December 21,2018 National Commentaries

A Southeast Asian Perspective

Hedging Harder: Southeast Asia and the US-China Rivalry “I think it’s very desirable for us not to have to take sides, but the circumstances may come when ASEAN may have to choose one or the other. I am hoping that it’s not coming soon.” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 15 November 20181 “Over the five, […]

Malcolm Cook , Ian Storey
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Asia rebalance , BUILD Act , East Asia Summit , free and open Indo-Pacific , the Quad
December 21,2018 National Commentaries

A US Perspective

The New Washington Consensus Washington DC is a sharply divided city these days. A recent Pew Research Center poll concluded that Americans have increasingly embraced “conflicting partisan priorities for US foreign policy.”1 On most major national security concerns—whether Russia, Iran, North Korea, or Afghanistan—there is little or no bipartisan agreement. On China, however, there is […]

Zack Cooper , Annie Kowalewski
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Meng Wanzhou , Nine-dash line , South China Sea , Tibet , Xinjiang
November 08,2018 National Commentaries

A View from Japan

While the United States and China have fallen into a phase of confrontation, Abe Shinzo made the first official visit to China by a Japanese prime minister in seven years. Rows of Japanese national flags displayed in Tiananmen Square symbolized the rapprochement between Japan and China. Although Abe only stayed in Beijing for a little […]

Takahara Akio*
BRI , free and open Indo-Pacific , Peace and Friendship Treaty , Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands , Tiananmen Square , TPP
November 08,2018 National Commentaries

A View from the United States

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo had hoped to improve ties with Beijing ever since returning to office in 2012, and finally, as China’s relations with the United States were at their worst in decades, Abe was invited to a summit with President Xi Jinping. The visit was cordial, with both Xi and Abe emphasizing their shared […]

Sheila A. Smith
BRI , East China Sea , free and open Indo-Pacific , Hu-Fukuda agreement , Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands
November 08,2018 National Commentaries

A View from China

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s Beijing tour in October of 2018 went well. It is not just the first time a Japanese prime minister has returned to Beijing in 8 years. The significance is that after years of lingering tensions over the Diaoyu/Senkaku territorial fracture, the two sides are ultimately and realistically seeking a new phase […]

Zhu Feng*
BRI , China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship , Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands , free and open Indo-Pacific , RCEP , TPP
August 23,2018 National Commentaries

An American (Non-Trumpian) Perspective on Asian Integration

With the long-standing failure of multilateral negotiations in the World Trade Organization and the recent US retreat to economic nationalism and “America First,” Asian trade and investment liberalization and regional integration are increasingly where the action is for global economic advances. This reality is illustrated by three moving targets: the completion and expansion of the […]

Claude Barfield
CPTPP , FTAs , Indo-Pacific strategy , RCEP
August 23,2018 National Commentaries

Can Vietnam’s Doi Moi Reforms Be an Inspiration for North Korea?

North Korea’s future remains one of the biggest questions of current world politics. Not only because of the complexities related to denuclearization, but also, and potentially even more challenging, because of unprecedented questions on how to integrate a long-term rogue regime into the international system. This includes normalization of its economy and politics. The “Vietnam […]

Huong Le Thu
APAC , ASEAN , Doi Moi , Vietnamese Communist Party , Workers’ Party of Korea
August 23,2018 National Commentaries

China’s Belt and Road in Southeast Asia between Boons and Bumps

Around five years since China first announced its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—a grand economic vision to construct trade and infrastructure networks connecting parts of Asia, Europe, and Africa—it continues to generate a polarizing mix of optimism and anxiety. In Southeast Asia, which Beijing has considered a central part of the initiative from its inception, […]

Prashanth Parameswaran
BRI , Central Route , Malacca Dilemma , South China Sea
July 02,2018 National Commentaries

An Indian Perspective

India-China relations have undergone surprising twists and turns in the past few years. Seemingly, complicated deadlocks and dramatic reconciliation efforts mark the relationship between the two Asian giants. This trend has only grown since Narendra Modi assumed the office of the prime minister of India in 2014, and President Xi Jinping acquired the status of […]

Rahul Mishra
"Neighborhood First" , BRI , BRICS , Doklam , Quad , SCO , Shangri-La Dialogue