Ian Williams

Starmer has got nothing from his demeaning trip to China Starmer told Xi it was time for a ‘more sophisticated’ relationship, yet there is very little sign of that in his excruciating performance in China.

Meagre pickings. The most tangible result of Starmer’s #china visit is visa-free access for Brits, though they won’t have luxury of burner phones & throwaway lap tops issued to PM’s entourage to escape the scrutiny of Xi’s surveillance state

spectator.com/article/star...

'China's vampire state is about to sink its fangs into Kotow Keir' Keir Starmer is stepping up 'Operation Kowtow', his reckless bid to cosy up to China- at the worst possible moment for Britain's national security.

Keir Starmer heads to Beijing today, days after gifting #China its new mega-embassy and hoping to be rewarded for a year of abject appeasement. As I write in the Mail, that is dangerously delusional. mol.im/a/15499919

Aye Write: Ian Williams | Birlinn Ltd - Independent Scottish Publisher - buy books online

Glasgow's Aye Write book festival is underway & I'm looking forward to speaking Friday evening (14th) about Vampire State, my latest book on China's predatory economy & the turbulent new geopolitics. Tickets still available!
#china #TradeWar
birlinn.co.uk/event/aye-wr...

China is holding the West to ransom over rare earths China’s naked weaponisation of rare earths brings to mind Mao Zedong’s ‘four pests’ campaign, the old tyrant’s fanatical effort to exterminate all flies, mosquitoes, rats and sparrows, which turned in...

Contrary to what Trump says, the rare earth crisis is not over. As I argue in the spectator, it should be seen as an opportunity - a wake up call for sleep-walking western democracies to urgently wean themselves off dangerous dependencies on #China
#rareearths
www.spectator.co.uk/article/chin...

Trump and Xi's South Korean meeting changed little Chinese officials see Trump as volatile and unpredictable; there is deep scepticism in Washington that China will stick to any agreement.

Trump says his meeting with Xi Jinping today was ‘amazing’ and on a scale of one to 10, it merited a 12. As I report for the Spectator, that means that on a scale for scepticism, it probably deserves a 13
#china #tradewar #trump #APEC
www.spectator.co.uk/article/trum...

Did Jonathan Powell torpedo the China espionage trial? The antics of Keir Starmer and his top security adviser over the collapsed China espionage case bring to mind the slapstick British movie Carry On Spying – which is precisely the message it will have ...

Here’s my take for this week’s Spectator on the fiasco of the collapsed China spy trial & a govt that appears to have abandoned any notion of national security for single-minded policy of appeasing Beijing
#china #spytrial #espionage #chinaspies

www.spectator.co.uk/article/did-...

YouTube video by Times Radio Putin and Xi exposed: China expert reveals the hidden tension between the world’s dictators

How are we to understand the relatiinship between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin? Here’s my explainer for Times Radio
#china #putin #ukraine #xijinping youtu.be/JLVdK7MX-WA?...

The great Xi Jinping makeover is in full swing. Champion of free trade, friend of foreign investors & tech entrepreneurs in the face of Trump mayhem. But as I argue in @thetimes #china shape-shifting is cynical and barely credible

www.thetimes.com/article/c05b...

How China fools the West The mimic octopus is a remarkable creature. It is the world’s master at shapeshifting. It is able to transform its appearance into that of more than 15 different aquatic animals, depending on the need...

#China has moved fast to take advantage of Trump alienating much of the world. But as I ask in The Spectator, is anybody really fooled by Xi Jinping’s makeover?

www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-...

Can 'China Studies' still be trusted? It is generally agreed that Britain needs to improve its China capabilities. But what happens when institutions responsible for building those capabilities are compromised by the Chinese Communist Par...

It's generally agreed that the UK needs more #China expertise - from understanding history & culture to speaking Mandarin. But as I ask in the Spectator, what if institutions charged with improving such capabilities are captured by the Chinese communist party?
www.spectator.co.uk/article/can-...

YouTube video by Times Radio Xi doesn’t need Putin: How China’s arms industry overtakes Russia’s | Ian Williams

A real pleasure to join @philipingrammbe.bsky.social
on Times Radio’s excellent Frontline podcast, talking Russia, China, Ukraine and much more
#china #Russia #Ukraine #ukrainewar

youtu.be/aegWOaXlSaU?...

I'm delighted that the updated paperback edition of Vampire State is published today. Understanding #china troubled but predatory economy is more important than ever
#economy #TradeDeal #Tradewars #Beijing

So #china says economy grew 5.2% in the quarter to June & most commentators took that at face value. Wake up! CCP stats are political, not economic, more so that ever, and as I explain in the Spectator, they need to be treated with a huge does of scepticism
www.spectator.co.uk/article/is-c...

A big thank you to everybody who came to the the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand Wednesday for my book talk. China is such an important issue right now, and understanding its predatory economy is more important than ever. Good to be back in Thailand and catching up with old friends.

Congratulations to @barbarademick.bsky.social for Daughters of the Bamboo Grove, her powerful new book on #China one-child policy, which inspired my Mail feature on the lasting legacy of one of the cruellest, misguided and costliest policies a govt has ever imposed on its people

How wary should we be of Chinese electric vehicles? We rightly worry about spyware on phones, but EVs are giant pieces of spyware - perfect for espionage, surveillance & sabotage. As I write in the Mail, a good place to start is the classic Michael Caine movie The Italian Job
#China #EVs #espionage

How China bought Britain Somewhere in the bowels of the Foreign Office, civil servants are still working on the government’s ‘China audit’. The report was commissioned by the new Labour government to ‘assess trade-offs in the...

Somewhere in the bowels of the Foreign Office, UK govt's much hyped 'audit' of China relations grinds on. AsI argue in The Spectator, it is being rapidly overtaken by events that scream for extreme caution.
#china #chinaaudit #tariffs #tradewar
www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-...

What is Xi Jinping planning? Shanghai port is the busiest in the world. Activity there is closely monitored by financial analysts distrustful of official statistics and looking for clues as to what is really happening in the worl...

For Trump, tariff is the ‘most beautiful word’, but as I argue in the Spectator #china has a coercive toolbox built over decades of forcing foreign firms/pliant countries to kowtow as price of doing business or to punish for supposed sleights #tariffs #TradeWar
www.spectator.co.uk/article/what...

China won't win its 'fight to the end' against Trump There are signs that these countries are already growing wary of Beijing’s investment and the dumping of Chinese-made goods more broadly.

Here’s my take for the Spectator on Trump’s tariffs on #China, which has accused the US of bullying, coercion and rule breaking. Well … Beijing’s familiar with all that, since it’s precisely what’s powered its economic rise
#TradeWar #tariffs

www.spectator.co.uk/article/chin...

Bookshelf: ‘Vampire state: The rise and fall of the Chinese economy’ | The Strategist After three decades of record-breaking growth, at about the same time as Xi Jinping rose to power in 2012, China’s economy started the long decline to its current state of stagnation. The Chinese Comm...

Many thanks to Australian Strategic Policy Institute for
a generous review of my new book, Vampire State - 'a must read for anyone dealing with China’s economy, from public sector trade negotiators to private businesspeople and investors'
#china #economy
www.aspistrategist.org.au/bookshelf-va...

Facing up to Xi Jinping and the new China | Oxford Literary Festival Ian Williams and Michael Sheridan Chaired by Sophia Yan - Facing up to Xi Jinping and the new China

Looking forward to the Oxford Literary Festival where on 4 April I'll be joining Michael Sheridan and Sophia Yan to talk about the challenge of facing up to #XiJinping and an aggressive #China. Some tickets still available! #oxfordliteraryfestival
oxfordliteraryfestival.org/literature-e...

China is not the West’s environmental ally In the fight against climate change, China loves to present itself as the world’s White Knight. Armed with wind turbines and solar panels, EVs and batteries, it will rescue us from oblivion if only we...

The UK govt & environmentalists want to ‘engage’ #China on #climatechange , but as I write in the spectator there is little evidence a transactional Beijing gives a hoot about the planet and sees such diplomacy as means for furthering its broader interests

www.spectator.co.uk/article/chin...

YouTube video by Times Radio How Trump's tariff chaos played straight into China's hands

A pleasure to join Louis Sykes on Times Radio’s Trump Report, talking #china #tariffs and much more youtu.be/xcu8bFn7SzU?...

How Chinese firms dodge Trump tariffs by shifting work abroad From Vietnam to Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, Chinese companies are shifting some manufacturing to southeast Asia

As DonaldTrump imposes more tariffs, Chinese companies are finding multiple ways to avoid them, often by just re-badging 'made in China' as made in elsewhere. As I write in
@thetimes it could turn into giant game of whac-a-mole #China #TradeWar #trump
www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

Operation kowtow continues. As I write in the Mail on Sunday,
Keir Starmer's govt is ignoring local residents & security concerns in what appears to be a murky deal to allow #China to build a monstrous new embassy in East London

The villain of my 2nd novel Zero Days is an unhinged power-hungry tech tycoon who wants to own the ultimate cyber weapon of the title. At the time, I didn't specifically model him on Elon Musk but he's growing into the role #ElonMusk #CYBER #Hacking

www.amazon.co.uk/Zero-Days-Th...

Labour's kowtowing to China will cost Britain Keir Starmer and his ministers, including Chancellor Rachel Reeves, appear to be competing to see who can kowtow the lowest before China's Xi

Keir Starmer and his ministers appear to be competing to see who can kowtow lowest to China. As I write in the spectator not only is it desperate & morally repugnant, but can only increase dependencies and undermine security #China #reeves
www.spectator.co.uk/article/labo...

Sorry, I don’t get you. Isn’t part of the problem with the appalling abuse by grooming gangs that there was too much self-censorship as a result of misplaced sensitivities about being accused of racism.

The spectator carries a range of voices on a range of subjects Kate. Murray is passionate about the grooming gangs. I disagree with a lot of what he writes, but respect his right to do so. I write about China, which means I also understand the pernicious impact of censoring views we don’t agree with

Explain what Kate?