Author name: Rivan Dwiastono

Technology cooperation has been at the forefront of most Europe-India engagements this year. Whether it was the reaffirmation of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) as the cornerstone of the bilateral 2030 EU-India Strategic Agenda, the focus on trade, technology, and talent flows during Finnish President Alexander Stubb’s visit or French President Emmanuel Macron’s effort […]

“The real action at APEC is usually in the side meetings, not the formal sessions,” said David Boling, a principal at the Asia Group. In the wake of Trump’s meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, “U.S. and Chinese officials could use the sidelines to test whether the broad understandings from the Trump-Xi summit can be

Xi emphasized ceremonial hospitality during Trump’s visit, including a rare tour of Zhongnanhai, a former imperial garden that now serves as headquarters of China’s top leadership. Beijing understood Trump valued highly visible displays of respect, said George Chen, partner for Greater China practice for The Asia Group. “Xi knows this is what Trump values: being

George Chen, partner at The Asia Group, said there are two indicators to watch. “The first strong indicator is the timing of the next U.S. arms package for Taiwan,” he said. “The other interesting indicator to watch is whether [Lai] is allowed to transit through the United States.”

Han Lin, China managing director for The Asia Group consultancy, noted that whereas the Trump-Xi Summit targeted a global audience to amplify “China as an equal to the U.S.,” the Putin visit will be more about “assurances” of the China-Russia relationship, with a focus on energy.

“They are calling it shuttle diplomacy but it looks more like ‘hometown’ diplomacy after these visits,” said David Boling, principal at The Asia Group. “There was a concern that this relationship could have gone in an opposite direction with these two leaders, but they have surprised a lot of people.”

Kurt Tong, managing partner of The Asia Group and former Consul General of the U.S. to Hong Kong and Macau, says while the business deals announced during the Trump-Xi summit were significant, what’s more important was the politics of President Trump signaling to the business constituency that there is “forward movement” in the relationship between

Han Lin, China Country Director of The Asia Group observed, Xi wanted “disciplined optics and at least a few concrete outcomes that demonstrate the relationship remains manageable.” On why Xi warned that miscalculations over Taiwan could lead to conflict: So in Chinese there’s an expression, you can be in the same bed with different dreams.