WITH AN EYE ON WASHINGTON, BEIJING AND DELHI IMPROVE TIES
China and India are strengthening ties amid President Donald Trump's unpredictability. Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit New Delhi next week for talks with India's National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, on their shared Himalayan border — the second such meeting since the deadly 2020 clash between Indian and Chinese troops. The visit will lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to China next month — his first in seven years — for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, where he will meet Xi Jinping. These engagements follow a thaw in relations that began with last October's border patrol agreement between the two countries. Beijing and New Delhi are also discussing the "resumption of direct flights as soon as possible" and considering easing investment rules. (U.S. News & World Report, August 14, 2025)
PLA WARSHIP RAMS CHINESE SHIP WHILE CHASING PHILIPPINE VESSEL
A Chinese coastguard ship was trailing a Philippine Coast Guard vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal when a PLA Navy ship cut across its path, collided with it, and damaged its forecastle. Footage taken from aboard the Philippine vessel shows the Chinese coastguard firing water cannons. The Philippine Coast Guard was distributing aid to fishermen when, according to Manila, the PLA ship "performed a risky manoeuvre," inflicting "substantial damage" on the Chinese coastguard vessel. China's defense ministry blamed Philippine vessels for "dangerous maneuvers" and actions that "seriously endangered the safety of Chinese vessels and personnel." (BBC, August 11, 2025)
U.S. NAVY DENIES CHINA CHASED WARSHIP AWAY
The U.S. is disputing China's claim that it chased away an American warship conducting a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) near Scarborough Shoal. In the second such operation to take place under the Trump administration, the USS Higgins (DDG-76) sailed within 12 nautical miles of the area, which is claimed by China, Taiwan, and the Philippines. A PLA spokesperson said the Chinese Southern Theater Command "sent its naval troops to track, monitor, warn, and expel the U.S. Navy vessel." But a spokesperson for the U.S. 7th Fleet called China's description "false," saying the USS Higgins completed the operation according to international law. "The operation reflects our commitment to freedom of navigation and lawful use of the sea. The U.S. will defend its right to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, as USS Higgins did here. Nothing China says will deter us," the American spokesperson said. (USNI News, August 13, 2025)
CHINA CUTS TIES WITH CZECH PRESIDENT FOR DALAI LAMA MEETING
China has suspended all ties with Czech President Petr Pavel over his recent meeting with the Dalai Lama. Pavel met the Tibetan leader on July 27th during a private trip to India to congratulate him on his 90th birthday. The Chinese Embassy in Prague released a statement that the meeting "seriously contravenes the political commitment made by the Czech government and harms China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. In light of the severity of Pavel's provocative action, China decides to cease all engagement with him." (Associated Press, August 12, 2025)
UNDER PRESSURE FROM BEIJING, THAI GALLERY REMOVES ARTWORKS
At China's insistence, the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre has removed materials on Beijing's treatment of ethnic minorities and Hong Kong from an exhibit on authoritarianism. Three days after Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machinery of Authoritarian Solidarity opened, Chinese embassy staff and Bangkok city officials entered the gallery and demanded its closure. The gallery responded by altering multiple works by exiled artists and removing pieces with Tibetan and Uyghur flags, images of Xi Jinping, and a multimedia installation by a Tibetan artist. Other works redacted the words "Hong Kong," "Tibet," "Uyghur," and artist names. In a July 30th email, the gallery cited pressure from the PRC Embassy via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. "It is tragically ironic that an exhibit on authoritarianism was censored under authoritarian pressure," it said. (Reuters, August 8, 2025)
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