¿Por qué la política actual es igual que la del año 1900? "Asistimos al regreso del darwinismo internacional, que consiste en que un país fuerte se impone sobre uno débil basándose exclusivamente en el uso del poder duro" explica @jborrasarumi.bsky.social en @elmundoes.bsky.social

New article by @jborrasarumi.bsky.social, core research DE-CONSPIRATOR member, examines how China’s AI strategy prioritises open-source models and large-scale diffusion over the AGI race, with implications for standards, governance, and FIMI dynamics. 🔗 Read the full article here: lnkd.in/dAc3fgph

Sigo con mi recopilatorio de los libros que estoy leyendo este 2025: javierborras.substack.com/p/que-libros...

"Com més s'utilitzin les cadenes de valor i la tecnologia com a arma geopolítica, ens trobarem amb empreses o components que poden ser totalment disruptors per a l'economia i es poden fer servir com a eines de pressió política", @jborrasarumi.bsky.social analitza el conflicte amb l'empresa Nexperia

¿Cuál es el canon de lecturas de las élites tecnológicas chinas? Una mezcla de biografías y ensayos de Silicon Valley, obras maoístas, clásicos chinos, fantasía y ciencia ficción china: asteriskmag.com/issues/12-bo...

Vivim en temps on un buròcrata pot ser més perillós que un míssil. La Xina ha après dels americans i ha desplegat la seva pròpia "arma nuclear" de control i coerció econòmica, feta de terres rares. La meva columna: www.ara.cat/internaciona...

Now that China got serious about export controls, it would have been very convenient for the EU to have the deterrence power of ASML... But we gave it basically for free to the Americans.

China is basically copying the US export control playbook:

It has reached the point where the EU mainly views Chinese technology with fear –fear for its economy, security and values, explains @jborrasarumi.bsky.social at @scmpnews.bsky.social. “The EU’s attitude towards Chinese technology is now mostly defensive”

Shocking how Latin America has become the main exporter of agricultural and beef products to China, surpassing Western countries:

If EU firms are not using AI, it's because it does not make market sense to them. Instead of blaming, we should fund AI startups that provide sector-specific AI tools, and train more middle-level engineers who know how to integrate AI in business models: www.politico.eu/article/euro...

That's interesting. The US tech defense industry would strongly benefit from tech transfer from Ukraine on drones. But one of the hurdles is that Ukrainian drones use many Chinese components: www.wsj.com/world/europe...

I understand that China may have security concerns about how Western telecoms could be weaponized. But it should also accept European concerns about Chinese tech as equally legitimate. Even realist Chinese scholars such as Yan Xuetong have acknowledged this. www.ft.com/content/7d08...

Happy to appear again in the South China Morning Post, interviewed by Meredith Chen on the future of EU-China tech relations. Some takeaways 🧵👇 www.scmp.com/news/china/d...

"While the TikTok deal has been receiving most of the headlines, the real grand bargain-like impact is the emergence of a TikTok template. It is the contours of a roadmap and path, however murky and fickle, for other Chinese technologies to flow to the US" interconnect.substack.com/p/the-tiktok...

La Xina s'ha presentat constantment com a líder del Sud Global. Però la seva addicció a la manufactura pot ser un fre molt important que bloquegi l'auge econòmic dels països en desenvolupament. La meva columna: www.ara.cat/internaciona...

“China is managing to create a new kind of green soft power that doesn’t need Beijing’s stultifying propaganda”, @nytimes.com features @jborrasarumi.bsky.social's analysis 'Green Soft Power: China’s New Strategy in Europe' Read the full analysis➡️ www.cidob.org/en/publicati...

Happy to see my article on China's green soft power quoted in The New York Times!

Este verano viajé a Uzbekistán unas semanas. Aquí os dejo algunas notas de campo y apuntes de lecturas, en las que hablo de su desarrollismo post-soviético, su relación con el islam, o cómo se convirtió en centro intelectual y científico del mundo en la Edad Media: open.substack.com/pub/javierbo...

Crec que aquesta és l'entrevista més en profunditat que m'han fet sobre la Xina. Amb @otbou.bsky.social vam parlar de la relació de la Xina amb la UE, Índia o Rússia; l'estat de l'economia, tecnologia i l'exèrcit xinès; o la successió de Xi Jinping. A @vilaweb.cat: www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/jav...

El 70% de las bajas en Ucrania son por drones. Y China domina el sector. Escribo aquí sobre si Pekín, gracias a ello, dominará el futuro de la guerra: open.substack.com/pub/javierbo...

Rare to hear an EU official speak as candidly as Weyand here “From the Commission’s perspective this was a strategic trade-off, not an economic policy ideal solution" “There was a risk that the USA, in return, would question the security partnership. That is the realpolitik of the turning point"

I didn't know about the crucial role of ideology in causing the Irish famine: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

"50% of DPP supporters see the US as a trustworthy ally, whereas just 3% of KMT supporters and 10% of TPP supporters think so. 85% of DPP supporters said they were willing to fight for the island in the event of an invasion, compared with 48% of KMT voters and 54% of TPP voters"

How can the Chinese government make officials accountable in the age of high-tech innovation? Before, GDP was the KPI for measuring a successful official. But what is the KPI for innovation? How can risks be taken while avoiding excessive waste? Great interview to Yuen Yuen Ang:

Lee Kuan Yew vinculó el éxito económico de Singapur al aire acondicionado:

"A report on global AI attitudes (...) found that China leads the world in enthusiasm. About 80% of Chinese respondents said they were “excited” about new AI services—compared with just 35% in the US and 38% in the UK." www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/28/1...

"Much the way that Greek culture eventually conquered a triumphant Rome, Central Asian culture was now positioned to conquer the Abbasids and their new capital, Bagdad." I've read only 125 pages, but I am sure this book will be in my Top 10 readings of 2025:

El 70% de les baixes a Ucraïna es produeixen per atacs de drons. Sembla que són el futur de la guerra -especialment quan es coordinin amb IA-. I la Xina, ara mateix, domina aquest sector. La meva columna a l'ARA:

India is probably the country that has fascinated me the most after China. I recommend this goodbye reflections by a correspondent in India for The Economist. On strengths and weaknesses of India, comparison with China, recommendations and more: arjunramani.com/india-dispatch

I think this interview is super valuable for people working in think tanks or academia or any intellectual work: youtu.be/myi0FWQs0nY?...

Very interesting story that goes beyond the "overcapacity" narrative, pointing out that fierce competition and very low margins are driving China's deflation. The paradox: China is leading in many sectors, but many of its companies are barely surviving: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/b...

The scholars who created the now buzzword term "weaponized interdependence" (Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman), on how the US is using its financial, weapons, satellite and data center systems to advance Trump's problematic policies in Europe: www.wired.com/story/enshit...

I wasn't aware of how bad the recruitment situation is in the US military. Recruitment targets are not being met, and 3/4 of young people are ineligible. It seems that the medium-term strategy is to deploy even more machines and fewer humans in war: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Very interesting article on the Hangzhou tech model - how the city has been able to create Deepseek, Alibaba, Unitree... establishing a soft version of China industrial policy, more focused on facilitation of entrepreneurship than top-down direction: open.substack.com/pub/chinatal...

"In a situation of geopolitical tensions, China has found in green technologies a way of mending its economic and diplomatic relations with Europe. Through the electric vehicle sector, China is constructing a new form of soft power", writes @jborrasarumi.bsky.social

“That just exposes the limitations of the whole ‘axis’ [of autocracies] idea.” “Each of them is pretty selfish and doesn’t want to get embroiled in the wars of others (...) [They] are not necessarily sharing the same structures and values” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/u...

Del món digital, liberal, amb flaires de Silicon Valley de Jack Ma i Alibaba... al geopolític, materialista, pro-Estat de Ren Zhengfei i Huawei. Simbolitzen com ha canviat la Xina. I la nostra percepció sobre el poder de la tecnologia. La meva columna: www.ara.cat/internaciona...

This is probably the best interview I've read on China this year. A master class on how the Chinese economy works: www.dwarkesh.com/p/arthur-kro...

Instructive interview in @thewirechina.bsky.social last month with Zhou Bo, ex-PLA colonel, on China's role in Ukraine Is China's missing an opportunity by not reining in Russia? "That's debatable. It depends on how you are looking at this issue, from the short term or the long term"

Many people are talking about China's growing influence in the rare earths industry. But look where China-aligned (and usually unstable) Myanmar is on the list:

Los últimos diez libros que he leído: javierborras.substack.com/p/que-libros...

I also have mixed feelings when I hear the term 'overcapacity' in relation to China: it contains some truth, yet it's problematically vague—broad enough to encompass everything we dislike or fear about the success of the Chinese economy:

"40 years ago, at the height of Iran-Iraq war, Netanyahu was an Israeli diplomat in the US where he advocated selling weapons to Iran (..) Israel helped build up Hamas to weaken the PLO in 1980s (..) Netanyahu helped channel millions of dollars to Hamas until just before Oct 7"

We underrate how influential EU regulations have been in China. EU laws are mentioned and have inspired many Chinese regulations, including in the digital sector:

An interview with Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei, was on the cover of People’s Daily yesterday. It is shocking how different his message about science is compared to the current situation in the U.S. Ren: "Those doing theoretical research are the hope of the country’s future"

NEW: The US government has collected DNA samples from 133,000+ migrant children and teenagers and uploaded them into CODIS, a national criminal database originally built for convicted sex offenders and violent criminals, according to documents reviewed by WIRED.

Why China appears so different when viewed from Barcelona and Prague? “In Spain, the public discourse towards China is mostly about the economy, it’s very different to other countries in Europe, where the debate is much more politicised”, explains @jborrasarumi.bsky.social

This figure is very shocking, especially now that everyone is aware of how much geoeconomic leverage rare earths have for Beijing: "Until 2010, Chinese organized crime syndicates smuggled up to half of China’s annual rare earth production out of the country."

I was interviewed by SCMP on Spain’s view of China. In Spain, China is seen mainly as an economic actor—not a security threat—and isn’t linked to Russia. Unlike Palestine or Venezuela, China isn’t a politicized topic in public debate. Very different from the Czech Republic.