The Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 legislation came into effect on March 23, 2024. Enactment of the legislation has already had a chilling effect on Hong Kong society and has affected foreign investment — something the HKSAR government has repeatedly denied.

The March 2024 session of the National People’s Congress confirmed the directions in which China’s paramount ruler Xi Jinping was already pushing the country, including a more aggressive global role, military expansion as the People’s Liberation Army approaches its 2027 centenary, increased economic and especially tech self-reliance.

The CCP’s Taiwan policy can be examined based on the content of the two sessions. It reveals that although the Lai government has not taken office, the policy of the CCP toward Taiwan has been roughly set. In recent years, the CCP has used legal principles to fight against the Taiwan government and erode its international space.

The Albanese government’s much anticipated Review of the Royal Australian Navy’s surface combatant fleet, titled “Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant Fleet” was released on February 20, 2024. It promises a larger Navy to deal with a worsening strategic outlook.

While there is no end in sight at the moment, denying Putin a victory was, and remains, a goal that matters for the future of the world. It makes people safer. It shows that democracies can consolidate their efforts in the face of common threats.

Taiwan and South Korea are akin to “siblings”—both “dynamic economies and cultural beacons that fought successfully to achieve democracy in the late 20th Century.” While both have long been considered potential “flashpoints,” war is now being talked about again in earnest.

Beijing describes the boat capsizing incident as ‘vicious,’ denies Kinmen’s prohibited and restricted waters. Beijing’s recent actions are part of a long-term strategy to intimidate Taiwan through multi-faceted coercion. It ultimately aims to turn the Taiwan Strait into an internationally recognized “inland sea” within China’s territory.

Following the meeting between U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Wang Yi, Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in Bangkok, Thailand (January 26-27, 2024), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Wang used the occasion of the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany to meet on February 16. This continued the trend of frequent meetings between high-level officials from the United States and China.