In The News

Elizabeth Wishnick says “It was a shocking display. This kind of stunt puts China in a difficult spot and tarnishes its so-called neutral image and its support of sovereignty.”

David Finkelstein says, “Whatever is happening with the former leadership of the P.L.A., Rocket Force will remain mostly opaque to the outside world. Either way, the message to the force will be: ‘No one, however high in rank, is beyond the long reach of the party when lapses in discipline have occurred.’”

Josiah Case says that by publicly announcing its intercepts at sea and in the air, Beijing is sending messages not only to the United States and its allies and partners but also to the Chinese public. The Chinese Communist Party “is really concerned in sending the right message to its people.”

Dmitry Gorenburg, Elizabeth Wishnick, Paul Schwarts and Brian Waidelich write, "there is widespread consensus among analysts that, although Russia and China have been moving toward closer cooperation through the entire post-Soviet era, the trend has accelerated rapidly since 2014."

Kevin Pollpeter says, “I think the inclination is to release less information rather than more information, because even if they are using it for something like satellite servicing and repair, it doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be used for more offensive or more military activities.”

Elizabeth Wishnick says that Central Asia “is not just a land of opportunity, this is an area of risk.”

Elizabeth Wishnick said in an email: “I wonder if Xi’s call was set up quickly to deflect attention” from the uproar over the Chinese ambassador’s remarks.

Elizabeth Wishnick says that in Kazakhstan, a recent study showed China as the least preferred partner. "That doesn't mean Kazakhstan is not going to engage with China. It will, but unwillingly, leave opportunities for others."

Brian Waidelich wrote, “In 2016, a Chinese astronaut participated in an ESA astronaut training course. The next year, two European astronauts carried out sea survival training with their Chinese counterparts. But after 2017, the budding human spaceflight cooperation between the two sides hit a snag.”

The world’s 20 wealthiest nations met in New Delhi for the G20 summit. But the gathering on global cooperation was largely overshadowed by bitter disagreement on the war in Ukraine and concluded with no consensus. Amna Nawaz discussed the meeting, and China's and India’s support for Russia, with Sumit Ganguly and Elizabeth Wishnick.

David Finkelstein says, “ I was not surprised by the fact that the Chinese are doing this and may have done it again in the past, as the statement said, because that's what countries do. They surveil each other.”