Brian Wong
Assistant Professor in Philosophy and Fellow at Centre on Contemporary China and the World, HKU and Rhodes Scholar
Oct 17, 2025
Southeast Asia faces a critical challenge in balancing rapid economic growth with climate commitments, as most of its energy demand remains dependent on fossil fuels despite vast renewable potential. China plays a pivotal dual role in this transition, financing both coal and clean energy projects, and its future choices will determine whether ASEAN’s development and decarbonization goals can align.
Oct 17, 2025
China introduced the K-visa on October 1, 2025, for young foreign STEM professionals, offering longer stays, multiple entries, and broader benefits. The program seeks to boost innovation and international collaboration amid slowing population growth, but faces public concerns over job competition and talent retention.
Sep 30, 2025
Indonesia, born from its 1945 struggle for independence, has grown into Southeast Asia’s largest economy and a significant global player, yet remains under-discussed in high-level political discourse. Despite ongoing challenges, China and Indonesia specifically have significant potential for cooperation in trade and technology.
Sep 19, 2025
China’s economic struggles have implications for its trading partners across the globe, notably in Europe. What can Beijing’s fight against ‘involution’ tell the world about its future trading prospects?
Sep 02, 2025
China’s approach to conflict mediation is characterized by what scholars call “quasi-mediation diplomacy,” in which Beijing emphasizes rhetoric and symbolic gestures while avoiding costly commitments. Recent cases show that China prefers strategic ambiguity and bureaucratic caution over assuming a high-profile mediator role.
Aug 27, 2025
Conventional thinking would assume the Trump administration’s haphazard approach to China will become an articulated stance at some point, but the U.S. president is anything but conventional.
Aug 01, 2025
At the 25th China-EU Summit in Beijing, Chinese and European leaders acknowledged both overlapping interests and deep divergences, especially over China’s seeming alignment with Russia and the Ukraine war. While Beijing seeks improved economic ties with Europe, it continues to prioritize geopolitical security and its strategic rivalry with the U.S. over European concerns, limiting the prospects for major diplomatic improvements.
Jul 25, 2025
Trump’s ‘America First’ protectionist tactics are supposed to create advantages for the U.S. in trade and freeze out China in theory, but expect that the world needs America’s consumers to continue. New connections forming amid the trade war could mean instead, the U.S. is left out in the cold.
Jul 11, 2025
A new global stage is clearly being set as Western powers begin to react to China’s rivalling interests, and the U.K. may be positioning itself as a middle ground for the 21st Century.
Jul 04, 2025
Global trade is evolving, not ending, as structural limits on U.S. protectionism and the rise of regional agreements beyond U.S. influence sustain economic integration. While the U.S. remains the dominant power, the U.S.-centric trade regime is gradually declining.
