What's New

Taiwan Detects 17 Chinese Military Assets Nearby - implications

Exclusive TV interview on 20 May 2025 with NewsX World, India's fastest-growing Enlgish-language global news TV channel claiming a total of 100 miliion viewers. 

Implication of China-Latin America Forum in Beijing

Live radio interview on BackChat, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) on 16 May 2025

Comments on the China-brokered historic Saudi-Iran rapprochement

My comments on the China-brokered historic Saudi-Iran rapprochement are as follows –

The two main sects of Islam – Sunnis led by Saudi Arabia and Shiites led by Iran have common fundamental religious beliefs, exemplified by the “Five Pillars of Islam” -

• Shahada (Profession of Faith):Declaring that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is his messenger. 
• Salat (Prayer):Performing five daily prayers at specific times, facing Mecca. 
• Zakat (Charity):Giving a portion of one's wealth to the poor and needy. 
• Sawm (Fasting):Abstaining from food and drink from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan. 
• Hajj (Pilgrimage):If able, performing a pilgrimage to Mecca, visiting sacred sites, and observing rituals.

The Sunnis and Shiites have historically been split by other religious differences, sectarian conflicts and mutual rivalry for influence in the Middle East, the Levant and beyond. Their hostile relationships, often violent, waxed and waned, being shaped by seismic historical turnings including the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Iranian Revolution, and the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia%E2%80%93Sunni_relations

What have been driving the historic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March 2023 are as much a reflection of President Xi’s art of diplomacy as the following game-changing geostrategic dynamics –

• Much of the continuing turmoil in the Middle East in recent decades have been caused or worsened by America’s hegemonic unilateralism. Witness the disastrous war on Iraq and Afghanistan. These only serve to destabilize the region and erode its economic development, affecting both Saudi Arabia and Irana’s long-term development interests.

• Emboldened by consistent American support driven by its powerful Jewish lobby, Israel is doubling down on eradicating Hamas, despite a global outcry against the ensuing humanitarian atrocities affecting hundreds and thousands of innocent Arab and Islamic lives, including many women, children and babies. while stifling the Palestinians’ long-fought demand for statehood, a cause finding common resonance amongst the Islamic and Arab communities worldwide, including Saudi Arabia and Iran. Both nations want to play an important role in solidarity for the revival of the Middle East as a more stable region for economic growth and prosperity.

• The United States is no longer the world’s biggest customer of fossil energy which both Saudi Arabia and Iran have in abundance. In fact, the U.S. is now a major competing energy exporter. Their biggest energy customer is now China. The Middle East’s America-centric petrodollar era is gone.

• In any case, the Age of Oil is coming to an end, not for lack of oil, similarly for the Age of Stone, as former Saudi Minister of Petroleum Sheik Yamani presciently forewarned. All Gulf countries have national 2030’s Vision Plans for economic renaissance pivoting away from oil to trade, investments, technologies, new energies, sustainable development, with global partnerships especially in the Asia-Pacific region where China is the world’s largest manufacturer and trader and the largest trading partner for over 120 countries worldwide, compared with some 58 for the United States. China is becoming increasingly tech-savvy. Witness China’s success in building and operating its own space station from scratch (and the recent emergence of its AI marvel DeepSeek).  

The rapprochement has game-changing implications for all parties concerned: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, (and the United States) -

• For President Xi, the rapprochement would greatly facilitate the expansion of his signature Belt and Road Initiative, harking back to China's glorious past, which would cement his vision for a Global Community of Common Destiny, to be cemented by his Global Security Initiative, Global Development Initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative. 

• It would also strengthen one leg of a pivotal tri-parti partnership - China, Russia and Iran, pushed together by America's unwise aggression against all three countries, forming an "anti-hegemonic alliance" forewarned by the late Zbigniew Brzezinski, Henry Kissinger's mentor, in his seminal book The Grand Chessboard(page 55).

• For Iran, the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, supported good Sunni–Shia relations. (see Wikipedia note above), which unfortunately have been thwarted by internal and external upheavals over centuries. Now the arc of history is turning, fanning prospects of a much united Middle East to usher in another golden era of Islamic prosperity. 

• For Saudi Arabia, the assassination of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 soured relations with the United States, not helped by the reality that the US, now a net energy exporter, was no longer a big customer of Saudi oil. 

• Trump brokered the Abraham Accords to woo Saudi Arabia for a coalition with Israel against the latter's existential  enemy of Iran. However, as demonstrated by Trump's latest visit to the Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, while wanting to maintain good relations with the United States as a security umbrella (including US military presence within the Kingdom), doesn't want to sacrifice its hard-won rapprochement with Iran. Hence the outcome of Trump's latest Saudi visit was all about investments, walking back on the prospects of a re-energised anti-Iran Abraham Accord.

India-Pakistan military clashes over Kashmir

Live TV discussion on 9 May with NewsX World, India's fastest-growing global English-language world news channel claiming 100 million viewers. 

President Trump's Grand Strategy - Will it Succeed

A PowerPoint presentation at a Hong Kong EGN Group meeting of 30 April, 2025.
Download President Trump's Grand Strategy - Will it Succeed

 

China-US Tariffs War: Trump Pauses Tariffs Amid Global Uncertainty

Live TV interview on 10 April 2025 with NewsX, India's fastest growing English-language global TV news channel claiming 100 million viewers. 

Asian Markets Plunge as Trump's Tariffs Spark Global Trade Fears

Exclusive live TV interview on News X, India's fastest growing global Enlgish-language news TV cbannel claiming 100 million viewers. 

Andrew's April 2025 Newsletter

(My quarterly Newsletters go out to some 8,000 professional contacts worldwide. The following is my April 2025 issue. Back numbers may be accessed under What is New on my website.)

Greetings!

The past few months of President Donald Trump's return to the White House have well and truly upended the whole world. Gone with the wind is the US-led "liberal world order" based on internationally accepted rules and norms. Replacing it is the America First rule of the jungle.

China has long prepared for this eventuality.  President Xi's prescient directive to attain technological self-reliance is now paying dividends. Russia, Iran and even North Korea are starting to embrace these dynamics.

Long-established US allies like Canada, UK, France, Germany, Denmark and other European nations, are struggling to face the sudden reality of having to stand on their own feet. The Global South, not least in the Arab Peninsula, are, like the rest across the globe, rebalancing themselves in a more diffused and dystopian "multipolar" world, which is becoming both fractured by Trump 2.0 yet more interconnected by AI and the digital Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions. 

Hopefully, some of the following may help you to navigate these turbulent and uncertain waters. 

World Order and Geopolitics
Hutchison’s port deal is much more than a pure business decision (Op-ed in China Daily)
Ten Reasons Why 2024 Marks an Inflexion Point Upending the Global Order - Journal on Political Sciences & International Relations (Also published in Rome-based World Geostrategic Insights, including versions in Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic.
How Trump is creating a more peaceful and cooperative multipolar world (Op-ed in South China Morning Post)
Paradigm Shifts Upending the World Order 2025  (A PowerPoint presentation) 
What Trump 2.0 would mean for China and rest of the world (Live TV discussion on CNBC News 18) 

US/China relations
US-China relations under Trump 2.0 - Key challenges (Exclusive TV interview with NewsX)
U.S. Russia possible thaw - impact on China (Live TV interview with AnewZ)
American "TikTok refugee" folk song on heart-warming exchanges (A commentary) 

Tariffs
Trump's obsession with tariffs in a shifting world order  (Interview with Russia's Izvestia TV) 
China's Tit-for-Tat Tariffs  (Feature article in The Global Analyst)
China Imposes Retaliatory Tariffs on Canadian Goods Amid Trade Tensions (Live TV interview on NewsX)
Shipping firms pull out of Hong Kong to skirt US tariffs - dynamics (Radio interview with Singapore's Channel News Asia (CNA) )

Trade and competitiveness 
China's Trade Surplus of One Trillion Dollars and Counting - implications (Feature article in The Global Analyst)
China is well-placed for the Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions (Op-ed in China Daily) 

Belt and Road Initiative
How Eurasian Integration of China’s Belt and Road Initiative Defends a Multipolar World Order  (Published as Chapter 5 in Trends and Transformations in World Politics, Lexington Books) 
Broader Total Quality lessons for China's Belt and Road Initiative (PowerPoint presentation at a Total Quality Management international conference in Hong Kong) 

Miscellaneous on China
China's Ultimate Power Move: Why They're Flexing Hard in 2024 according to Elon Musk (YouTube video clip and analysis)
New virus in China?  (Live TV panel discussion on NewsX World)  

Taiwan
President Xi's New Year Message on Taiwan's future (Live TV debate on News X)
Military tensions over Taiwan - implications explained  (Live TV debate on NewsX) 
Taiwan Detains China-linked Cargo Ship After Undersea Cable Disruption in Taiwan (Live TV interview on NewsX)
Rising Tensions in Taiwan Strait: Implication of China’s Military Actions (Live TV interview on NewsX)

UK/Australia
AUKUS alliance at risk: Will Trump abandon Australia and UK?  (Live TV interview with TRT World) 

India
World's Largest Dam To Be Built By China Raises Concerns In India, Bangladesh (Live TV panel discussion on CNN News18) 
PM Modi Urges Dialogue, China Calls For An Elephant-Dragon Dance (Live interview on CNBC TV18)

ASEAN
Indonesia Economic Summit 2025   (Backchat on RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong)  

North Korea
North Korea Demolishes Family Reunion Site (Live TV interview on News X) 

Hong Kong
Preparing the next Hong Kong generation for Future Business Leadership in a New Global Economy (Briefing to a group of Hong Kong parents) 
Has Hong Kong got too much red tape?  (Backchat on RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong)  

Cheer Up and Chill Out
A 10-point Multimedia Outlook on Life  (Music video)
Inspirational videos and excerpts for life's down-moments

Summer sojourn in London
I will be staying in London during the period 3 July through 4 September this year. Whilst in London, I would be happy to meet up or accept speaking engagements/consultations in person. 

International investment opportunities
I am on the International Advisory Board of Silk Road Partners, an international investment firm. Mr Yves Leterme, ex-Prime Minister of Belgium (November 2009 to December 2011) has joined the firm as Senior Partner. If you are interested in getting in touch with us, please give me a shout.

Consultation services
Please email me at [email protected] or text my Hong Kong mobile +852 98198987. I can also be reached on Skype at andrew.k.p.leung, LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/andrewleunginternational, Whatsapp at (852) 98198987, WeChat at Andrewkpleung, Facebook at andrewkinpongleung, and Twitter at @Andrewkpleung

Business networking and speaking platform in Hong Kong
As an Advisor to the Denmark-based Executives' Global Network Hong Kong, I welcome your suggestion of a suitable speaker for an EGN event in Hong Kong. This will be entirely at our own cost with acknowledgement of your support, provided that we are not asked to cover any speaking fee, travel or accommodation expenses.

RSS feed and weblinks
My posts are regularly uploaded under my three blogs CHINAwatch, Publications and What's New .A collection of leading China media and research sites can be found under China Links.

Please feel free to save my website on your computer, laptop, tablet, iPhone or iPad as a reference resource. If you wish instant access as soon as my postings appear, just click on “Subscribe to this blog’s feed” under RSS Feed on top of the right-hand column of each blog. Select the appropriate Google feed option. It is free of charge.

This newsletter is uploaded to my website here. You may save it for reference or reading at leisure. You are free to share it on Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Twitter or other social media devices.

Courtesies
I look forward to your guidance, advice, comments, suggestions, and criticisms. You may share the above contents with colleagues or friends. You are also welcome to publish any of them with full attribution.

If you think that I may add value to your endeavors in any way, please let me know how I may help. If for any reason you do not wish to receive my emails, just ask me to delete your name from my data bank permanently.

Best personal regards,

Andrew K. P. Leung, SBS, FRSA  
International and Independent China Strategist
Andrew Leung International Consultants and Investments Company Limited

Positions

Chairman and CEO, Andrew Leung International Consultants and Investments Limited

(Founded in London, now re-incorporated in Hong Kong; name changed from Andrew Leung International Consultants Limited as from 10 July, 2017) 

China Futures Fellow, Berkshire Publishing Group, Massachusetts, USA (2011-13)
Brain Trust member, The Evian Group (global think-tank), Lausanne, Switzerland

Gerson Lehrman Group (Global Experts) Council Member
International Expert, Reuters Insight Community of Experts, Thomson Reuters 

Senior Analyst, Wikistrat, a cloud-sourced global strategic consultancy based in Tel Aviv and Washington D.C. 

Download Wikistrat Excellence Award

Senior Consultant, MEC International (a UK-based global strategic energy consultancy) 

Distinguished Contributor, Asymmetric Threats Contingency Alliance (ATCA) (global think-tank)

Professor of Practice, Hong Kong Institute of Education for Sustainable Development (2018-20)  

Download Certificate of Appointment as Professor of Practice

Certified Sustainable Development Planner, World Institute of Sustainable Development Planners

Download Certificate of Recognition as Certified Sustainable Development Planner

Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA)
Elected Member, Royal Society for Asian Affairs

Contributing author, Politics Today

Think-tank Research Fellow, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai Campus, PRC (14.4.2017-13.4.2020) 

International Advisory Board Member, Silk Road Partners

Download Silk Road Partners - corporate profile 24-06-2022 

Download Silk Road Partners 2023

Advisory Board member, The e-Centre , European Centre for e-Commerce and Internet Law, Vienna 

Honorary Adviser, International Institute of Management (IIM) 

Advisory Board member, The Global Analyst, India

Honorary President, China Hong Kong Economic and Trading International Association (from 28 March, 2016) 

Download 中國香港國際經貿合作協會簡介和組織架構 (28.03.2023)  

Download A brief introduction to the China-Hong Kong Economic and Trading International Association

Global Commercial Agent, Changsha City, China

Hong Kong Advisory Board member, Denmark-based Executive Global Network (EGN)

Visiting Professor, London Metropolitan University Business School 

Governing Council Member, King’s College London, UK (2004-2010)
Advisory Board member, China Policy Institute, Nottingham University, UK (2005 -2010)

Visiting Professor, Sun Yat-sen University Business School, China (2005-10)
Founding Chairman, China Group, Institute of Directors City Branch, London, UK (2006-2010)
Vice Chairman, 48 Group Club, UK (2008-2010)
Committee Member of RSA, London Region, UK (2006-2010)
Included in UK's Who's Who since 2002
Awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS) in the July 2005 Hong Kong Honours List 

PM Modi Urges Dialogue, China Calls For An Elephant-Dragon Dance

Exclusive live TV interview on CNBC TV18 (of India).

Shipping firms pull out of Hong Kong to skirt US tariffs - dynamics

Live radio interview with CNA (Channel News Asia), Singapore's premier media channel.