James Kynge

3 weeks ago | observer.co.uk | James Kynge

The term “new cold war” should be tossed on to the scrapheap. The intensifying geoeconomic competition between the US and China is so different from the cold war between the former Soviet Union and the US that drawing such parallels is unhelpful. What we have now is a “codependent war”. The US and China – as well as Europe and China – are so economically interdependent that an all-out commercial “war” between them would create mutual impoverishment.

1 month ago | observer.co.uk | James Kynge

The colourful founder of Alibaba fell from favour in 2020. Now he could be given a key role to play in Xi Jinping’s plans Jack is back! Or to be precise, a quieter, chastened and less conspicuously wealthy version of Jack Ma, a colourful Chinese tech entrepreneur who fell from grace in 2020, has returned to official favour in Beijing. This shift says a lot about the current priorities of China’s leadership, especially its ambitions to dominate a future animated by AI.

1 month ago | observer.co.uk | James Kynge

America risks being found asleep at the wheel as innovative Chinese companies roar ahead with technology that will challenge western dominance Elon Musk should be ruing the day that he scoffed at BYD, the Chinese car manufacturer. In a television interview in 2011, the Tesla chief executive was asked about competitors that might challenge his world-beating electric vehicles (EVs). He burst into laughter at the mention of BYD and said he didn’t see it as a competitor.

2 months ago | tortoisemedia.com | James Kynge

China is conducting large-scale military exercises around Taiwan. Earlier this month it unveiled new bridge-barges that could help China launch an amphibious landing, and last week Taiwanese prosecutors charged a Chinese ship captain with cutting undersea cables. So what? Tensions across the Taiwan Strait are escalating. It’s true we have been here before. But with Donald Trump in the White House, it’s different.

Jan 4, 2025 | ft.com | James Kynge

Of all the relationships Donald Trump will have to manage as US president, none may be more consequential than that with Xi Jinping.