Trump’s escalation against Venezuela is about more than oil, it is about regaining control over the ‘natural’ zone of influence of the United States at a moment where its hegemony is slipping, argues VIJAY PRASHAD
WILL Labour take a more rational approach to China than the Tories did? Or continue the drive to trade decoupling and war led by the United States?
Optimism was in the air at a China Media Group meeting bringing together the country’s ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang and business figures earlier this week. The Donald Trump government was not named, but its disruptive character was referenced — Zheng observed that “unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise and power politics runs rampant;” the chairman of the China-British Council, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, spoke of the “orange-coloured elephant in the room.”
China in Springtime reported back on the recent Two Sessions, as the simultaneous meetings of China’s national policy-making forums — the legislative National People’s Congress, and the advisory People’s Political Consultative Conference — are known.
JENNY CLEGG reports from a Chinese peace conference bringing together defence ministers, US think tanks and global South leaders, where speakers warned that the erosion of multilateralism risks regional hotspots exploding into wider war



