Jun 17,2019 Open Forum

Domestic politics of China’s Belt and Road Initiative

China has an authoritarian political system and state-controlled capitalism. It is natural for foreign observers to predominantly view the autocrat-launched Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a cohesive geostrategy to project Chinese power abroad. Such a view, however, is premised on misunderstanding China’s domestic politics and overlooks deep fragmentation among policymakers in China and market […]

Min Ye
"Belt and Road" Initiative , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , Pakistan Economic Corridor , Shanghai Cooperation Organization , Silk Road Economic Belt , Silk Road Fund
Dec 16,2016 Special Forum

What Trump Should Do about China

The monkey king raised his cudgel, and there was great disorder in Heaven. The jadelike firmament was cleared of dust With this phrase, Mao Zedong began China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. As nearly all Chinese would know, the phrase comes from a 16th century novel that has roots in folk beliefs dating from at least […]

June Teufel Dreyer
4th nuclear test , ASEAN , Asia pivot , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , burden-sharing , China Dream , cyberespionage , Dalai Lama , Diaoyu islands , freedom of navigation
Dec 16,2016 Special Forum

Running into a Long Brick Wall? Trump and the Future of US-China Relations

The surprise election of Donald Trump as the United States’ 45th president triggered alarm bells in capitals across the world including Beijing, given Trump’s haphazard foreign policy remarks throughout the campaign and his propensity to trust his gut judgment on a range of critical issues. Hence, just how Trump is going to move on key […]

Lee Chung Min*
APEC , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , Balance of power , burden-sharing , climate change , Duterte , FTAAP , Iran , ISIS , NATO
Dec 16,2016 Special Forum

Facing China: Policy Challenges for the Trump Administration in East Asia

As Donald J. Trump comes to power as the 45th president of the United States, he and his national security and foreign policy team will face significant challenges in dealing with a now-formidable and recently more assertive China. To a great extent, the problems they will encounter in dealing with China would confront any early […]

Jacques deLisle
Agreed Framework , Asia pivot , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , burden-sharing , Charm offensive , constitutional revisionism , cross-Strait relations , Denuclearization , East China Sea , FTAAP
Dec 16,2016 Special Forum

Japanese Media on the Impact of Donald Trump’s Election on Japan and China

Japanese awakened to Donald Trump’s victory in disbelief, coining the label “Trump shock” to go with other “shocks” memorable in their history with the United States.1 A failure had occurred: of the US media, of the US role as the beacon of democracy, and of both a model of capitalism2 that was supposed to forestall […]

Gilbert Rozman
Abe Shinzo , Abenomics , ASEAN , Asia pivot , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , Balance of power , burden-sharing , containment , cross-Strait relations , Duterte
Dec 12,2016 National Commentaries

A View from Australia

The year 2016 marked the seventieth anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between Australia and the Philippines. It also heralded the election of Rodrigo Duterte as the Philippines’ 16th president. The new president has made numerous international headlines, both during the election campaign and since becoming his country’s head of state. As this article shows, Duterte’s […]

Darren J. Lim
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , Australia , Australia-Philippines Comprehensive Partnership , Davao hostage crisis , Duterte , East China Sea , mutual defense treaty , One Belt One Road , Philippines , rise of China
Dec 05,2016 Open Forum

Washington Insights(Vol. 4, No. 6)

The autumn of 2016 has been tumultuous in Washington, DC. Whereas in October the old agenda was still under discussion, after Donald Trump won the presidential election the struggle began to decipher the new agenda. This overview of meetings before and after the elections reflects the two-sided nature of a transitional period. Korea The agenda […]

Editorial Staff
Asia pivot , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , Eastern Economic Forum , energy , Korean 2017 elections , Middle Power Diplomacy , Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative , One Belt One Road , Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership , sanctions
Oct 06,2016 National Commentaries

ASEAN’s Divided Approach to China’s Rise

In a speech marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN-China dialogue relations earlier this month, Chinese premier Li Keqiang offered an unsurprisingly positive view of the relationship, praising both the “extraordinary path” the two sides had taken as well as the concrete measures they had agreed upon ranging from production capacity cooperation to […]

Prashanth Parameswaran
1Malaysia Development Berhad , ASEAN-China relations , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , One Belt One Road , South China Sea
Feb 04,2016 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario (Synopsis of Japanese Sources)

Xi Jinping’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative, even more than Barack Obama’s “rebalance,” is a bold reconceptualization of the economic, geopolitical, and regional identity of Asia. The positive scenario, even if some reservations may exist about contents and scope, sees a good chance of a transformative impact. The negative scenario views this plan, despite some […]

Gilbert Rozman
ASEAN , Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , Asian infrastructure investments , Asian Regionalism , China's hub-and-spokes system , Japan-China competition , One Belt, One Road , One Road"