World Today

NATO leaders have agreed to ramp up military spending to 5% of their national GDP by 2035.
 
 They made the pledge at a summit in The Hague, following months of pressure from US President Donald Trump.
 
 Is NATO bending too far to keep Trump on board, or is this just what modern transatlantic alliance looks like? And does more military spending really make Europe safer, or does it risk triggering a new arms race and provoking more conflicts?
 
 Host Zhao Ying is joined by Ruud van Dijk, Professor in History of International Relations, University of Amsterdam; Chen Weihua, China Daily EU Bureau Chief based in Brussels; Kamal Makili-Aliyev, Associate Professor at the School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg.

① The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has held the 10th annual meeting of its board of governors. How should we characterize the bank’s operations since it was founded a decade ago? (00:55)
 ② We talk to Ni Jun, Chief Manufacturing Officer of EV battery giant CATL, on global EV expansion. (15:12)
 ③ We take a look at China’s move to strengthen controls on two chemicals that can be used to make fentanyl. (24:56)
 ④ A recent China-EU seminar on human rights adopted a consensus document calling for countering technological dominance and closing digital gaps to better safeguard human rights. We speak to a keynote speaker at the event. (33:07)
 ⑤ In shock to Democratic politics in the US, socialist Zohran Mamdani has won the New York City mayoral primary. What does this tell us about socialist movement in America? (43:43)