China

‘Short of War’: No Peace in the South China Sea

Huong Le Thu

China’s ongoing construction efforts have created a situation where (in the words of the Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Philip Davidson) Beijing is ‘capable of controlling the South China Sea in all scenarios short of war with the United States’. The absence of outright war reflects not only China’s ability to move the threshold for instigating open conflict, but also the fact...

"According to Jack Watling, a land warfare expert at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, the UAE's Chinese drone purchases began after the the U.S. refused to sell them American armed UAVs. Now, he says, "the (President Donald) Trump administration has reduced its threshold for sale, which partly happened after the UAE started its Chinese drone purchases." "

Pentagon is scrambling as China ‘sells the hell out of’ armed drones to US allies

China–UK Relations: Where to Draw the Border Between Influence and Interference?

Charles Parton

This Occasional Paper seeks to outline the likely extent of the Chinese Communist Party's interference activities in the UK and to make some recommendations on what needs to be done to counter them

China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road: Implications for the UK

Veerle Nouwens

This Occasional Paper explores China's Maritime Silk Road in economic and political terms, its maritime routes, its key destinations and example projects, and its potential strategic implications for the UK

"“China is going to have to go some way to soothe concerns people have about them,” said Malcolm Chalmers, an analyst with the Royal United Services Institute think-tank "

World security tensions take centre stage in Munich

Charting Britain’s Moves in the South China Sea

John Hemmings

A British naval presence in the South China Sea strengthens global security and Britain’s global role. But it must be matched with a more systematic approach to the region, and to China’s defiance of legal norms.