February 15,2021 National Commentaries

How Should the Biden Administration Handle China’s Economic Pressure Campaign against Australia?

Despite a new year and a new president in Washington, China’s economic punishment against Australia continues. More than four years since the early signs of politically motivated trade restrictions first appeared, this economic statecraft saw a reduction of approximately AU$3 billion worth of Australian exports to China in 2020.1 Impacting a wide range of industries, […]

Benjamin Herscovitch
Economic sanctions , Joe Biden , Liberal international order , Scott Morrison , World Trade Organization
February 15,2021 National Commentaries

A Russian Perspective on the Tensions on the Korean Peninsula

An authoritative Russian book makes clear how Moscow views the situation on the Korean Peninsula and what it would like the new US administration to do. The starting point is sharp criticism that the West ignored equal dialogue, respect for Russia’s sovereignty, and consideration for its core interests. While the Korean Peninsula is not a […]

Editorial Staff
Eastern Economic Forum , Eurasia , Joe Biden , Khasan-Rajin transit , Sinocentrism , Six-Party Talks , Vladimir Putin
February 15,2021 National Commentaries

Reviving the US –Japan alliance

The year 2021 is likely to be frustrating for the US-Japan alliance.1 The return of a process-oriented, alliance-centered decision-maker to the White House has relieved alliance managers and supporters in both Washington and Tokyo. The more pointless irritants in the bilateral relationship will be removed. Business as usual can resume as national security bureaucrats in […]

Brad Glosserman
COVID-19 , free and open Indo-Pacific , Joe Biden , National Security Strategy , Nuclear Posture Review , Suga Yoshihide , trilateralism
October 23,2020 National Commentaries

Kazakhstan’s Ambiguous Position towards the Uyghur Cultural Genocide in China

There is a cultural genocide ongoing in the Uyghur region of China. As I detail in a recently published book, large swaths of the Uyghur population has been incarcerated or put in mass internment camps, the local population outside these institutions are subjected to omni-present surveillance, and they have no choice but to acquiesce to […]

Sean R. Roberts
counterterrorism , Cultural Genocide , Kassym-Jomart Tokayev , Nursultan Nazarbayev , Uyghur , Xi Jinping , Xinjiang
October 23,2020 National Commentaries

Mongolia’s Response to China’s New Educational Policy in Inner Mongolia

As Chinese authorities began to introduce the new educational policy in Inner Mongolia, protests have been staged by ethnic Mongolian communities in Chinese northern provinces. The new educational policy, which has already been implemented in minority ethnic schools in autonomous regions of Xinjiang in 2017 and Tibet in 2018, requires three subjects—“language and literature,” “morality […]

Mendee Jargalsaikhan
"Belt and Road" Initiative , “Save the Mongolian Language” , Battulga Khaltmaa , China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor , Dalai Lama , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Xi Jinping
October 23,2020 National Commentaries

Chinese Cultural Policies in Tibet: A Perspective from India

Indians have at least two vantage points from which to view what is happening in Tibet. Large parts of Himalayan India border Tibet, and the perspective from these regions is often different from the capital in New Delhi. Lay and monastic populations of Himalayan India, Bhutan, and Tibet have been closely knit in networks of […]

Swati Chawla
communism , Dalai Lama , Narendra Modi , One Child Policy , Sinification , Tibet , Xi Jinping
August 31,2020 National Commentaries

A Japanese Perspective

Japan’s human rights policies, freighted with a historical baggage that South Koreans are well-aware of, are subtle, nuanced – and ultimately, quite frustrating. Governments in Tokyo continue to wrestle with the appropriate weight to give human rights in foreign policy. While recognizing that Japan’s status as a leading industrialized nation demands rhetorical support (at least) […]

Brad Glosserman
"Belt and Road" Initiative , COVID-19 , free and open Indo-Pacific , Hong Kong , Senkaku Islands , Shinzo Abe
August 31,2020 National Commentaries

A South Korean Perspective

South Korea places human rights as one of its main policy principles and is a member of seven international treaties. In recent months, the Moon administration has faced increased international criticism over its handling of human rights issues among its two neighboring countries – North Korea and China. President Moon Jae-in, a former human rights […]

Yumi Ko
byungjin policy , Hong Kong , Moon Jae-in , Sunshine Policy , US-China rivalry , Uyghur , Xinjiang
April 06,2020 National Commentaries

Second Chance to Boost Ties in Tsai’s Second Term

Tsai Ing-wen’s return to power in Taiwan in January 2020 means that her flagship New Southbound Policy (NSP) is here to stay. President Tsai’s long-term vision to integrate Taiwan with the most dynamic countries in Asia, extending all the way to South Asia, and her comeback, offers a renewed opportunity to boost Indo-Taiwan relations. Her […]

Deepa M. Ollapally
Act East Policy , COVID-19 , Make in India , Narendra Modi , New Southbound Policy , Quad-Plus Dialogue , Tsai Ing-wen