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Palmer-James-foreign-policy-staff-portraits-202226

James Palmer

Deputy Editor [email protected]

James Palmer is a deputy editor at Foreign Policy and writes FP’s weekly China Brief newsletter. Palmer is the author of The Bloody White Baron: The Extraordinary Story of the Russian Nobleman Who Became the Last Khan of Mongolia and The Death of Mao: The Tangshan Earthquake and the Birth of the New China. He won the Shiva Naipaul prize for travel writing in 2003.

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Articles by James Palmer
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Chinese State Counselor Wang Yi in Moscow on Feb. 22.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Chinese State Counselor Wang Yi in Moscow on Feb. 22.

Is China Stepping Up Its Support for Russia?

China Brief
James Palmer
Special agents process material from the high-altitude balloon recovered off the coast of South Carolina.
Special agents process material from the high-altitude balloon recovered off the coast of South Carolina.

Can the U.S. and China Leave the Spy Balloon Behind?

China Brief
James Palmer
A jet flies by the Chinese spy balloon as it floats off the coast of Surfside Beach, South Carolina, on Feb. 4.
A jet flies by the Chinese spy balloon as it floats off the coast of Surfside Beach, South Carolina, on Feb. 4.

China’s Surveillance Balloon Is Not a Test of Will

China Brief
James Palmer
A high-altitude balloon floats in a blue sky.
A high-altitude balloon floats in a blue sky.

How a Chinese Spy Balloon Blew Up a Key U.S. Diplomatic Trip

Explainer
James Palmer
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a press conference during a meeting with NATO ministers of foreign affairs in Bucharest, Romania, on Nov. 30, 2022.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a press conference during a meeting with NATO ministers of foreign affairs in Bucharest, Romania, on Nov. 30, 2022.

In Beijing, Blinken Seeks to Stabilize Ties

China Brief
James Palmer
People walk down a street during the Lunar New Year holiday in Beijing on Jan. 25.
People walk down a street during the Lunar New Year holiday in Beijing on Jan. 25.

China Celebrates New Year Under the Shadow of COVID-19

China Brief
James Palmer
People walk along a street in Hangzhou, China, on Jan. 17.
People walk along a street in Hangzhou, China, on Jan. 17.

China Can No Longer Deny Its Shrinking Population

China Brief
James Palmer
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian packs up his notes after speaking at the daily media briefing in Beijing on April 8, 2020.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian packs up his notes after speaking at the daily media briefing in Beijing on April 8, 2020.

Why Did China Banish Its Chief ‘Wolf Warrior’?

China Brief
James Palmer
A passenger wearing a face shield and mask boards a domestic flight at Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai on Jan. 3.
A passenger wearing a face shield and mask boards a domestic flight at Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai on Jan. 3.

China’s COVID-19 Wave Reaches the Countryside

China Brief
James Palmer
COVID-19 patients lie on hospital beds in the lobby of a hospital in Chongqing, China, on Dec. 23.
COVID-19 patients lie on hospital beds in the lobby of a hospital in Chongqing, China, on Dec. 23.

5 Predictions for China in 2023

China Brief
James Palmer
A collage of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the CCP Party Congress, and academia and industry.
A collage of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the CCP Party Congress, and academia and industry.

Xi Starts His Third Term With Failure Upon Failure

5 Top Reads
James Palmer
Emergency health workers transport a patient to a fever clinic at a hospital in Beijing on Dec. 21.
Emergency health workers transport a patient to a fever clinic at a hospital in Beijing on Dec. 21.

How China Botched the End of Zero-COVID

Analysis
James Palmer, Michael Rowand, Tracy Wen Liu
A worker wearing personal protective equipment sits outside a fever clinic in Beijing on Dec. 19.
A worker wearing personal protective equipment sits outside a fever clinic in Beijing on Dec. 19.

China Sees Dark End to 2022

China Brief
James Palmer
A collage of US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping alongside military and trade issues of foreign policy
A collage of US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping alongside military and trade issues of foreign policy

How America’s Hawks Beat China’s Wolf Warriors

5 Top Reads
James Palmer
People line up outside a fever clinic at a hospital in Beijing on Dec. 11.
People line up outside a fever clinic at a hospital in Beijing on Dec. 11.

China’s Great COVID-19 Wave Has Begun

China Brief
James Palmer
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