China-US Focus

China's latest push to internationalize the renminbi is driven less by ambitions to challenge the U.S. dollar's global dominance than by efforts to build a more resilient financial system that reduces dependence on Western-led financial infrastructure and strengthens China's strategic autonomy amid growing geopolitical competition.

The current USMCA review is expected to introduce new China-related restrictive provisions across four key areas: labor enforcement, rules of origin, economic security coordination and external tariff alignment. Taken together, these measures would substantially narrow market access for Chinese capital, goods and technology in North America. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement reached its mandatory six-year joint review milestone on July 1.

The recent G7 and NATO summits suggest that Europe is seeking not only to retain the initiative in shaping regional security but also to play a more active role in building an improved international order. In doing so, it has absorbed elements of Donald Trump’s transactional diplomacy. (Copyright: Luo Jie/China-US Focus) Europe has become adept at managing the ever-self-absorbed U.S. President Donald Trump through flattery.

The 2026 oil crisis revealed a transformed China: no longer just the world's largest oil importer and refiner, but a state actor deploying stockpiles, export controls, and strategic opacity to shape global energy markets on its own terms. Aerial view of Qingdao Port Crude Oil Terminal in Qingdao, China, on April 12, 2026. Since the outbreak of the Iran War and the subsequent Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran, the global energy paradigm has shifted in favor of Beijing.

This has been an extraordinary summer of sports: from the Knicks to Wimbledon, and Spain’s win over Argentina at the World Cup. More than just a series of separate experiences, this festival of games has reminded me that rules and fair play are what make sport an arena of governed joy—and a spirit we might adopt as we re‑think U.S.–China relations. In New York, the Knicks’ best-of-seven playoff turned into a shared emotional journey.

Artificial intelligence is becoming a new arms race, and to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past perhaps a drastic unification of competing models could prevent catastrophe. A specter is haunting global geopolitics – the specter of unconstrained, autonomous intelligence.

The Iran conflict has accelerated the emergence of a more multipolar global order, compelling U.S. allies such as the Philippines to reassess their foreign policy priorities. Facing mounting energy and economic pressures, Manila is exploring greater engagement with China while pursuing a more independent, interest-driven approach to great power competition.

The risks of unintended maritime and aerial incidents triggered by more frequent and complex military activity are no longer confined to the China-U.S. relationship. They are extending into a more complicated and less predictable multilateral environment. EU, 14 countries reaffirm South China Sea claims illegal under 2016 ruling on July 12, 2026.

The focus of the Russia-Ukraine war is shifting from front-line engagements to deep-strike operations, while the central arena of competition is increasingly defined by each side’s capacity to sustain the war effort. In this evolving landscape, drones have emerged as a pivotal force. U.S. President Donald Trump’s recalibration of American policy toward Ukraine has introduced new variables into the war, but the more fundamental change lies in the war itself.

The summit illustrated that NATO is evolving from a traditional alliance founded on shared values and underwritten by American security guarantees into an alliance increasingly defined by capabilities, responsibilities and transactions. The Ankara Summit may not have been the most dramatic NATO summit in recent years, but it may well prove to be the one that most clearly illustrates how the alliance itself is changing.