Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- July 31, 2020

China is on course for a powerful future, according to a new US report. Photo: Reuters

Kinling Lo, SCMP: US must prepare for an ever more powerful China, think tank says

* Rand Corporation considers how successful the ruling Communist Party is likely to be in achieving the goals it has set for the next 30 years
* ‘Preparing for a triumphant or ascending China seems most prudent for the United States,’ it says

The United States should prepare for an “ascendant” Communist-led China, according to a report released by Rand Corporation, a US government-funded think tank.

The compilers of “China’s Grand Strategy: Trends, Trajectories and Long-Term Competition” examined how successful the Chinese Communist Party was likely to be in achieving the goals it has set for the country by 2050.

In doing so it considered four possible futures in which China is either “triumphant”, meaning it has achieved all of its goals, “ascendant”, having achieved some but not all of its goals, “stagnant”, meaning it has failed in its ambitions, and “imploding”, meaning the regime itself is under threat.

The report, which was compiled for the US military and published last week, concluded that “ascendant” and “stagnant” were the most likely outcomes.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- July 31, 2020

New Zealand's relationship with China is at a tipping point -- Anne-Marie Brady, The Guardian

Only sanctions will make China stop and think -- Nathan Law. DW

China Is What Orwell Feared -- Ross Andersen, The Atlantic

Why Huawei Lost Its Quest for World Domination -- Karthik Ramanna, American Interest

China’s Model for Africa Is Failing -- Thierry Pairault, The Diplomat

Iran's Deepening Isolation On The World Stage -- Ahmad Ra'fat, World Crunch

Iraq after Saddam Hussein: Two powers competing for influence -- Alison Sargent, France 24

Lebanon as We Know It Is Dying -- Steven Cook, Foreign Policy

Egypt's military gambit in Libya risks backfiring -- Jonathan Fenton-Harvey, New Arab

In Zimbabwe, no one can breathe -- Panashe Chigumadzi, African Argments


Massive protests in Russia's far east rattle Kremlin -- France 24

Lukashenko is playing games to keep his grip on power -- Konstantin Eggert, DW

How can we apply lessons from the Spanish flu’s second wave to Covid-19? -- Tom Wheeldon, France 24

What Australia can learn from other countries using internal border closures to prevent the spread of coronavirus -- Max Walden, ABC News Online