Special Forum

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Mar 21,2014 Special Forum

Introduction to the Special Forum: March

The discourse employed in China to control the narrative on domestic and global issues has long attracted special attention. Confucian tradition placed fundamental importance on the “rectification of names.” Marxist ideology was obsessed with the language used in the “upbringing” of the masses to prevent what was disparaged as “false consciousness.” Mao Zedong carried the obsession muc..

Editorial Staff
core values , cultural security , discourse duality , Set expressions
Mar 21,2014 Special Forum

Domestic Factors in China’s International Relations Discourse: Chinese Debates on the Role of Public Opinion

Two contrasting perspectives have been featured in recent years about the role of domestic public opinion in China's foreign policy making. On the one hand, the bottom-up viewpoint is that popular nationalism is a driving force in policymaking, influencing decisions on Japan and the United States, among other matters. Commercialized media appeal to it, official statements cater to it, and leaders ..

Maria Repnikova
Censorship , public opinion , quality , voluntary 50-centers
Mar 21,2014 Special Forum

China’s New Foreign Policy: Transformations and Challenges Reflected in Changing Discourse

There are many opinions about China's foreign policy strategy under the new leadership. This article addresses the shifts in China's approach to international issues since Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang have come to power, including the analysis of the reasons behind these changes, as well as the challenges that the new leadership faces in implementing them. It highlights the discourse that has been us..

Wang Yizhou*
China Dream , integrated destiny , New type of great power relations , peripheral diplomacy , strong maritime power , two silk roads

Open Forum

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Apr 11,2014 Open Forum

Russo-Chinese Relations in Strategic Perspective

Russian and Chinese leaders regularly profess an ever-growing congruence of interests and ever-increasing economic, political, and even military cooperation. According to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in October 2013, “Bilateral relations have never reached such high levels.”1 Yet, arguably there is much less harmony here—although what harmony there is remains quite real—than is publicly ..

Stephen Blank
Arms sales , Asymmetry , energy , junior partner , Sochi Olympics , Ukraine , Ukrainian invasion , Vietnam
Apr 11,2014 Open Forum

The Budget This Time: Taking the Measure of China’s Defense Spending

1Early last month, China announced its projected 2014 defense budget of 808 billion yuan (roughly USD 132 billion), a 12.2 percent increase over the previous year. This continues the double-digit spending increases in nominal terms since 1989 (2010 was the exception, most likely because of priorities adjusted in the wake of the global financial crisis). China’s rapid rise in national power acros..

Andrew Erickson
Defense budget , military capabilities , New Historic Missions , transparency

National Commentaries

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Topics of the Month

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Mar 21,2014 Topics of the Month

Sino-US Relations – 3

Obama’s Trip to Asia—How to Deal with China in the “Gray Zone”   President Obama’s visit next month to four East Asian allies and partners almost certainly will feature conversations on how to deal with Chinese incremental territorial expansion at its neighbors’ expense. Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Malaysia are all disputants in recent territorial issues with Chin..

Robert Sutter
Anti-submarine warfare , gray zone , rebalance , salami slicing , Second Thomas Shoal , security integration , Southeast Asia
Mar 21,2014 Topics of the Month

TPP – 3

In the two months since my original article for The Asan Forum, TPP appears to have stalled. News reports of the most recent negotiating round, as well as US-Japan bilateral negotiations over agricultural products, suggest that there has been little if any progress since the December negotiations in Singapore. While this is a disappointment for TPP proponents, it is not exactly a surprise. In this..

William W. Grimes
Automobile tariffs , Economic integrations , market-distorting institutions , TPP , Trade Promotion Authority (TPA)

Country Reports

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Apr 11,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (April 2014)

February and March 2014 saw Japan much more isolated than at any point since the US occupation, but the shallowness and myopia of Japan’s media coverage stood out beyond earlier periods. Larger-than-life international personages were caricatured in ways that, at times, only faintly resembled analysis in other countries. The most negative coverage was devoted to Park Geun-hye, portrayed as emotio..

Editorial Staff
Abe Shinzo , international society , Park Geun-hye , public opinion war , reparations , trilateral summit , Ukraine
Mar 28,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (March 2014)

Russia's writings on Asia over the past two months included much on Russia's pivot toward the Asia-Pacific, its relations with Japan, and its approach toward the Korean Peninsula. Writings on China were detailed and mainly focused on China's domestic developments, as well as some celebratory remarks about the Olympics cooperation between the two nations. China features mainly in the analysis of Ru..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
debate on DPRK , economic integration , priority of Southeast Asia , Russia's pivot , Russian Far East development and security , Southeast Asia , Southeast Asia US World domination , Ukraine
Mar 07,2014 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (March 2014)

Two themes have been in the forefront in Korean media coverage of international relations in the region: diplomacy related to reunification and ROK-Japan relations. The former was sparked by President Park’s New-Year Speech, saying “reunification is like hitting a jackpot (통일은 대박이다).” As two major powers also mentioned reunification (Secretary of State John Kerry touched on it ..

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)
Dokdo/Takeshima , Germany , Germany Reunification , reunions , textbooks , two-Korea policy , UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights

Review Article

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Mar 21,2014 Review Article

‘Sino-Japanese Relations after the Cold War: Two Tigers Sharing a Mountain’

Michael Yahuda, Sino-Japanese Relations after the Cold War: Two tigers Sharing a Mountain (London: Routledge: 2013) Bilateral relations between pairs of Northeast Asian countries—China, Japan, and South Korea-- are becoming increasingly intertwined, always under the shadow of the United States. As we scrutinize new literature devoted to each of these relationships, we should be questioning th..

Audrye Wong
Balancing , hedging , Security dilemma , triangularity