October 23,2019 Open Forum

Synopsis: DC Exchanges on US-ROK Relations

The US-ROK relationship is overshadowing other interests in Washington regarding foreign policy in East Asia. The ongoing US-China trade war may appear more urgent, but in the absence of Chinese visitors defending Chinese position or US officials eager to explain the US position when Trump is prone to change it on short notice, exchanges have been rather limited. US-North Korean relations and..

Editorial Staff
“small deal” , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , inter-Korean summit , THAAD , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war
October 21,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: China (October 2019)

In the middle of 2019, Chinese experts evaluated the state of South Korea–Japan relations, which deteriorated sharply during the summer of 2019 with the Japanese imposition of export controls toward South Korea. Continuing their careful attention to Indian foreign policy, Chinese analysts examined expanding India–Vietnam maritime cooperation and its implications for the South China Sea ..

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
Act East Policy , comfort women , community of common destiny , GSOMIA , US-China trade war
October 18,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 7, No. 5

No topic stirred as much interest in DC think tanks as the US-Japan-South Korean triangle. In the background loomed North Korea, leading to overlapping interest in the Sino-North Korean-US triangle. The driving force remained Donald Trump, keeping on edge US relations with each of the other three countries. Naturally, the latter triangle was seen also through the prism of Sino-US relations ..

Editorial Staff
Act East Policy , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , New Southern Policy , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war , US-ROK alliance
October 16,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (October 2019)

Japanese foreign policy drew increased criticism in the summer of 2019. On the left, there were harsh critiques of Abe’s diplomatic failures with Russia and North Korea (both putting Japan at increased risk), the breakdown of relations with South Korea, and the troubled state of the Japan-US relationship (Tokyo Shimbun, August 5). On the right, optimism was hard to find as well, altho..

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , "Hate Korea” , GSOMIA , INF Treaty , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war , US-ROK alliance
October 07,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (September 2019)

August saw a series of missile provocations from North Korea in the midst of growing tension between South Korea and Japan; the hostility against one another reached its peak as Seoul eventually announced its decision to end a military intelligence-sharing agreement, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), with Tokyo and later filed a complaint with the World Trade Or..

Kim Kimberly
GSOMIA , John Bolton , peace economy , Trump-Kim summit , UN General Assembly , US-China trade war , US-ROK alliance
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 and Beijing’s effo..

Harry Harding
Chinese National Day , Hong Kong demonstrations , Hong Kong Policy Act , Occupy Central Movement , One Country Two Systems
September 02,2019 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II

Two months after the G20, Abe Shinzo can look back with satisfaction that, despite failing to secure the “supermajority” that the ruling LDP party would have needed to secure constitutional revision, he had scored a comfortable summer 2019 election victory,1 suggesting that he had made good use of the opportunity to host the G20 to springboard towards continued domestic success. In..

Ra Mason
"Belt and Road" Initiative , G20 , Osaka Summit , Shinzo Abe , US-China trade war
September 02,2019 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II

Japan hosted the G20 Osaka Summit at the end of June 2019, and the world promptly forgot about it and moved on. That is not a failure, at least by the standards of such events. When evaluating whether Japan—and by extension Prime Minister Abe—succeeded in Osaka, it is vital to be reasonable and keep in mind what is possible and impossible in such circumstances.  The only memorable G20 s..

Benjamin L. Self
"Belt and Road" Initiative , G20 , Osaka Summit , Osaka Track , Shinzo Abe
August 29,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: China (August 2019)

In the middle of 2019, Chinese experts assessed Sino–US relations under the Trump administration and explored the implications of the United States’ competitive approach to China for China’s regional interests. They also evaluated the improvement in Sino–Indian relations following the Doklam incident and analyzed recent Sino–Japanese third-party market cooperation efforts. A..

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
"Belt and Road" Initiative , 5G , Doklam crisis , Indo-Pacific strategy , US-China trade war
August 28,2019 Special Forum

Introduction

The G20 summit will easily pass into oblivion for its collective agenda, but it should long be remembered for its bilateral and trilateral summits and one that failed to occur between the leaders of Japan and South Korea. Xi Jinping conducted many meaningful meetings. Modi Narendra balanced two triangular agendas with the United States and Japan on one side and China and Russia on the other..

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , free and open Indo-Pacific , G20 summit , US-China trade war