April 06,2020 National Commentaries

Post-Trump’s India Visit, the US-India Partnership Is in a Good Place

President Donald Trump visited India on February 24 and 25. By most measures, the trip qualified as a success. The very fact that Trump—a leader notoriously averse to long-distance travel—actually made the trip is notable.1 More substantively, he delivered a well-received speech in a large cricket stadium in the state of Gujarat. The address celebrated […]

Michael Kugelman
Act East Policy , Donald Trump , Indo-Pacific strategy , Kashmir , Narendra Modi
April 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
January 07,2020 National Commentaries

A View from South Korea

The New Southern Policy (NSP) aims to elevate Korea’s strategic ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including its member states, and with India, in the process cooperating with Korea’s four major diplomatic partners: The United States, China, Japan, and Russia. It is a novel attempt to put ASEAN member states (AMS) and […]

Sungil Kwak
"Belt and Road" Initiative , ASEAN-ROK summit , Free ad Open Indo-Pacific , New Southern Policy , Saemaeul Movement
January 07,2020 National Commentaries

A View from India

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) under a Pan-Asian framework has figured highly in South Korea’s foreign policy over the last decade. The New Asia Initiative (NAI) in 2009 witnessed South Korea factoring ASEAN in its regional diplomacy, moving away from its excessive focus on Northeast Asia. Unlike ASEAN, India was never accorded a […]

Jagannath Panda
Act East Policy , CEPA , free and open Indo-Pacific , New Southern Policy , RCEP , US-China rivalry
January 07,2020 National Commentaries

A View from Southeast Asia

The 2019 ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit was held in Busan from November 25-26 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-ROK dialogue relations. The summit – a high point of President Moon Jae-in’s New Southern Policy (NSP) since his announcement of the policy in November 2017 – produced several achievements. Many MOUs were signed; bilateral […]

Kuik Cheng-Chwee* , Chiew-Ping Hoo
ASEAN-ROK summit , ASEAN+3 summit , Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement , East Asia Vision Group , KOICA , KOTRA , Look East policy , New Southern Policy , ROK-Mekong summit
November 04,2019 National Commentaries

A Russian Perspective

Since 2015 Russia has held meetings of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok as the principal window on its “Turn to the East.” The contents and direction of this policy, as before, was the subject of discussion in September, especially considering that its very curators (for example, Igor Shuvalov) are frequently denying the very […]

Ivan Zuenko
Eastern Economic Forum , Kuril Islands , Russian Far East , turn to the East , Yury Trutnev
November 04,2019 National Commentaries

A US Perspective

Every September Vladimir Putin holds a forum in Vladivostok with at least three goals in mind: 1) to propel the development of the Russian Far East; 2) to assert Russia’s place as a power in East Asia; and 3) to showcase one bilateral relationship having transformative potential. In 2019 the guest of honor was Narendra […]

Gilbert Rozman
Eastern Economic Forum , Eurasianism , G20 summit , Russian Far East. APEC summit , turn to the East
November 04,2019 National Commentaries

An Indian Perspective

In September 2019, Narendra Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Russia’s Far East. He travelled to Vladivostok to give the keynote at the Eastern Economic Forum and participate in the annual India-Russia leaders’ level summit—the 20th of its kind. The premier’s visit was designed to 1) revitalize India’s Russia relationship so that […]

Tanvi Madan
"Belt and Road" Initiative , BRICS , Eastern Economic Forum , Eurasian Economic Union , free and open Indo-Pacific , Shanghai Cooperation Organization
September 03,2019 National Commentaries

A View from the United States

Since early June, Hong Kong has been experiencing one of the most serious political crises in its history, arguably the worst since the Maoist-inspired demonstrations against British colonial rule in 1967. The city has been wracked by near-continuous mass protests, some peaceful, some violent. Despite the Hong Kong government’s attempts to limit or suppress them […]

Harry Harding
Chinese National Day , Hong Kong demonstrations , Hong Kong Policy Act , Occupy Central Movement , One Country Two Systems
September 03,2019 National Commentaries

A View from Hong Kong

Both the Chief Executive (CE) of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, and Zhang Xiaoming, the head of the Hong Kong and Macao Office under the Chinese State Council in Beijing, recently denounced the protests currently underway by arguing that they threaten the “one country, two systems” policy. That concept was first raised by Deng Xiaoping as […]

David Zweig
Basic Law , Occupy Central Movement , One Country Two Systems , Tiananmen , Umbrella Movement