September 4, 2025

2025-08-25T084238Z_1364957015_RC2WAGATMUCK_RTRMADP_3_WW2-ANNIVERSARY-CHINA-ARMS

Military parades and memory wars: China and Russia commemorate history to reimagine international order

As part of Global China's "Lost in Translation" series, Kainan Gao and Margaret M. Pearson discuss how Chinese and Russian military parades offer an alternative history to the Western narrative of Allied victory. Gao and Pearson explain that, by "rightsizing" World War II history, China seeks to reinforce its territorial claims over Taiwan and the South China Sea, have its contributions to the war acknowledged by the international community, and bolster its vision of international order.

The countdown to a Trump-Xi summit

Patricia Kim argues that as a Trump–Xi summit begins to take shape, Washington has the opportunity to elevate other strategic priorities beyond trade, investment issues, and fentanyl. Kim contends that the U.S. can use a leader-level meeting to build guardrails to prevent economic weaponization, press Beijing to play a constructive role on security flashpoints with Russia and North Korea, and reiterate Washington's Taiwan policy.

Interwoven frontiers: Energy, AI, and US-China competition

The futures of energy and breakthrough technologies like AI are tightly interconnected in the U.S.-China relationship, both in political tensions and technical overlap, according to R. David Edelman. He argues that Washington must craft a clear strategy that recognizes this interplay by harnessing private investment, building a better grid for clean energy, and securing a range of technology standards.

China projects confidence in the face of Trump’s tariff storm

Ryan Hass explores how Beijing anticipated Trump’s renewed tariffs and used them to validate Xi's campaign to harden China against external challenges. Hass finds that the U.S. launched the trade war without taking stock of China's preparations or Xi's political requirements and that, to compete effectively moving forward, the U.S. will need to better harness its strengths.

Read in China Leadership Monitor

Why Xi still doesn't have the military he wants

Jonathan Czin and John Culver argue Xi's sweeping purges of the PLA signify his continued dominance over the military rather than its diminution. They conclude that Xi is purging PLA members at all levels of the military to break the PLA’s insularity, reinforce Party loyalty, eradicate deep-rooted corruption, and focus on its force readiness.

Read in Foreign Affairs

Upcoming event

US-China trade wars: A conversation with Michael Froman. On Friday, September 12, the Brookings China Center will host a fireside chat for the annual Jeffrey A. Bader Memorial Lecture on the U.S.-China trade war and its implications for global and U.S. markets. After introductory remarks by Suzanne Maloney, Ryan Hass will moderate the conversation with former U.S. Trade Representative and Council on Foreign Relations President Michael Froman.

Register to watch online.

Brookings visits Taiwan

The Brookings delegation met with Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te.

In August, a Brookings delegation including Ryan Hass, Phil Gordon, Mara Karlin, Richard McGregor, Constanze Stelzenmüller, and Jennifer Mason traveled to Taiwan for the Center for Asia Policy Studies' annual Taiwan study trip. The focus of this year's trip was the role of third-party actors in Taiwan’s security and defense, including economic security.

“The success of Xi’s foreign policy strategy is reflected in the parade of leaders traveling to China. Indeed, Xi today probably feels more besieged by visiting heads of state than encircled by the United States and its allies and partners.”

August 30, 2025 | Jonathan Czin, The New York Times

Track II dialogue in Stockholm

On August 20, the Brookings China Center and Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy co-hosted the inaugural U.S.–China Track II Dialogue on the Korean Peninsula in Stockholm.

More research and commentary

Looking ahead to Xi's fourth Party Congress. Jonathan Czin predicts in China Leadership Monitor that Beijing's next Party Congress will be most likely defined by whether Xi identifies an heir apparent, policy continuity, and questions over Taiwan, rather than whether Xi steps down.

Taiwan's divided democracy. Richard Bush and Ryan Hass examine how Taiwan’s failed recall vote of KMT legislators could reverberate in Taiwan's politics and in cross-Strait relations.

Southeast Asia's uneasy fit with MAGA. Ryan Hass explores in Fulcrum how Trump's MAGA worldview of economic nationalism, bilateral dealmaking, and deference to sovereignty clashes with Southeast Asia's export-driven model and multilateral traditions.

Trump, trade, and China’s leverage. Yun Sun writes in Foreign Affairs that after initial tariff clashes in Trump’s second term, Beijing feels empowered by U.S. vulnerabilities and sees Trump as a pragmatic partner on trade, while remaining wary of political tensions over Taiwan and ideology.

Trump's dealmaking on China. Ryan Hass participated in a ChinaFile written conversation where he explained that Trump has an iconoclastic approach toward China, viewing it through trade and dealmaking, rather than as a singular threat to be countered.

China's social safety net. Mary Gallagher discusses in World Politics Review how, despite China's recent Supreme Court ruling that ends opt-outs, China needs deeper reforms and stronger enforcement to expand worker insurance and boost its consumption.

Southeast Asia in the US-China AI competition. Ryan Hass assesses in Fulcrum the implications of Southeast Asia's desire not to "choose" sides between the U.S. and China in the AI domain.

Xi, Putin, and Modi at the SCO. Mary Gallagher analyzes in World Politics Review how Xi is using the SCO Summit and military parade commemorating the end of World War II to showcase China's global leadership in the current world order, especially as Trump’s tariffs push India closer to Beijing.

Does Trump have a China strategy? Ryan Hass asserts in Taipei Times that although the Trump administration lacks a consistent through line on China, Trump's approach centers on a critique of the Biden administration, a personalized leader-level relationship, and dealmaking.

About the China Center at Brookings

The John L. Thornton China Center develops timely, independent analysis and policy recommendations to address long-standing challenges related to U.S.-China relations and China's development.