December 20,2013 Country Reports

Country Report: China (December 2013)

The escalating tensions with Japan have featured strongly in China's traditional and online media in the past two months, but especially in recent weeks. China's announcement of a new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) to be established over the East China Sea sparked a strong response from Japan and the United States, which led to further harsh remarks from China. Prime Minister Abe's critici..

Editorial Staff
ADIZ , Diaoyu , Jang Song-Thaek , Joseph Biden , non-interference in internal affairs , Shinzo Abe
December 20,2013 Open Forum

A New Type of Relationship between Major Countries and South Korea: Historical and Strategic Implications

After the Sino-US summit at Sunnylands on June 7-8, 2013, the Chinese idea of a “new type of great power relations” (xinxingdaguoguanxi, 新型大国关系) has, more than ever, attracted attention. During the summit Xi Jinping and Barack Obama emphasized cooperation for international peace and stability and jointly solving global problems. The shirt-sleeve diplomacy between them had some succ..

Kim Hankwon*
ADIZ , Balance of power , collective security system , Document No. 9 , landmark Sino-US summits , missile defense , New type of great power relations , pivot to Asia
December 09,2013 Open Forum

Washington Insights: Issue 3

With this issue we begin an addition to the Open Forum, reflecting on recent conferences and talks in Washington, DC and by high US officials on the themes covered in The Asan Forum. Our objective is not to report specifically on who said what, apart from speeches by top officials, but to give a sense of the tenor of remarks by those knowledgeable about US policies. There is no place comparable fo..

Editorial Staff
No. 1 ally , North Korea’s priority , principled realism , Trustpolitik , what is rebalancing , Who is No. 1
December 06,2013 Open Forum

Japan’s “Smart” Strategic Engagement in Southeast Asia

After his recent visits to Cambodia and Laos, Abe Shinzo has become the first Japanese prime minister to visit the ten ASEAN countries within the first year of his mandate. This achievement highlights two developments; Japan’s “return” to the region and a new appraisal of Southeast Asia in Japan’s strategic calculations. In a previous policy paper, published in January 2013,1 I showed that..

Céline Pajon
liberal partner , maritime capacity building , multilateral security , security-oriented ODA , South China Sea , strategic comeback
December 06,2013 Open Forum

Synopsis: The Asan Beijing Forum 2013 “Korea and China: Next 20 Years”

The Asan Institute recently held its inaugural forum in Beijing on Sino-Korean relations: “Korea and China: Next 20 Years.” The two-day forum drew participants from South Korea, China, Japan, and the United States. While the dominant theme of the forum was the nature of and prospects for a stronger relationship between China and Korea, the participants carefully considered this relations..

Editorial Staff
common history textbooks , competitive coexistence , helping North Korea develop , joint pressure on Japan , unbalanced regional order , unequal trade
December 06,2013 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (December 2013)

In 2013 attitudes toward other countries did not substantially change in contrast to the tectonic changes of 2012, when Japanese awakened to a dangerous region. In the annual survey, Yoron chosa, issued in November, one reads of further improvement in relations with and friendly feelings toward the United States, already at record high levels, and slight improvement in these measures with Russia, ..

Editorial Staff
2+2 Meetings , Active pacifism , cultural arrogance , feeling friendly , historical honor , schools toward South Korea , spheres of influence , status quo power
December 06,2013 Open Forum

The Indo-Japanese Strategic Partnership: Asia’s Response to China’s Rise

For all the focus on China’s ascendancy, the developing strategic and economic entente between Japan and India may eventually prove to be as important in shaping Asia’s future. In many respects, India and Japan could not be more different: one has more poor people than any other nation on Earth; the other was the first non-Western society to fully modernize. The order and discipline of Japanes..

Daniel Twining
Act East Policy , Confluence of the two seas , freedom of the seas , India , ODA , Republic Day celebrations , trilateral groupings
November 22,2013 National Commentaries

US Perspective

"China and International Law/Norms: A US Perspective" China’s territorial disputes with its maritime neighbors have become the most contentious and high-profile elements in Beijing’s regional foreign policy—so much so that they overshadow and complicate other dimensions of its relations with the region. These quarrels have deep historical roots and have produced periodic crises ..

Jacques deLisle
Diaoyu/Senkaku , East China Sea , EEZ’s , PLA navy , Rebalancing , South China Sea , Southeast Asia , sovereignty , Taiwan , UNCLOS
November 22,2013 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (November 2013)

The Russian media kept its eye on areas around China’s borders, cautiously raising questions about clashing Russian and Chinese interests. In September the spotlight turned to Central Asia. In November with Lavrov and Shoigu going to Japan for the first 2+2 meetings and then Putin traveling to Vietnam and South Korea, areas on two other sides of China drew attention. In between, in October, Puti..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
Anti-Americanism , Balanced diplomacy , economic regionalism , Iron Silk Road , Moscow-Beijing axis , Multipolarity , natural gas price , Southeast Asia , Vietnam
November 22,2013 Topics of the Month

Japan-Russia Relations – 5

Japan-Russia relations in November saw a certain degree of activation. At the October 7 meeting between Abe and Putin in Bali, an agreement was reached to hold the “2+2” meetings in November. They did take place on November 2 in Tokyo, and as the rejoinder by the Editorial Staff to my previous “Topics of the Month” showed, they attracted considerable attention internationally. The Japan..

Kazuhiko Togo
2+2 Meetings , Article 9 , Korean self-righteousness , new national security offices , Yachi Shotaro