Jimmy Serafin

It is clear that there is a dire need for more interaction and communication between journalists and scholars in order to provide readers with a more informed and accurate picture of the situation between China and Taiwan. In a time of clickbait articles and fervent anti-China McCarthyism sentiment, sensationalism in media, when combined with ill-informed journalism, will only serve to exacerbate the situation – a danger for policymakers who are entrusted to make well-informed and reasonable decisions, if need be.

Washington has increasingly hoped to count on its alliance with Japan to counter Beijing’s ambitions in Asia, especially with regard to the South China Sea and Taiwan. Yet, Japan remains tentative to take a stance against Beijing that mirrors Washington’s on matters of telecommunications, human rights issues, trade, and territorial ambitions, so it remains to be seen exactly what role Japan will allow itself to play within the ever-increasing tense US-China relationship.

The slow return to global economic normalcy will give Beijing the maneuverability to focus on strengthening its domestic consumption within the context of the dual circulation policy and reduce foreign economic reliance to gain greater political freedom unbridled by norms within the traditional global order.

Chinese standards contributions have been increasing in recent years, and the quality of those proposals has been increasing as well. To maintain US dominance, Washington will need to rely on its tech titans and consider ways of subsidizing or promoting R&D in 5G and other important future standards.

As the WHO has yet to release its formal investigative report, it remains to be seen how a US independent review of the findings will influence US-China relations. Given the current state of the bilateral relationship, a betting man would place his chips on a highly politicized release with a low likelihood for near-term cooperation between the two powers on pandemic-related issues.

On the day before Joe Biden’s inauguration, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared ongoing “genocide” in the home of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority in China’s far western Xinjiang region. Pompeo set precedent as the first state official in the world to make a formal denunciation against the humanitarian crisis in Xinjiang, declaring that the Chinese state is attempting to “destroy” the ethnic minority group. The ball is now squarely in the court of the Biden administration to decide the US’ prevailing stance on the matter.