East Asia

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Just as the relentless grinding of the earth’s tectonic plates produces earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, so the endless superpower struggle for dominance over Eurasia is fraught with tensions and armed conflict. Beneath the visible outbreak of war in Ukraine and the U.S.-Chinese naval standoff in the South China Sea, there is […]

China

Would a “Cold” War Be the Best News Around? Ukraine, Taiwan, and Other Flashpoints in a New Age of Geopolitics

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been widely described as the beginning of a new cold war, much like the old one in both its cast of characters and ideological nature. “In the contest between democracy and autocracy, between sovereignty and subjugation, make no mistake — freedom will prevail,” President Biden asserted […]

China

China is Rising as a Superpower by vastly Expanding Planet-Wrecking Fossil Fuels

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Consider us at the edge of the sort of epochal change not seen for centuries, even millennia. By the middle of this century, we will be living under such radically altered circumstances that the present decade, the 2020s, will undoubtedly seem like another era entirely, akin perhaps to the Middle Ages. […]

Batteries

Biden’s Moonshot: Announces Green Race with China for Electric Vehicle Dominance as MSM Misses Story

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden admitted on Tuesday that, regarding electric vehicles, “China has been the — leading that race up to now. But this is about to change . . .” The president of the United States announced a Green Race with Beijing for dominance of the electric vehicle manufacturing sector, in […]

China

China is meeting its Climate Targets, but Earth needs Beijing to be more Ambitious

The Conversation

By Phillip Stalley | – When it comes to climate change, no nation is more important than China. It consumes more coal than the rest of the world combined, and it is the leading emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for nearly 30% of global emissions. Unless China takes rapid steps to control its greenhouse gas […]

China

Is this Wise? Washington Tightens the Noose around China in new Cold War of Encirclement

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com) – The word “encirclement” does not appear in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 27th, or in other recent administration statements about its foreign and military policies. Nor does that classic Cold War era term “containment” ever come up. Still, America’s top leaders […]

China

US Maximum Pressure Foiled as Iran’s new Best Friend, China, imports as much as 18 million barrels a month of its Oil

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – China continues to rescue Iran from Washington’s financial and trade blockade on Iran, which by May, 2019, had reportedly reduced its petroleum exports from 2.5 million barrels a day to only about a tenth of that. Petroleum is a major source of income for Iran, and benefits the government and […]

China

Americans may think they have nothing to learn about Justice from the old Empires like China’s: They’re Wrong

Martin Powers

Ann Arbor (Special to Informed Comment) – A year ago, last September Jennifer Rubin wrote in the Washington Post: “The wanton disregard for the lives of helpless citizens, for the fair application of the law and for our democracy is what we would expect in dictatorships around the world where might makes right.” She was […]

China

Will China Dominate the Electric Car Market this Year? Why it May Not

The Conversation

By David Tyfield | – In the wake of surging electric vehicle (EV) sales in China, it might seem that the Chinese market has already won the “EV race” – meaning the race to secure global dominance of this new technology. But this judgement seems premature. Most commentary focuses on Chinese strengths in EV technology […]