Jun 24,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: China (June 2020)

In the spring of 2020, Chinese analysts began to grapple with the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for the future world order, Sino–US relations, and China’s relations with South Korea and Japan. They also continued to assess China’s global governance approach by examining its relationship to China’s national identity, exploring its connection to China’s overarching […]

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)

"Belt and Road" Initiative , 2008 Financial Crisis , AIIB , COVID-19 , Japan-South Korea relations

Jan 20,2020 Special Forum

The Case of Xi Jinping

In January 1980, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping gathered senior cadres from the upper reaches of the country’s political system to discuss "the present situation and the tasks before us."1 Just two weeks into the new decade, Deng sensed that the 1980s would be “a dangerous decade” typified by “great turbulence and crises.” But it was […]

Jude Blanchette

"Belt and Road" Initiative , AIIB , community of common destiny , Global Financial Crisis , national rejuvenation , New Development Bank , Xi Jinping

Feb 21,2019 Open Forum

North Korea’s Regional Integration: An Enduring Dilemma for China, South Korea, and the United States

North Korea’s integration into the regional community has emerged as a key point of realignment in Sino-South Korean relations since the 2016-2017 fallout over US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).  Presidents Xi Jinping and Moon Jae-in advanced Pyongyang’s diplomatic engagement by securing three meetings each with Kim Jong-un in 2018, complemented by a historic […]

See-Won Byun

AIIB , America First , New Northern Policy , One Belt One Road , Panmunjom Declaration , Sunshine Policy , THAAD , TPP

Oct 08,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (October 2018)

Setting aside the rush of publications on China and North Korea—from Abe’s October visit to China to Japan’s response to plans for a new Trump-Kim summit—this report covers Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and India. The time span is the summer of 2018. Late in this period, Abe saw Putin surprise him with an […]

Editorial Staff

AIIB , ARF , BRI , BRICS , comfort women , EEF , free and open Indo-Pacific , Sharp power , the Quad , US-China trade war

Jul 24,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (July 2018)

Zero-sum reasoning prevailed in Russian writings. The United States is the enemy, and it must be weakened, which authors take satisfaction is happening. A contradictory approach to Trump is apparent: he is fighting valiantly against vested US interests, but his actions are contributing to a rapid decline in US influence. Optimism for Russia centers on […]

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)

AIIB , BRI , CVID , EEU , Khasan-Rajin railway , SCO , Trump-Kim summit

Jul 02,2018 National Commentaries

An Australian Perspective

Donald Trump’s disruptive impact on US alliance management was exemplified by two sets of public comments earlier in June 2018. The president’s public condemnation of Justin Trudeau as “very dishonest and weak” for pushing back against Washington’s imposition of tariffs on Canadian goods1 was followed by praise for North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un as “very […]

Andrew O’Neil

AIIB , BRI , China-Australia FTA , Five Eyes , NATO , Rules-based order

Jun 20,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: China (June 2018)

In the spring of 2018, Chinese experts reacted to the Kim–Trump summit and evaluated the prospects for resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, assessed South Korea’s role in East Asian politics, and evaluated Australia’s increasingly interventionist South China Sea policy. They also examined Trump’s China policy and analyzed how the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) […]

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)

AIIB , BRI , Kim-Trump summit , South China Sea , THAAD , US-South Korea alliance

May 21,2018 Open Forum

From Friend to Foe-ish: Washington’s Negative Turn on the Belt and Road Initiative

Despite its status as a Pacific power, the United States has been somewhat peripheral to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) since the latter’s inception in late 2013. The United States does not host BRI investments and, like many other major countries, has not signed a formal cooperation agreement setting out terms and conditions for […]

Joel Wuthnow

"Belt and Road" Initiative , ADB , AIIB , Indo-Pacific strategy , the Quad , Trans-Pacific Partnership , World Bank

Nov 04,2017 Special Forum

The Trajectory of Chinese Foreign Policy: From Reactive Assertiveness to Opportunistic Activism

In recent years, particularly since Xi Jinping’s ascension to power, it has become commonplace for journalists and experts in the United States to describe China’s external behavior as growing increasingly assertive, even revisionist. Many commentators have attributed this shift to Xi, suggesting a causality between his leadership and China’s growing assertiveness. To many in the […]

Ryan Hass

19th Party Congress , AIIB , BRI , BRICS , communist party , Xi Jinping

Oct 23,2017 Country Reports

Country Report: China (October 2017)

In the summer of 2017, Chinese analysts continued to evaluate Chinese policy toward North Korea and attempted to understand the Trump administration’s policy toward China and the broader Asia–Pacific. They also evaluated the lessons of Japan’s public diplomacy toward ASEAN and examined worsening China–India and China–South Korea relations. North Korean Nuclear Crisis In remarks summarized […]

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)

AIIB , America First , BRI , Nuclear Suppliers’ Group , THAAD , US-South Korea-Japan trilateralism