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Global Affairs Session 81 20 August 2026 CHINA AND TAIWAN: THE SIMMERING VOLCANO The unfinished legacy of the Chinese Civil War China–Taiwan tensions are rooted in the unresolved division created in 1949. Beijing seeks reunification and reserves the use of force, while Taiwan functions as a self-governing democracy. Military pressure, defence preparations, American support, semiconductor dependence and great-power rivalry keep the Taiwan Strait exposed to coercion, blockade pressure, miscalculation and sudden escalation.

Global Affairs Session 36 14 May 2026 US AND CHINA: COMPETING AND COOPERATING Eight decades of rivalry, engagement and uneasy partnership The United States and China are the world's two largest economies, and their relationship has swung from Cold War hostility to cautious engagement to today's strategic rivalry. From the 1949 revolution to Nixon's opening, from Deng Xiaoping's reforms to the 2026 technology contest, the two powers have moved from enemies to trade partners to competitors — and are now searching for a way to compete and cooperate at the same time.