October 15,2015 Special Forum

Grading Xi Jinping’s America Policy: C-

President Xi Jinping has dealt with the United States for almost three years as relations have declined. His bold and assertive actions in areas sensitive to US interests departed sharply from past restraint and put an aroused America on guard. It is hard to give these results a passing grade. As they did in Washington on September 24-25, the two leaders continue to meet and achieve agreements in ..

Robert Sutter

Chinese assertiveness , National identity , Sino-American interdependence , Sino-American rivalry , US rebalance

September 23,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II: Optimism amidst Doubts for China and Its International Behavior

On the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of the end of WWII, China’s much expected military parade of September 3 was held in Beijing. After all, China, the “forgotten ally” as the British historian Rana Mitter put it, was a key part of the anti-fascist alliance during WWII. It bore a heavy burden in the Asian theater and made a great contribution to the final victory. Severely victimiz..

Ren Xiao*

China-Japan-South Korea summit , National identity , One Belt One Road , Regionalism

September 21,2015 Review Article

Chinese Books on China and Global Governance

He Yafei, Xuanze: Zhongguo yu quanqiu zhili [Choice: China and Global Governance] (Beijing: Zhongguo renmin daxue chubanshe, 2015) Tao Jian, Lin Hongyu, Zhongguo jueqi yu quanqiu zhili [The Rise of China and Global Governance] (Beijing: Shijie zhishi chubanshe, 2014) Zhou Shuchun, Zhongguo de shijie meng he renlei wenming de zhuanxing [China’s World Dream and Human Civilization in Transition] ..

See-Won Byun

global governance , International relations theory , National identity , The Chinese Dream

September 18,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Scenario of Japan’s Fault

As the fiftieth anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the Asia-Pacific War approached in the summer of 1995, the Japanese Diet debated a resolution, which, it was hoped, would lay the ghosts of the past to rest. The aim was to present a national statement of memory and remorse, broadly supported across the political spectrum and addressing the concerns of the victims of Japan’s imperial expansion, ..

Tessa Morris-Suzuki

Abe Statement , History problem , National identity , Regionalism

September 18,2015 Alternative Scenarios

History Will Continue to Haunt Japan’s Relations with China

In 2015, history has cast a darker shadow on Japan’s relations with China than at any time since normalization of relations in 1972. This was the seventieth anniversary year of war’s end, Sino-Japanese relations were hesitantly emerging from three troubled years, and Xi Jinping and Abe Shinzo were pursuing agendas that showcased their differences over history. Given these factors, should we e..

Editorial Staff

September 10,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II: Problems Are Structural

On September 3, Beijing’s sky was “parade blue.” It was a rare day when the US embassy index indicated that the air quality was “good.” Following the “APEC blue” last November, the Chinese government once again displayed its power to achieve what seems hardly possible. Yes, the parade was a display of power, indeed, with the brandishing of modern weapons and the disruption and restri..

Takahara Akio*

70th Anniversary , National identity , nationalism

August 18,2015 Review Article

‘Ukeikasuru Nihon seiji’ (‘Japan’s Politics Leaning to the Right’)

Nakano Koichi, Ukeikasuru Nihon seiji (Japan’s Politics Leaning to the Right), (Tokyo: Iwanami Shinsho, 2015) On the day when the “Abe statement” in commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of the end of WWII is issued, this review article considers one Japanese critic’s analysis of what lies behind the statement. After all, Abe is but the most recent, if also far the most prominen..

Gilbert Rozman

Kokkashugi , Liberal Democratic Party , National identity , National security , Revisionism

June 23,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: China (June 2015)

In Heping yu Fazhan, no. 2, 2015, Li Hongcai and Yang Guanghai took a broad view of security in Asia, citing Xi Jinping’s May 21, 2014 statement on the contours of such thinking. Xi had called on Asian countries to discard traditional thinking and forge new types of security relations. Recognizing that security in the region now is facing some difficulties, the authors expound on Xi’s themes t..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Dong Jiaxin*)

constructivism , SCO , Sino-ROK Relations , Sino-US Relations

June 18,2015 Review Article

‘The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States’

  Brad Glosserman and Scott A. Snyder, The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2015). As we approach August 15, the seventieth anniversary of the end of World War II, when Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s unconditional surrender, the world waits with bated breath as Prime Minister Abe Shinzo carefully cra..

Sharon Yoon

historical revisionism , reconciliation , Shinzo Abe

May 18,2015 Topics of the Month

The Impact of Xi Jinping’s Governance of China – Ⅲ

Xi Jinping’s latest book, The Governance of China, is popping up in odd places. It was prominently displayed on Facebook-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s desk when he entertained China’s Internet czar Lu Wei in December 2014. As Zuckerman explained: “I’ve bought copies of this book for my colleagues as well. I want them to understand socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Then in late March..

William A. Callahan

China Dream , Personality Cult , Two Centenary Goals