regarding the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, the implications for its relations with Russia, and the opportunities and challenges that China faces in the current situation. The article employs an inductive approach, analyzing China's predicaments at four levels: perceptions within the decision-making bodies of the Communist Party, the foreign ministry, think-tanks, and the media community. It argues that in conjunction with China's economic contraction resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian military operation has prompted China to seriously contemplate how to safeguard its national interests, particularly with regard to Taiwan and its strategic objectives of attaining a prominent global position. These considerations carry medium to long-term implications for the evolving regional and global orders. In conclusion, the article briefly discusses the implications of these developments on India, shedding light on the broader regional dynamics influenced by China's response to the Ukrainian conflict

China's political commissars and commanders : trends and dynamics

Political Commissars and Commanders in the Chinese military played a significant role for more than seven decades. Several commonalities, differences and relative influences of these two in the military hierachy existed, though both were tasked to pursue political and strategic goals set by the Communist Party in the internal matters or external dimensions of China. Even as the Commanders' role remained vital in the current phase of military modernisation, professionalism and power projection, the role of the Political Commissars is expected to be enhanced with the launching of "three wars" - media, legal and psychological warfare - from 2003

Kazakh-China Relations: Balancing in Preventing Regional Domination

As Kazakhstan and China celebrated thirty years of establishment of bilateral relations recently, a brief analysis of the bilateral state-to-state relations indicates to the overall stability and forward momentum. Several significant developments were witnessed both in China and in Kazakhstan and in the bilateral relations, specifically in their respective material capability build-up, exertion at the regional levels, expanding economic ties and strengthening institutional contacts, but also to the rising popular discontent on several issues. This article recounts first the major developments in these two countries and how the bilateral state-to-state relations flowered in different areas of diplomacy, economy and energy fields. Nevertheless, several problems also beset the bilateral relations, including regional balancing efforts, rising nationalism, Uighur issue, cross-border river sharing, rising debt and others, the resolution of all of which could determine future trajectory of these ties. It is argued here that following its “multi-vector” policies, Kazakhstan has been balancing both the traditional player Russia and a rising China to see that no single power is able to dominate the regional security situation. Key words: Kazakhstan, China, bilateral Relations, Belt and Road Initiative, economic Relation