The first Future State event was a blast! We wanted to gather a bunch of different people to come up with fresh ideas. Looks like we nailed it: "never seen such a mix of diasporas in one place!" "loved the cozy vibe and all the chats" "so cool to see plenty of women joining in"

YCW CHINA CONF.🌎/ PULSE SURVEY📜: Are #China watchers optimistic or pessimistic about China’s relations with the West? How might this affect their #career and #study choices? Join Clement Ngu + pulse team this Saturday at KCL to find out. Sign up here: eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-7th-ycw-…

Stunned, but not completely surprised by #SouthKorea's #martiallaw declaration. Re-upping this publication w/ Andrew Yeo on why nationalist polarization is deadly to democracies, even those that appear resilient and stable for a long time: journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.117…

“While Turkey has shaped the course of the Syrian conflict, the Syrian conflict has in turn shaped the dynamics of Turkish domestic politics and international relations for more than a decade - a story of mutual reshaping.” My latest for Chatham House chathamhouse.org/2024/12/turkey…

The India-U.K. trade pact has been described as a "landmark deal," but the concessions given by New Delhi have ruffled a few feathers in the South Asian country. s.nikkei.com/44Wpne7

Asian immigrants brace for UK plans to tighten residency rules s.nikkei.com/3HaK7oQ

My latest for Nikkei Asia on the ongoing EU-China trade negotiations:

‘the chances of meaningfully enhancing EU-China relations are slim as long as China continues to support Russia. “Unless Europe’s & China’s positions towards Russia can be reconciled, little progress will be made in other areas,”’ I argued. Thanks to Clement Ngu for the report

Gaps between Brussels and Beijing on trade issues show little sign of narrowing even as negotiations accelerate ahead of a possible call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. s.nikkei.com/43J72iw

Beijing's 'super embassy' plan in London tests UK-China reset Trump administration concerns add to local privacy, national security worries The site is reportedly located near three major data centers and a hub of critical communications cables. s.nikkei.com/4ljZH09

Ursula von der Leyen announced this afternoon that the EU and Indonesia have reached a political agreement to advance a free trade deal, after nine years of negotiations. The two sides had clashed over nickel export bans and the EU’s anti-deforestation law.

Vietnam is different from the rest of Asia in that it doesn't depend on U.S. for security and China for trade. In fact the opposite is true. Because VN prioritizes security over economy, Trump using tariff to isolate it from China will fail. My latest. thediplomat.com/2025/07/why-vi…

EU leaders are travelling to Asia this week for not one but two bilateral summits. Here's my preview of what's at stake:

US, EU agree trade deal with 15% tariff on European goods s.nikkei.com/4lPaa4o

Good blog. European politicians have focused on Trump, but the bloc is actually fighting a two-front trade war. Unlike Trump’s tariffs, which will shave off some EU GDP, China’s distortions are already macroeconomically significant—contributing to Germany’s 5% GDP loss. 1/

Slowly, then all at once:

My latest on self-censorship in Chinese studies across British universities:

NATO effective in patrolling Baltic undersea cables, says commander "Since Baltic Sentry began in January, there have been no malign instances of sabotage to critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea" s.nikkei.com/4mw1CiX