August 29,2016 Special Forum

Chinese views of South Korean history

On August 3, Beijing ribao depicted THAAD as not aimed at defending against North Korea, but rather splitting China from South Korea.1 On August 7, Huanqiu shibao depicted the visit of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to Washington as Singapore joining in the US containment of China.2 China is rapidly adopting a polarized view of Asia—a realist, balance of power approach on the surface, but act..

Gilbert Rozman
China Dream , Cold War , communism , Koguryo , Korean War , Multipolarity , Northeast Project , regional order , Sinocentrism , Trustpolitik
August 24,2016 Open Forum

Washington Insights

In the summer of 2016, Washington DC has been consumed with the Clinton-Trump race and the unprecedented revolt of the Republican national security establishment against their party’s presidential candidate. Three bilateral relations have been in flux against the background of increased uncertainty about Sino-US relations.  DC discussions have in particular focused on Sino-Russian relations, wh..

Editorial Staff
alliance building , Cold War , rebalance , sanctions , Sea of Okhotsk , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Six-Party Talks , South China Sea , THAAD
August 24,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: China (August 2016)

The Hague tribunal’s adjudication of the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines dominated Chinese foreign policy discussions in mid-2016. Chinese analysts also assessed relations with Russia and India, suggested structural reforms to encourage the resumption of the Six-Party Talks, and considered the implications of Japan’s new security laws. Hague Tribunal on..

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
Arunachal Pradesh , ASEAN , Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands , East and South China Seas , Eurasian Economic Union , Hague Tribunal , Silk Road Economic Belt , Six-Party Talks , Tibet , Xinjiang
August 12,2016 Open Forum

Northeast Asia’s Space Launch Nationalism

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not represent official policies of the U.S. Navy or the U.S. Department of Defense. Northeast Asia today is in the midst of a major expansion of space launch services—with Japan, South Korea, North Korea, China, and Russia all attempting to build new boosters, often at costly new national facilities. National leade..

James Clay Moltz
anti-satellite weapons test , geostationary orbit , liquid-fuel rocket , low-Earth orbit , space launch capability , UN Convention on the Registration of Space Objects , UN Outer Space Treaty
August 12,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (July 2016)

Articles in the spring and early summer of 2016 were split between two categories: those on Sino-Russian relations, affirming or refuting charges that they have failed to meet expectations; and those praising Russia’s ability to remain aloof from the major disputes in the Asia-Pacific while maintaining its great power role. The former tended to draw analogies between conditions faced i..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
ASEAN , Asia-Pacific region , East and South China Seas , Eurasian Economic Union , Silk Road Economic Belt , Sochi Russia-ASEAN summit
August 12,2016 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (August 2016)

In late spring and early summer, the focus of the Japanese media shifted from the G7 and Obama’s visit to Hiroshima to the South China Sea ruling and China’s angry response, followed by intensified pressure on ASEAN. The overall impact was for Japan to strengthen relations with the United States (despite nervousness about Trump) and polarize against China (despite wanting to a..

Editorial Staff
comfort women , Donald Trump , EEU-ASEAN , G7 Summit , Hashimoto-Yeltsin plan , Senkaku Islands , South China Sea , Takeshima , THAAD
August 03,2016 Review Article

Review of Rising China’s Influence in Developing Asia by Evelyn Goh et al. (2016)

For some time China has felt itself alone among many neighbors, and its sudden leap to prominence since 2008 has heightened concern that it might use its increasing asymmetries of power to control its regional environment. While China sees its influence in Asia as a "win-win” interaction based on mutual respect, its actions in the South China Sea have encouraged the view that China..

Brantly Womack
ASEAN , Asian Infrastructural Investment Bank , Development , Hydropower , Monetary policy , South China Sea , UN Human Rights Council
August 03,2016 Open Forum

Russia’s Korean Policy since 2012: New Hopes, Achievements, and Disappointments

This article focuses on Russia's Korean policy since 2012. That year was very important: in North Korea, Kim Jong-un had just come to power at the end of 2011; in Russia, Vladimir Putin returned to the presidential office in May; and in South Korea, leadership changed in the aftermath of Park Geun-hye winning the December presidential election. These changes involved major shifts in foreign p..

Serghei Golunov
Gaeseong Park , Rajin-Khasan , Resolution 2270 , Six-Party Talks , South China Sea , THAAD , USSR
August 03,2016 National Commentaries

Implementing Sanctions against North Korea：A US Perspective

By all accounts, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270 represents a significant and unexpected advance of the authority given to the UN and member states to pursue sanctions against the DPRK. Language referring to North Korean coal, iron ore, and jet fuel was unprecedented, and the demands for member state action were more insistent, in many cases moving from merely “callin..

James Walsh
Resolution 2270 , South China Sea , THAAD , UN Panel of Experts
August 03,2016 National Commentaries

Implementing Sanctions against North Korea：A South Korean Perspective

North Korea’s latest nuclear and missile tests have compelled the international community to issue the most comprehensive round of sanctions against it. UNSC Resolution 2270 not only strengthens existing measures toward non-proliferation but also includes more effective financial and economic sanctions, and urges stricter enforcement by member states. . Significantly, it targets North K..

Go Myong-hyun*
Agreed Framework , Kaesong Industrial Complex , nuclear policy , Resolution 2270 , THAAD , WMDs