Aug 29,2018 Alternative Scenarios

Security II

Sino-Japan relations, as reported in the mass media over the last several weeks, seem to have positive prospects, accelerated by the fortieth anniversary of the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed on August 12, 1978 and put into effect on October 23, 1978. It was reported by Japanese media early in August that the […]

Yamaguchi Noboru*

“nine-dot line” , BRI , China Dream , FONOPs , South China Sea

Aug 28,2018 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 6, No. 4

The pace of change amid the perplexity of the Trump administration is proving overwhelming to many in DC, as elsewhere. Alarm about how badly it is handling North Korea—widening the divide in how to deal with that country—and the shock of an ominously looming trade war with China are but two of the pressing issues […]

Editorial Staff

BRI , Eurasian Economic Community , free and open Indo-Pacific , Greater Eurasia , Quad

Aug 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

Aug 21,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: China (April 2018)

China’s foreign relations are under extraordinary flux. Sino-US relations are viewed as more perilous than at any time since 1989 with some even going further back to 1979 or 1972. The often-troubled Sino-Japanese relationship has suddenly appeared to stabilize, as long-sought summits by Japan are presumed to be on track. The Sino-North Korean relationship abruptly […]

Gilbert Rozman

Act East Policy , BRI , Indo-Pacific strategy , inter-Korean summit , Quad , South China Sea , THAAD

Aug 07,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (August 2018)

As Donald Trump wreaked havoc in international relations, confusing friend with foe, Japan was not at all immune. Unlike European allies, it was left essentially to fend for itself—with no clear partner. Japanese media registered concern, then alarm, and finally a degree of resignation. The late spring and early summer of 2018—when Trump left Abe […]

Editorial Staff

BRI , CJK summit , comfort women , Senkaku Islands , TPP-11 , trade war , Trump-Kim summit

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 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

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

Jul 02,2018 National Commentaries

Opening a Strategic Pandora’s Jar? US-China Uncertainties and the Three Wandering Genies in Southeast Asia

Uncertainty is nothing new in US-China relations. Indeed, it is a constant feature of all big power relationships. However, recent US-China interactions under Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have heightened uncertainties at multiple fronts, with an intensity that increasingly pushes the US allies and partners around Asia—including those in Southeast Asia—to reassess their fundamental outlooks […]

Kuik Cheng-Chwee*

BRI , Doklam , free and open Indo-Pacific , G7 , Quad , RIMPAC , SCO

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