Tag: Asia Society

As China Tries to Present a Friendlier Image, a New Face Emerges

Media Library

Faced with declining foreign investment at home, China has sought to soften its image in the United States and Europe and make nice with some of its neighbors. One Communist Party official has played an unusually prominent role in the shift in tone. In New York, he told an audience of scholars and businesspeople that China did not seek to rewrite the United States-led global order. In Paris, he said that China’s modernization would benefit Europe and the world. In Beijing, he told the ambassador of India, a regional rival,…

Balloon Incident Highlights Fragile State of U.S.-China Relationship

Chin@Strategy

After years of deepening mistrust and simmering tensions, ties between the United States and China appeared poised for a modest rebound following the meeting of the two nations’ leaders at a summit last November and recent efforts by Beijing to stabilize its relations with the world. A visit by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken to Beijing this weekend was expected to build on that progress. All it took was a balloon to upend everything. The discovery of what American military officials called a “high-altitude surveillance balloon” over Montana this…