🇬🇧🇹🇼 A delegation of British semiconductor companies is getting ready to head to Taiwan for the SEMICON expo later this week. Led by UK Government's National Technology Adviser Dr Dave Smith, the companies will be at the UK Pavilion. UK in Taiwan 🇬🇧 Department for Science, Innovation and Technology John Dennis

FOCAC 2024: Fatigue, Intentions and Outcomes 🌍 African leaders are arriving in China for the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit. With high hopes and pressing demands for tangible outcomes, the big question is: Will this year's summit meet their expectations?

This might be the weirdest interview I've ever done

My girlfriend's great-uncle was a fighter pilot in WWII. He was captured during the invasion of Crete, spent time in a PoW hospital, and then escaped. He entered the war an atheist & emerged a Christian. He then published a book after the war, with moving passages such as this.

I'm yapping away in this Politico / Graham Lanktree piece on trade offs around Chinese EVs in the UK in the company of some much smarter folks. politico.eu/article/china-…

German firms buck R&D trend in China, seek ecosystem partners to gain edge. 63% of 324 German companies surveyed “said they were conducting research in China, representing an increase of 6 percentage points compared to 2022.” sc.mp/ofcqg?utm_sour… via @scmpnews

Interesting mining-journal.com/london-to-a-br…

Pretty chuffed with this. On the left = the key criticisms levied against Labour on China by former Home Sec Suella Braverman in a Telegraph article today On the right = my predictions on would used to criticise Labour's China approach, from about two months ago

As Xi Jinping gets ready to meet over a dozen African leaders, ask yourself this: when was the last time a British Prime Minister bothered to even try and do the same? We are scoring endless own goals with our lack of focus in our foreign policy.

I don't have a horse in this race, but I think Stephen Bush's analysis looks very sensible indeed. ft.com/content/4d8a61…

Forget EVs & solar panels—China's true edge is in its African diplomacy. The first in-person FOCAC in 6 yrs kicks off today - some thoughts from Eddie Knight / 古波 and I for Tony Blair Institute for Global Change on why Beijing will be showcasing its most sophisticated approach yet🧵 institute.global/insights/geopo…

Toying around with new ways of showing a small fraction of what the UK's diplomats and ministers are doing on the world stage... Presenting British Diplomacy Tracker: Overview 001. Includes Collins of Highbury, UK in Rwanda 🇬🇧🇷🇼🇧🇮, Nic Bowler, UK in Kyrgyzstan 🇬🇧🇰🇬, UK in Erbil, UK in Taiwan 🇬🇧

Visualising diplomacy is hard. I'm trying to find some creative ways to do it as I teach myself photoshop. What are some other cool creative ways to do it? x.com/BritDiploTrack…

"The US has lost support most dramatically in countries with Muslim majorities.... A top Malaysian diplomat declared simply that “we will choose China because of Gaza.” Lynn Kuok underscores the damage being done in the Middle East to US / west in SEA. foreignaffairs.com/united-states/…

How did a tiny town in rural Japan double its birth rate between 2005 and 2019? I've written about how the small community of Nagi embraced pro-child policies and created a positive culture of parenting. boomcampaign.org/p/nagi-japans-…

Hello, Here are the foreign affairs & diplomacy issues 🇬🇧 Ministers are currently working on. 🌐 Aid for Gaza & Yemen (Hamish Falconer MP) 🌐 A new AI agreement (Shabana Mahmood MP) 🌐 Senior meetings with Pakistani officials (David Lammy) 🌐 Visit to troops in Germany (John Healey)

V excited for this!

UK trade world scoop: Business & trade chief Jonathan Reynolds has hired on EY trade supremo Sally Jones as his trade strategy and business engagement adviser.

The Provincial Middle Class are now regularly deploying the word ‘Weird’ a mere two months after the sophisticated and fashionable American Metropole

We’re taking Statecraft across the pond to answer two questions: What can we learn from our British friends? And what’s wrong with them? First installment with James W. Phillips on fighting bureaucratic consensus and building a new research agency. statecraft.pub/p/how-to-build…