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Jonathan Holslag is a Professor of International Politics at the Free University of Brussels. His work focuses on international political economy, regional security in Asia, and the relations between Europe and Asia.

For all their spectacular growth, China and India must still lift a hundred million citizens out of poverty and create jobs for the numerous laborers. Both powers hope trade and investment will sustain national unity. For the first time, Jonathan Holslag identifies these objectives as new sources of rivalry and argues that China and India cannot grow without fierce contest.Though he recognizes that both countries wish to maintain stable relations, Holslag argues that success in implementing economic reform will give way to conflict. This rivalry is already tangible in Asia as a whole, where sh

The Chinese government has prioritized resource security and aims to increase its control over the minerals sector. China is a mining country, an investor in minerals abroad, and a key processor. Besides a few specific minerals, however, China has limited control and has not yet come to dominate the supply chains. A detailed examination of cobalt, manganese, and nickel, three minerals vital for various strategic industries, shows that Chinese mines deliver still only below 35 percent of Chinese demand. Much of Chinese processing capacity is tied to foreign industries in electric vehicles and so forth. While the ambition of resource security and control has been affirmed, it is not yet achieved. (J Contemp China / GIGA)

The Trump administration's policy on Asia in 2019 displayed a mix of overreach and fecklessness. In terms of economic, strategic, and cooperative relations, the US floundered, stumbled, and fell short, particularly in its efforts to deal with China and North Korea. Overall, observers saw more grandstanding than anything else.