Sense Hofstede

@sensehofstede

China Team Brussels Office Head & China Projects Analyst @amo.cz @chinaobservers.eu. Studies China, Singapore, and Taiwan; party-state & international relations. | 何森璱

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Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· May 5

Xinhua Headlines: Xi Jinping’s spring diplomacy injects stability into volatile world – Xinhua [paving over the fact that it is now getting late in 2026 compared to the average for Xi to not have made his first trip of the year outside China yet.] english.news.cn/20260505/d47...

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Apr 14

Russia’s Lavrov has led a delegation to China a total of 18 times since 2006, based on the Chinese foreign ministry website:

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Apr 7

ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute ASEAN Studies Centre: The State of Southeast Asia 2026 Survey Report – ‘There is a slight increase in trust in the EU among ASEAN respondents this year, rising from 51.9% in 2025 to 55.9% this year. Over the same period, distrust declined from 27.8% to 22.3%.’

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Mar 1

Diplomatic traffic between China and Iran showed a marked increase under Xi Jinping versus the Hu Jintao era:

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Feb 25

They’re turning our EU leaders communist!!!

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Jan 27

Starmer will be the first British PM to visit China since Theresa May in 2018, eight years ago. May, Cameron, and Brown all went twice. Blair went thrice as PM. Johnson, Truss, and Sunak never went to China.

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Jan 3

It’s quite a bit closer to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Wonder what it should mean for our military cooperation…

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Dec 25

Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China – US Department of Defense Annual report to Congress, starting from page 31: media.defense.gov/2025/Dec/23/...

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Dec 23

Only 4 generals/admirals (3 CMC members + 1 defence minister) attended the promotion ceremony of December 2025. That is quite a contrast with the 20 generals/admirals in attendance December 2024: x.com/cnpoliwatch/...

@cnpoliwatch: “2025年12月22日，中央军委举行晋升上将军衔仪式。仅有四名上将出席了本次晋衔仪式：张又侠、张升民、刘振立、董军。

上一次晋衔仪式是一年前。2024年12月23日，中央军委举行晋升上将军衔仪式，20名上将出席了晋衔仪式。

一年时间内，已经有16名上将——也就是全体上将的80%——无法出席晋衔仪式。”

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Dec 7

Worth reading these extreme and noxious words in full:

Tweet by Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState): “What’s even worse is that the US is in a MILITARY ALLIANCE with the very countries attacking us via the EU. As @VP @JDVance noted earlier this year, this contradiction cannot continue. The nations of Europe cannot look to the US for their own security at the same time they affirmatively undermine the security of the US itself through the (unelected, undemocratic, and unrepresentative) EU. This fine is just the tip of the iceberg. As I mentioned to every European leader I just met at the NATO Ministerial Meeting in Brussels, the EU’s support of the Communist and anti-American regime in Cuba is another striking example of the EU affirmatively undermining US security while the vast majority of its member states look to the US for their own security via NATO. Under @POTUS @realDonaldTrump, @vp @JDVance, and @SecRubio, the time for games is over.”

Tweet by Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState): “My recent trip to Brussels for the @NATO Ministerial meeting left me with one overriding impression: the US has long failed to address the glaring inconsistency between its relations with NATO and the EU. These are almost all the same countries in both organizations. When these countries wear their NATO hats, they insist that Transatlantic cooperation is the cornerstone of our mutual security. But when these countries wear their EU hats, they pursue all sorts of agendas that are often utterly adverse to US interests and security—including censorship, economic suicide/climate fanaticism, open borders, disdain for national sovereignty/promotion of multilateral governance and taxation, support for Communist Cuba, etc etc. This inconsistency cannot continue. Either the great nations of Europe are our partners in protecting the Western civilization that we inherited from them or they are not. But we cannot pretend that we are partners while those nations allow the EU’s unelected, undemocratic, and unrepresentative bureaucracy in Brussels to pursue policies of civilizational suicide.”

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Nov 19

I keep flogging my diplomatic visits database to argue that Li Qiang’s diplomatic dominance is actually a return to the pattern we saw before Xi Jinping. Wen Jiabao also travelled more than Hu Jintao. Maybe Li Keqiang was the exception.

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Nov 19

Update on invoking Goods Availability Act – Ministry of Economic Affairs: ‘In light of recent developments, I consider it the right moment to take a constructive step by suspending my order under the Goods Availability Act […] We see this as a show of goodwill.’ www.government.nl/documents/di...

Minister Vincent Karremans (Economic Affairs): “In light of recent developments, I consider it the right moment to take a constructive step by suspending my order under the Goods Availability Act regarding Nexperia, in close consultation with our European and international partners. In the past few days we have had constructive meetings with the Chinese authorities. We are positive about the measures already taken by the Chinese authorities to ensure the supply of chips to Europe and the rest of the world. We see this as a show of goodwill. We will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with the Chinese authorities in the period ahead.”

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Nov 13

Prime Minister Li Qiang will attend his second G20 leaders’ summit, the 20th G20 Summit in South Africa. He also represented China at the 18th in India in 2023. All other G20 summits were attended by China’s presidents. www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/xw/wsrc/...

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Nov 11

Felipe already went to China in 2006 as Crown Prince. Five of Spain’s eighteen visits to China under Hu and Xi have been since 2023. In the other direction, Spain benefited from ‘technical stops’ (技术经停) on the Canary Islands by travelling Chinese leaders.

Table of Spanish diplomatic visits to China.

Table of Chinese diplomatic visits to Spain.

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Nov 9

Cheers!

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Nov 7

Taiwan’s Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim speaking live inside the European Parliament in Brussels for an IPAC event: x.com/ipacglobal/s...

Tweet by Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) [@ipacglobal]:
“#BREAKING 🇹🇼 Taiwan’s Vice President @bikhim delivers breakthrough address to global assembly of lawmakers at #IPACBrussels25, marking the first-ever speech by a senior member of the Taiwanese Government in a foreign parliament.”

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Nov 2

US defence minister Hegseth says he spoke again, with Chinese counterpart Dong Jun. Hegseth agrees with Trump that ‘the relationship between the United States and China has never been better’ and also refers to a ‘history “G2 meeting”’ between Trump and Xi.

Screenshot of a tweet by Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth): ‘I just spoke to President Trump, and we agree — the relationship between the United States and China has never been better. Following President Trump’s historic meeting with Chairman Xi in South Korea, I had an equally positive meeting with my counterpart, China’s Minister of National Defense Admiral Dong Jun in Malaysia. And we spoke again last night. The Admiral and I agree that peace, stability, and good relations are the best path for our two great and strong countries. As President Trump said, his historic “G2 meeting” set the tone for everlasting peace and success for the U.S. and China. The Department of War will do the same — peace through strength, mutual respect, and positive relations. Admiral Dong and I also agreed that we should set up military-to-military channels to deconflict and deescalate any problems that arise. We have more meetings on that coming soon. God bless both China and the USA!’

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Sep 19

This is Li Qiang’s first UNGA. His predecessor Li Keqiang only attended UNGA once. Normally, Foreign Minister Wang Yi goes. President Xi Jinping attended in 2015 and spoke virtually during the pandemic in 2021. Exceptionally, Vice President Han Zheng attended in 2021.

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Sep 11

Taiwanese foreign minister Lin explains Taiwan’s contributions to defending democracy in the world in a Dutch opinion piece on a radical-right news website full of inflammatory disinformation: nieuwrechts.nl/106243-hoe-c... Didn’t stop PRC embassy responding angrily: mp.weixin.qq.com/s/wMGeqltiF_...

Opinie: Hoe China democratische landen buitenspel zet – Lin Chia-lung op NieuweRechts

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Aug 19

Do Chinese officials always visit Pakistan when they visit India? Not necessarily when it comes to the President, but PM visits always come in twos and not infrequently there is a kind of balace to FM visits too.

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Aug 18

China’s exports of rare earth products extend their recovery, months after Beijing threatened a disruptive global shortage by crimping supplies – Bloomberg www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Bloomberg graph titled ‘China’s Rare-Earth Product Exports Jump to Six-Month High’ showing return to end-2024 levels.

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Aug 15

x.com/ZichenWanghe...

Tweet by Zichen Wang (@ZichenWanghere): ‘Sun Haiyan, Vice Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Miao Deyu, Vice Foreign Minister, at the India Independence Day reception with the Indian ambassador in Beijing on Friday evening, August 15, 2025.’

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Aug 9

My database shows only the Chinese Prime Minister always attended the China-ASEAN Summits, apart from the 1st (1997: President Jiang Zemin) and the 2nd (1998: Vice President Hu Jintao).

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Jul 29

Hungary’s Orbán used his tweet on his meeting with China’s Zhao to attack the EU’s approach to Beijing:

Tweet by Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban): “It was a pleasure to welcome His Excellency Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China to Hungary. The bureaucrats in Brussels have done enough damage to 🇪🇺🇨🇳 relations. We stand for a mutually beneficial cooperation, based on trust and respect.”

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Apr 14

Municipal building of Dantumadiel flying the Canadian flag on the day the northern Dutch municipality I grew up in was liberated by Canada 80 years ago:

Canadian flag at full mast in front of Dantumadiel municipal building.

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Apr 12

Not an exceptionally late but also not an early start to the diplomatic year for Xi Jinping:

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Apr 9

China’s State Council Information Office releases white paper on China-US economic and trade relations – Xinhua

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Apr 1

What stands out most to me with these Chinese military exercises around Taiwan is the propaganda cartoon: bilingual, calling President Lai a parasite, and using DPP and KMT party colours while directly invoking the same issues the opposition uses to attack the government. www.news.cn/tw/20250401/...

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Mar 26

The 1990s floating banner on the Taiwan Affairs Office website is back, pointing to the reporting email address jubao@suremail.cn . Looks like this time Chinese threats are more aimed at civic society and public figures. “台独”打手、帮凶迫害台湾同胞恶劣行径举报专栏 – 中共中央台办、国务院台办

Sense Hofstede@sensehofstede· Mar 9

解放军和武警部队代表团新闻发言人吴谦接：“解放军一向是打‘独’促统的行动派，近年来绕岛巡航、军事慑压已成常态。‘台独’分子闹得越欢，脖子上的绳索就会勒得越紧，头顶上的利剑就会愈加锋利。我们正告民进党当局：悬崖勒马回头是岸，执迷不悟死路一条。”