- AUKUS Pact Draws Ire | Since President Biden announced the formation of the strategic military pact with Australia and the United Kingdom on September 15, world leaders from France and commentators have denounced such action and deemed it harmful to the Indo-Pacific region. They believe this will only hinder U.S. relations with Western allies and further increase tensions between China and the U.S. Others anticipate it will be received well in the Asia-Pacific region due to its indirect challenge to China's military might.
- The UN General Assembly | Both President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping addressed the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday. Observers praised both world leaders for continuing to find solutions to global challenges. While President Biden called for relentless diplomacy to solve pressing crises like climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic as opposed to military power, President Xi Jinping built on China's climate goals by pledging to not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.
- China's Evergrande Group Shocks Global Markets | Evergrande Group's debt crisis caused the company's shares to tumble nearly 90 percent since July, which contributed to global stock market declines this week. Despite this, experts maintain China has the tools and the policy space to prevent this turning into a systemic crisis.
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