The new international media for a changing world – The new international media for a changing world
XULIO RIOS
Probably the West's biggest misunderstanding of China is its strategic intentions. There are two ideas that sneak into any debate with hardly any discussion. The first is that China's success necessarily equals our ruin. The second is that this success leads to an exacerbation of conflicts.
PASCUAL SERRANO
As things stand with the new panorama announced on April 18, the American company Chevron is the only one that is granted permission to market, leaving the Spanish Repsol, the Italian Eni and the Spanish company out of the market and under threat of sanction. the French Maurel/Prom, all of them in commercial negotiations with PDVSA.
With the alibi of pressuring the Venezuelan government to be more democratic on the eve of its presidential elections on July 18, the “American friend” whom it truly sanctions is the European oil companies, which it prevents from marketing its oil.
Read more
XULIO RIOS
Ma Ying-jeou's trip to mainland China takes place just over a month after the inauguration of Lai Ching-te, who will take over from Tsai Ing-wen on May 20, and in a context marked by the reaffirmation of the two paths that define the Taiwanese crossroads: irreducible hostility towards an independence movement without a majority on the island, but with notable international support and, alternatively, the establishment of bridges that help preserve and develop the ties between Beijing and Taipei with the perspective of peaceful reunification.
SABINO VACA NARVAJA
What does the statement made by North American President Joe Biden saying that the Chinese economy “is a time bomb” and the recent reaction of tycoon Elon Musk calling for tariffs or trade barriers to be imposed on the main electric car manufacturing company have in common? Chinese BYD? The answer is very simple: China alienates and confuses the West, which tends to adopt a distorted and somewhat whimsical vision of the Asian country's political and economic system, at once ahistorical and decontextualized, particularly regarding what is happening with its economic growth, its productive system and its institutional structure.
JAYRO SANCHEZ
Former US President George HW Bush and the last leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Mikhail Gorbachev, organized their first face-to-face meeting in early December 1989. The meeting was held in one of the cabins of the cruise liner Máxim Gorki, anchored near the port of the Maltese town of Marsaxlokk due to the strong storms that raged the waters of the central Mediterranean during those days.
ELDA MOLINA DÍAZ AND EDUARDO REGALADO
The Chinese economy has shown a great capacity for resilience and development potential by more than meeting its growth objective, despite the complex challenges it has had to face internally and externally. The growth of new sectors linked to technological development has been compensating for the drop in the contribution of the real estate and other traditional sectors.
China is not free from internal and external economic challenges, but the country's economic fundamentals are solid, giving its government ample policy space to address its current economic slowdown, while its industrial development has positioned it well to the future.
Read more
XULIO RIOS
The recent visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, to Spain has left important messages. The first, the outstretched hand, the willingness to continue promoting bilateral cooperation at all levels. For Beijing, Spain continues to be a “good and reliable partner.” The absence of conflict is a notable characteristic of Spanish-Chinese relations.
PASCUAL SERRANO
The news from China appears skipped in the news, but perhaps it is through an adequate compilation that we can get an idea of what is happening in that country. Or rather, what is happening in the world due to what is happening in China.
The Chinese economy grew 5,2% in 2023. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2 percent from the previous year. But that year the nominal increase available per capita national residents was 6.3 percent compared to the previous year, which represents 6.1 if we subtract the rise in the CPI.
Read moreXULIO RIOS
What can be expected from Lai Ching-te as president is an intensification of the projections recorded in the last two terms of the PDP with Tsai Ing-wen at the helm. That is, a firm commitment to political rapprochement with the United States, also economically, defensively and strategically. Lai's Taiwan reaffirms its validity and importance as a pivotal point for the US in Asia.
XULIO RIOS
The Taiwanese presidential and legislative elections are about to fall: January 13. Its interest comes from the double dilemma that must be elucidated. On the one hand, whether or not the policies of the sovereigntist Minjindang or PDP (Democratic Progressive Party) continue; on the other hand, whether the gap in cross-strait relations can deepen even further or, on the contrary, take a less disturbing direction.
Taiwan has held seven presidential elections since the first direct elections in 1996, during which the nationalist KMT (Kuomintang) and the PDP took turns as ruling party for two consecutive terms. The challenge for the PDP is to break this trend. According to surveys, more than 60 percent of the population demands change, but the PDP has serious options for continuity, despite the wear and tear, due to the division of the opposition.
Read moreJOHN HOPKINS
Joe Biden's recent comment that Xi Jinping is a dictator and his linking this assessment to the fact that China's system of government is different from that of the United States is revealing. It seems a manifestation of the Eurocentric thinking that has dominated the world in the last 200 years and the unwillingness to recognize cultures outside the Western sphere. This practice not only denies the validity of other people's experiences, but also the opportunities to learn and seek solutions to the problems we face.
XULIO RIOS
The main success of the summit is to place both countries before the challenge of preventing relations from continuing to worsen, setting barriers to do so. Frameworks in the form of principles, core interests, red lines, etc., have been reiterated. Biden does not want more problems in the upcoming electoral contest. Xi, for his part, needs to focus on domestic affairs. If the summit revealed anything, it is that, at this precise moment, neither party is interested in the conflict.
