Special Forum

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Sino-Russian Relations and their Impact on Countries in Between

Dec 23,2015 Special Forum

Introduction to the Special Forum

A lot has happened in Sino-Russian relations in 2014-2015, but some observers still are pondering whether this is a serious, alliance-like relationship with far-reaching impact on the Asia-Pacific region or something more ephemeral, subject to clashing regional interests that could turn the two against each other. Just two years ago a Special Forum assessed Sino-Russian relations in triangular co..

Editorial Staff
National security , North Korea , Regionalism , SCO
Dec 23,2015 Special Forum

Mongolia Hangs in the Balance: Political Choices and Economic Realities

Year 2015 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of Mongolia’s democratic revolution. Ever since it escaped the protective embrace of its northern neighbor, Mongolia maintained an astute foreign policy, pursuing positive dialogues with China and Russia and also reaching out to its so-called collective “third neighbor,” usually understood to be Western countries plus Japan. The election of ost..

Sergey Radchenko
Economic Relations , Good Neighbor policy , Khalkin Gol Battle of 1939 , Neutrality , Regionalism , third neighbor policy
Dec 23,2015 Special Forum

Sino-Russian Defense Relations Intensify

Between 1991 and 2006, Russian arms sales to China grew tremendously, as China eagerly sought to upgrade its military capabilities by incorporating advanced Russian military equipment and technology. During the 1990s, total arms sales between the two often exceeded USD 1 billion per year, and at their peak in the early 2000s, they averaged well over USD 2 billion per year.1 After 2006, however, a..

Paul Schwartz
Bilateral arms trade , Chinese self-sufficiency , Maritime military , National security , Peace Mission exercises , R&D , Western sanctions

Open Forum

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Dec 10,2015 Open Forum

Sunflowers and Umbrellas: Government Responses to Student-led Protests in Taiwan and Hong Kong

With local identities increasingly consolidated, especially among young people, there have been unprecedented protests in both Taiwan and Hong Kong against their respective governments’ policies toward Beijing. Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement (SM) in March 2014 opposed further economic integration with China, specifically the ratification of a cross-Strait agreement on trade in services. Soon af..

Syaru Shirley Lin
Democracy , National identity , One Country Two Systems , Sunflower Movement , Umbrella Movement
Dec 10,2015 Open Forum

India’s National Identity and Its Impact on Security Policy under Modi

The consensus on India’s national identity has been slowly fragmenting over the last twenty-five years, especially since the emergence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in 1998 displacing the Congress Party, India’s dominant political party since independence. After being out of power for a decade, the BJP came back to power with a decisive showing in May 2014 under Narendra Modi..

Deepa M. Ollapally
Economic Relations , Modi , National identity , Nationalist-globalist
Dec 07,2015 Open Forum

Washington Insights (Vol. 3, No. 6)

Park Geun-hye’s visit to Washington, the aftermath of Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, the state of Japan’s military, Russia’s assertive policy toward Japan, and the state of Central Asia were among the topics that drew scrutiny in autumn discussions in DC. In light of an upsurge in terrorism and great uncertainty over Syria, the pessimistic mood about East Asia was obviously of secondar..

Editorial Staff
Central Asia , East Asian security , National security , Sino-US Relations
Dec 07,2015 Open Forum

South Korea’s Middle Power Multilateral Diplomacy:1 Optimistic and Pessimistic Views

Throughout the second half of 2015, President Park Geun-hye has engaged in active summit diplomacy and tried to play the role of reconciler-in-chief. For instance, she took credit that her attendance at the September 3 military parade in Beijing brought the dividend Tokyo had sought through resumption of the China-Japan-Korea (CJK) summit. She also obtained the approval of Washington following t..

Lee Shin-wha*
MIKTA , NAPCI , National security , Regionalism , Trustpolitik

National Commentaries

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The November Summits in Retrospect

Dec 18,2015 National Commentaries

The Malaysian POV: The Elephant in the Room – Is the Emerging Third Pillar Reshaping Asian Architecture and Regional Responses?

"The November Summits in Retrospect"   There was an elephant in the room at the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila as well as at the East Asia Summit (EAS) and other ASEAN-based meetings in Kuala Lumpur last month: the quiet, potential sway of China-centered initiatives and arrangements on the future of Asian architecture, amid the incre..

Kuik Cheng-Chwee*
"Belt and Road" Initiative , China hub , Common Destiny , Regionalism
Dec 18,2015 National Commentaries

The United States POV: Southeast Asian Reactions to the Firmer US Posture in the South China Sea

"The November Summits in Retrospect" Summitry is often seen as a way for national leaders to directly hash out disagreements and reach some accommodation. That was not the case at this year’s East Asia Summit (EAS), where leaders seemed more interested in underlining their differences than reconciling them. Not surprisingly, the South China Sea dispute was the summit’s most cont..

Felix K. Chang
National security , Regionalism , South China Sea Initiative
Dec 18,2015 National Commentaries

The Japanese POV: Japan-US-Australian Trilateralism

"The November Summits in Retrospect" The “quasi-alliance” (jundomei) is an increasingly fashionable term of the Japanese government as well as the wider policy community in Tokyo to describe its rapidly growing security relationship with Canberra.1 Although the precise meaning of the term is yet to be defined (and the government certainly does not have in mind the meaning for thi..

Yusuke Ishihara
Capacity-building assistance , China gap , National security , Naval cooperation , Quasi-alliance , Regionalism , Rules-based order

Alternative Scenarios

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Dec 01,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario for Modi’s India “Acts East”

The domestic record of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is mixed. According to Pew, 87 percent of Indians have a favorable opinion of their prime minister, a level of support any elected leader would celebrate. After economic growth bottomed out at 4.5 percent under the previous government, India now boasts the world’s fastest-growing major economy, expanding at an annual rate of arou..

Daniel Twining
Act East Policy , Economic Relations , One Belt One Road , Regionalism
Dec 02,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario for Modi’s India “Acts East”

In the past eighteen months, the prime minister of India has travelled abroad thirty times roughly translating into two overseas visits a month. In the next two months another seven trips are on the agenda. Are there any substantive upsides for India of these outings? In this assessment, I raise concerns about the value of this diplomacy, beginning with ties to South Asia, turning next to Afgha..

Manish Tewari
China , India , Pakistan , Regionalism

Topics of the Month

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May 18,2015 Topics of the Month

The Impact of Xi Jinping’s Governance of China – Ⅲ

Xi Jinping’s latest book, The Governance of China, is popping up in odd places. It was prominently displayed on Facebook-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s desk when he entertained China’s Internet czar Lu Wei in December 2014. As Zuckerman explained: “I’ve bought copies of this book for my colleagues as well. I want them to understand socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Then in late March..

William A. Callahan
China Dream , Personality Cult , Two Centenary Goals
Mar 02,2015 Topics of the Month

The Negative Soft Power of the China Dream – II

As Ming Wan writes in his commentary in The Asan Forum on the “China Dream,” Chinese leaders use New Year’s celebrations as an opportunity to sum up the achievements of the recent past and to chart new directions for the future. Here, I discuss such New Year’s activity to argue that soft power works in interesting and unexpected ways in China. Joseph Nye famously defines soft power as ..

William A. Callahan
Anti-Japaneseism , China Dream , nationalism , negative soft power
Jan 16,2015 Topics of the Month

Comparative Southeast Asian Military Modernization – III

Maritime Balance in the South China Sea: Submarines in Southeast Asia In recent years, Southeast Asian countries have pursued the acquisition of submarines with increasing vigor. Currently, four countries in the region operate them: Indonesia (with two Type 209 submarines), Malaysia (with two Scorpène-class submarines), Singapore (with two Archer-class and four Challenger-class submarines),1 a..

Felix K. Chang
defense community , military cooperation

Country Reports

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Dec 18,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: China (December 2015)

No indications were found in Chinese publications of realist thinking about how to resolve security challenges such as the threatening North Korean military build-up or the increasingly confrontational atmosphere in the South China Sea. Explanations were missing for why China has resumed high-level meetings with Japan despite its continued demonization of that country and its leader. The US disa..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Dong Jiaxin*)
Asian values , CJK summit , East Asian Community , Economic Relations , One Belt, One Road , One Road" , Regionalism
Dec 03,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (December 2015)

The September 28 Yomiuri Shimbun argued that anti-Americanism is the crux of the opposition to the new law on collective self-defense. Reviewing a book by Miura Ruri (juxtaposing it to Hosoya Yuichi’s writing on internationalism), it credits Abe with the achievement of overcoming grassroots anti-American thinking both in leftist pacifism and in rightist anti-globalism. Deep-rooted xenophobia m..

Editorial Staff
Internationalism , Japan-US alliance , National security , ROK-Sino Relations
Nov 23,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (November 2015)

The first half of the fall was a trying period for South Korean diplomacy, which the conservative and progressive media viewed differently. There was a persistent sense of US pressure on the Park administration: against leaning toward China in support of reunification, for reassuring Washington that she is not leaning toward China, for accepting Japan’s new right of collective self-defense and ..

Editorial Staff (prepared by Han Minjeong)
National security , Park-Obama Summit , Regionalism , Reunification diplomacy , ROK-Sino Relations , ROK-US relations

Review Article

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Nov 13,2015 Review Article

Japan and the International Order in the Age of Shifts in Power in the Indo-Pacific

Hosoya Yuichi, Kokusai chitsujo: 18 Seiki Europe kara 21 Seiki Asia e [International Order: From 18th Century Europe to 21st Century Asia] (Tokyo: Chuokoron Shinsha, 2012) Hosoya Yuichi, Rekishi ninshiki towa nanika? Nichiro senso kara Asia Taiheiyo senso made [What is Historic Recognition: From the Russo-Japanese War to the Asia-Pacific War] (Tokyo: Shincho Sensho 2015) Japan has just..

Matsuda Takuya*
Balance of power , Internationalism , National security , Regionalism