China’s Strategies toward South Korea, Japan, and Australia in the Biden Era
Mar 02,2021 Special Forum

China’s Strategies toward South Korea, Japan, and Australia in the Biden Era

As the Biden administration eyes ways to strengthen US alliances, China is weighing methods to drive a wedge between the US and its principal allies in the Indo-Pacific region—Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Its recent rhetoric toward them varies: harsh warnings toward Australia, a welcoming tone toward South Korea with underlying warnings, and the most […]

Gilbert Rozman
COVID-19 , free and open Indo-Pacific , Joe Biden , Moon Jae-in , Scott Morrison , Suga Yoshihide , trilateralism , US Alliance
Challenges to Biden’s pursuit of trilateralism
Dec 30,2020 Special Forum

Challenges to Biden’s pursuit of trilateralism

Trilateralism is the term used for US-Japan-ROK close strategic cooperation and understanding. For Tokyo and Seoul, trilateralism requires a fundamental reconceptualization of both national interests and national identities in the region closest to home—Northeast Asia. For Tokyo, the narrative toward this region has been driven by three symbols of identity: 1) slighting the 1990s Kono […]

Gilbert Rozman
ASEAN centrality , free and open Indo-Pacific , THAAD , the Quad , trilateralism , US-China rivalry , Wolf Warrior Diplomacy
Multipolarity versus Sinocentrism: Chinese and Russian Worldviews and Relations
Aug 27,2020 Special Forum

Multipolarity versus Sinocentrism: Chinese and Russian Worldviews and Relations

On July 3 Hu Xijin of Huanxiu Shibao inserted a needle in the bubble of Sino-Russian harmony, which some may be tempted to equate to Mao Zedong’s response to the 20th Party Congress in 1956.1 He was reacting to a Weibo (blog) in Chinese sent from the Russian embassy in Beijing celebrating the 160th anniversary […]

Gilbert Rozman
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Bipolarity , COVID-19 , Eurasian Economic Union , Multipolarity , Russocentrism , Sinocentrism , US-China rivalry
May 19,2020 Open Forum

The Launch of an Ideological Cold War in 2020: The US Perspective

Today’s US response to China that suggests a cold war mentality: first, blaming problems in the Sino-US relationship, China more generally, and the pandemic’s origin and response on the inherent nature of China’s communist system; second, referencing a different history or civilizational foundation, connected to such forces as the May Fourth Movement and Taiwan’s Chinese […]

Gilbert Rozman
Cold War , COVID-19 , Donald Trump , Joe Biden , Public diplomacy , Xi Jinping
A Chinese Perspective on India
Apr 06,2020 National Commentaries

A Chinese Perspective on India

Xi Jinping’s “Neighborhood Diplomacy” since 2018 is a response to Donald Trump and a recalibration of how to move toward Sinocentrism in light of difficulties with BRI and past policies toward regional great and middle powers. Varied approaches have been taken to US allies and members of the aspirational Quad. To Japan, an about-face has […]

Gilbert Rozman
"Belt and Road" Initiative , COVID-19 , Indo-Pacific strategy , Narendra Modi , RCEP , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Xi Jinping
Sino-ROK Relations on the 75th Anniversary of the End of WWII
Mar 19,2020 Special Forum

Sino-ROK Relations on the 75th Anniversary of the End of WWII

Beijing and Seoul have experienced ups and downs in their relationship over the thirty years since the end of the Cold War. At times, such as when President Park Geun-hye stood beside General Secretary Xi Jinping on the Beijing review stand at the parade in honor of the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, […]

Gilbert Rozman
Cheonan Incident , Cold War , COVID-19 , Kim Jong-un , Koguryo dispute , Moon Jae-in , THAAD , US-ROK alliance , WWII , Xi Jinping