Huawei woes, Canada-China EV deal, Europe on the menu? 7 global relations reads
From ‘mother of all trade deals’ to end of the rules-based world order, seven highlights from the SCMP’s overseas correspondents in January 2026
1. Trump’s freewheeling Davos speech stirs unease among global audience
There was moderate relief after US President Donald Trump walked back his threat to take Greenland by force at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January – but also concern among critics and lawmakers that his speech was little more than a diversion at a time of significant global peril.
2. Beijing-Ottawa deal reinforces China’s dominance in EV industry, analysts say
Beijing and Ottawa reached a “landmark” trade agreement in January, slashing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, in a move analysts said further cements China’s dominance and suggests the US decline in the global EV market.
3. European leaders say the quiet part out loud: order no longer constrains power
At Davos, a succession of European leaders took to the stage to acknowledge publicly what had long been discussed in private, and what many other parts of the world had taken as a given for years: that the rules-based order on which modern Europe was built had gone.