In this talk, Dr Cho-Oon Khong, Chief Political Analyst at Shell International, will draw on a recent scenario study that he led, to focus on three aspects of Chinese foreign policy –
- Increasingly salient concerns around an emerging US-China “Cold War” on trade in a global order with increasingly protectionist sentiment;
- The Belt and Road Initiative, intentions versus realities, emerging uncertainties, and its re-assessment;
- US strategic containment of China, its rationale and the calculations on both sides.
Dr Khong will aim to site these aspects of Chinese foreign policy in a context where China’s domestic political economy is at a turning point, linking domestic to foreign policy concerns. He will address how these foreign policy concerns might play out in line with the scenarios that the study drew up, looking also at the implications for China’s energy concerns. He will also ask what this might mean for many of the commonplace assumptions held about China.
This talk is held under the Chatham House rule.