World Today

①Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has delivered her last policy address in her current tenure. How to assess her years in office since 2017? ②The US has published the number of nuclear warheads the country stockpiles for the first time in 4 years. How much does this matter in facilitating the arms controls talks between Washington and Moscow? ③Yves Mouillet, a French laureate of China's Friendship Award for 2021, shares his thoughts on how China can present a better international image.

①U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai says she intends to have frank conversations with her counterpart in China and discuss progress made under the phase one trade agreement. Is this a positive signal in the US-China trade relations? ②Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden have confirmed they will work to strengthen their alliance in a phone call. With Kishida in office, will there be any change in Tokyo’s security alliance with Washington?

①Will Japan’s new Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, be a lasting leader? Or will Japan return to a period of political instability similar to that of the pre-Abe era? ②North Korea has restored hotlines with South Korea. How to look at Pyongyang's recent carrot-and-stick approach towards Seoul? ③Konstantin Shepin, a laureate of the latest Chinese Government Friendship Award, shares his thoughts on how China can present an image of a "credible, loveable and respectable China".

How will history remember Angela Merkel when she leaves office after 16 years in power? How do Germany, Europe and the world look like in the post-Merkel era? Host Ding Heng is joined by Professor Horst Lochel, Head of the Sino-German Center at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management; Dr. Alim Baluch, Lecturer in German Politics and Society at University of Bath; Dr. George Tzogopoulos, Senior Fellow with CIFE, a France-based EU-affair think tank.

① China, U.S. militaries conclude two days of high-level talks.

② Democratic divisions threaten Biden's agenda as shutdown looms.

③ DPRK leader condemns U.S. dialogue offer as 'facade'.

① Fumio Kishida set to be Japan's new PM after winning party vote.

② DPRK test-fires newly-developed hypersonic missile.

③ China's biggest air show highlights homegrown technology.

① China issues white paper on achieving moderately prosperous society.

② U.S. clarifies it neither wants confrontation nor a Cold War with China.

③ China State Grid promises power for nation after scattered outages.

① Germany's center-left SPD claims victory in the federal election, but uncertainty remains over next leader.

② China says Quad resembles clique reminiscent of Cold War era.

③ Xi congratulates Eric Chu on election as Kuomintang chairman.

Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is finally back home in China after 3 years of detention in Canada. Could this lead to the start of mending China's relationship with Canada and the US? Host Ge Anna is joined by Dr. Edward Lehman, Managing Director of LEHMAN, LEE & Xu Law Firm; Prof. John Gong, University of International Business and Economics, and Prof Yao Shujie, Chongqing University.

Does the recent formation of security alliance AUKUS really herald peace and stability in Asia, as declared by leaders of the U.S., UK and Australia? Our host Liu Kun is joined by Michael Desch, Professor of International Relations at the University of Notre Dame; Klaus Larres, Professor of History and International Affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Xu Qinduo, Political Analyst and Senior Fellow with Pangoal Institution.