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As it happens I am in Incheon ( South Korea) not far from Seoul, currently attending a conference organized by the Secretariat of the DMZ ( Demilitarized Zone) International Forum on the topic: Peace on the Korean peninsula and international cooperation in the era of great transformation and economic security. The irony is the conference is taking place against the backdrop of both South Korea and North Korea firing missiles off each other’s coasts for the first time. In all fairness, North Korea has been sabre rattling for weeks indulging in grave provocation. Seoul could not have remained silent after a missile landed on 2 November less than 60 Kms from the southern city of Sokcho. In the middle of all this, North Korea is widely expected to resume testing nuclear weapons taking the security situation of the Korean peninsula to a whole new level of uncertainty. It has been said that the epicenter of geopolitics is the Indo-Pacific. The insecurity emanating from the Korean peninsula along with the situation obtaining in Taiwan strait makes the Indo-Pacific extremely unstable at this point. This will be the subject of this important conference in Incheon over the next couple of days with participants from all over the world. The situation in Indo-Pacific bears scrutiny.

Now that Xi Jinping has been anointed the leader of China for an indefinite and foreseeable future, it is perhaps time to guess how China’s foreign policy will play out. There are already some indications.

First, the olive branch to the US. Xi Jinping has said that China is willing to work with the US to find ways to get along for mutual benefit. Pretty boilerplate, you might say. Even so, can be construed as conciliatory. The same message was conveyed by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (who has been promoted as Politburo member) to the American Ambassador in Beijing, Nicholas Burns but in more stark terms: it was clarified by the Chinese FM that neither country can change the other! The bottom line: US is the only country that is considered its equal by China and wants the US to do likewise.

Second, Xi Jinping is doubling down on Russia. Chinese FM Wang Yi in a phone call to Russia’s FM Lavrov stated that China would continue to support Russia as a major power. This call followed the congratulatory message sent to Xi Jinping by Putin. So, the Sino-Russian “alliance” shows no sign of weakening despite the war in Ukraine.

That brings me to what powers like Japan, ASEAN, Australia and India should expect from the newly anointed Xi Jinping. The answer is: more of the same as before. China will assert itself with those who aspire for a multipolar Asia. With the Taiwan straits tense and North Korea’s sabre rattling, is Asia witnessing a gathering storm?

It is in India’s abiding interest that Europe remains united in the face of multiple strategic challenges it faces. And the key to EU unity obviously lies in Franco-German cooperation. Against this background, it is somewhat disconcerting that Germany and France have had a falling out recently. Thus, both countries have decided to put off their much vaunted joint ministerial meeting. German Chancellor Scholz has also decided that he will travel to Beijing alone and not with French President Macron. He will also take a huge business delegation with him to China, which should make the latter happy. Last week, Chancellor Scholz signed off on the purchase by a Chinese firm COSCO of a 25 per cent stake in a Hamburg port terminal. Are these tell tale signs of serious differences between EU’s two major powers or are these mere bumps on the road? Only time will tell. Either way, it bears watching.