About Asia

A US$50 billion deal for China to buy American chicken was announced this week, but the big news is how the situation in Hong Kong is now part of trade deal negotiations. Cissy Zhou analyses talk of unpegging the Hong Kong currency from the US dollar, while US correspondent Owen Churchill looks at how Hong Kong's ongoing unrest is affecting Washington's approach to China.

Questions about a Xi-Trump meeting were buried by news of a 'phased tariff withdrawal' – but what does that mean? We've also got two interviews with veteran negotiators for the US and China: reporter Yujing Liu calls in from Shenzhen after her interview with former Chinese trade envoy Long Yongtu. He tells us why he loves dealing with Trump, and hopes for a Trump 2020 victory. We also speak to Professor Larry Summers, a senior economist and veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations, who…

This week’s podcast comes out at Halloween and may feature one or two shockingly dreadful puns. But these are moments of levity amid some serious news for the resolution of the trade war, with protest-hit Chile announcing a cancellation of the APEC summit, in which Donald Trump and Xi Jinping were to meet and sign off on ‘phase one’ of a trade deal.

Zhou Xin unpacks what his sources in Beijing are saying about the surprise cancellation of the summit, the speculation about Macau being a…

After much back and forth it looks like the planets are aligning, and the momentum moving firmly towards a “mini-deal” between the United States and China. Over the weekend, the Office of the US Trade Representative and Chinese state media organ Xinhua both published statements suggesting that a deal is near and while the substance might be underwhelming for some, economic data from both Beijing and Washington emphasises the need for a sticking plaster to alleviate some trade war pain.

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One week after the handshakes, photo ops and press conferences in Washington, we analyse whether there was really a trade deal struck between the US and China, or whether the dignitaries just kicked the can down the road.

South China Morning Post political economy editors Zhou Xin and John Carter slice and dice the outcome of the talks between the two teams lead by Liu He and Robert Lighthizer, and explain what has to happen before any deal can be signed in November.

Zhou says China has…

After months of anticipation for high-level trade talks between delegations from China and the United States, who could have foreseen this week’s run of controversies, from the NBA and computer game giant Blizzard to bans on Chinese tech companies operating in Xinjiang?

The South China Morning Post’s political economy editors John Carter and Zhou Xin are back to break it all down for us, while Owen Churchill from the Post’s Washington bureau reports on what his sources are saying after China…

With China currently celebrating its “golden week” holiday, this week’s podcast features a pair of special interviews that gives a deeper understanding of two key influences on the US-China trade war.

Matt Sheehan, author of the acclaimed book The Transpacific Experiment: How China and California Collaborate and Compete for Our Future, talks about how he has witnessed the sea change in relations between American and Chinese people from the tech industry, Hollywood, manufacturing and politics…

British Prime Minister Harold Wilson is credited for the political aphorism “a week is a long time in politics”, but it was a former White House official who warned Donald Trump that “it is easier to negotiate nuclear weapons than it is to negotiate trade.”

Last week the Post political economy team looked at the Chinese officials about to embark on a tour across the heartland farming states of Montana and Nebraska, with the promise of renewed purchases of soybeans and pork as a pre-trade talks…

This week our political economy team delves into the continued positioning between the negotiating teams of China and the US, as well as the comments made by some big names in US trade during a visit to Hong Kong for a conference held by the American Chamber of Commerce.

Zhou Xin looks at the background of Liao Min, the man Beijing has picked to lead an advance team in Washington this week for preparatory talks in the lead-up to the October negotiations between the US and China.

Did you…

Why is US President Donald Trump’s decision to delay a tariff increase due to kick in on October 1, 2019 especially significant? Political economy editors Zhou Xin and John Carter explain the importance of this date in the Chinese calendar and look at the messages back and forth in the run up to the next round of trade talks.

Zhou Xin explains how China’s top negotiators consider these upcoming talks to be on two tracks: trade issues which may be up for discussion and structural and security…