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Letters

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Brics has a strange habit of confounding both its supporters and its critics.
The group is often portrayed as an emerging anti-Western bloc led by China and Russia. Others dismiss it as an unwieldy talking shop whose members share little beyond dissatisfaction with Western dominance. The recent New Delhi summit suggests both interpretations miss something important.
For an organisation supposedly united by opposition to the West, Brics spends much time demanding reform rather than revolution. Its latest declaration calls for “a reinvigorated and reformed multilateral system”, not the dismantling of the existing one.
That distinction goes to the heart of what Brics has become. Its members are not abandoning the United Nations, International Monetary Fund and World Bank, nor are they constructing a coherent alternative order. Instead, they are building institutions and mechanisms alongside existing ones. The New Development Bank, expanding trade in national currencies and efforts to improve cross-border payment systems are intended not as replacements but as additional options.
This helps explain why Brics often appears simultaneously divided and influential. China and India remain strategic rivals. Russia’s confrontation with the West is not shared by much of the membership. Expansion has added further complexity, bringing in states with their own priorities and regional disputes. Even the Delhi summit reflected differing levels of political commitment, with some members choosing not to send their heads of government to the event.
But disagreement over methods should not be confused with disagreement over direction. Across Brics there is a broadly shared view that the international system should become more multipolar and that emerging powers should have greater room to manoeuvre within it. The debate over de-dollarisation illustrates this point. Some have limited interest in strengthening the financial influence of any of the group members’ currencies or provoking confrontation with Washington. Yet trade in national currencies continues to expand and work on alternative payment mechanisms continues.
Brics should therefore be judged less by its internal disagreements than by its ability to widen the choices available to other states. What binds its members together is not a common ideology or a shared opposition to the West, but a common desire for a world in which Western institutions remain important without remaining the only points of reference – a non-Western world, rather than an anti-Western one.
Dr Zeno Leoni and Dr Rishika Chauhan, King’s College London, and Dr Maria Papageorgiou, Newcastle University
Tung Chee-hwa deserved better from Hong Kong
The recent passing of Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong’s first chief executive, deserves more than the usual post-event political analysis. He was a humble and diligent leader, yet for most of his tenure he was met with mockery, blame and disrespect.
Three of the most controversial episodes of his time in office illustrate how that disrespect was manufactured.
First, the 1999 right-of-abode case. The Court of Final Appeal delivered a ruling that significantly expanded eligibility for permanent residency. Tung’s government was right to seek an interpretation from the National People’s Congress Standing Committee under Article 158 of the Basic Law to restore the true legislative intent of the Basic Law. This was not an attack on the rule of law but rather an effort to uphold the Basic Law as written.
Second, the handling of the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak. Public criticism at the time was intense, yet a Legislative Council select committee noted that the chief executive was very concerned about the outbreak and was prepared to consider drastic measures to control the spread of the disease. It specifically found that he was the first official to raise the question of whether it was necessary to quarantine family members of infected people.
Third, the attempt to legislate under Article 23 of the Basic Law. Tung’s government simply sought to fulfil this clear constitutional responsibility. The effort was turned into a political nuclear bomb by its opponents to split the ruling coalition and undermine Tung’s authority.
These three episodes were systematically hijacked by Tung’s detractors. They were spun into a false narrative of personal incompetence and weak leadership.
Beneath his amiable face, Tung had a strong sense of duty. The overwhelming and relentless attacks from the media and other quarters could sting. Hong Kong owes him an apology, a simple acknowledgement that a decent and hardworking man was treated with disproportionate harshness while he tried, under extraordinary constraints, to keep the city stable and prosperous.
Hongjie Chen, Ma On Shan


What Brics wants: a non-Western, not an anti-Western, world

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Will ‘transactional’ America assist India in a future border crisis with China?

India scores Brics win with joint declaration despite divides

Brics

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping plant saplings during the Brics Summit in New Delhi, India, on September 12. Photo: India’s Press Information Bureau

Brics summit could emerge as milestone in bloc’s unity

Security officers stand guard beside Brics summit banners bearing images of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in New Delhi, India, on September 11. Photo: AP 

The world is not so much embracing China as recoiling from Trump’s US

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, US, en route to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on August 21. Photo: Reuters

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian listens at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on September 1. Photo: Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Asheville, North Carolina, US, on August 31. Photo: Reuters

Why I am grateful for Asean’s endless meetings

US President Donald Trump (third from left) gathers with Asean leaders for a group photo before the 13th Asean-US summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. Photo: AFP

Dr Marty Natelegawa (centre) chairs an Asean meeting as Indonesian foreign minister, in Jakarta in 2011. Photo: Marty Natelegawa / ISEAS

The 12th Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on November 1, 2025. The “plus” refers to Asean’s eight dialogue partner countries: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US. Photo: AFP

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 21. Wang was there to attend a bilateral comprehensive strategic dialogue. Photo: EPA

As US leadership proves unreliable, Asia needs to start focusing on itself

A miniature model of the White House is seen at the Omni Grove Park Hotel during the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, on August 31. Finance leaders from the G20 major economies opened talks at the US-hosted gathering, with the Trump administration seeking to escalate economic pressure on Iran amid a renewed exchange of fire with Tehran. Photo: AFP

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference as finance ministers and central bank governors from G20 countries meet in Asheville, North Carolina, on September 1. Photo: Reuters

The Global South cannot afford to let its maritime border disputes fester

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

A fence in Chanthaburi province, along Thailand’s eastern border, on July 22. The barrier was erected by the Thai military, after the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute escalated last year into the deadliest fighting between the neighbours in over a decade, leaving more than 100 military personnel and civilians dead. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

Readers discuss the recent Brics summit, and former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa’s time in office


Readers discuss the recent Brics summit, and former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa’s time in office.


Diplomacy

Hong Kong

China

New Development Bank

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Readers discuss the recent Brics summit, and former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa’s time in office

Readers discuss the recent Brics summit, and former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa’s time in office