China


China  / India
BRICS Expansion: India’s Tragic Mistake
Posted On August 31, 2023
The BRICS bloc of emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – have agreed to expand the grouping’s global reach with the addition of six new members as of January 1: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. While more than 40 countries had expressed interest in joining the bloc, six were chosen in an effort to expand the interests of the Global South. But for India, the presumptive leader of this emerging region, the decision to expand BRICS is a major foreign policy blunder, one that puts additional power into the hands of its regional rival while restricting its own. Experts have argued that BRICS has been beneficial for India, which as a multinational economic body, allows a comfortable, moderating space for both Beijing and New Delhi to talk without political distraction, even when there are security vulnerabilities ongoing for both, as evidenced by the Doklam standoff in 2017 and the current Ladakh crisis.
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China  / East Asia  / Japan
Who Wants to Talk? Communication Difficulties Constrain Japan-China Relations
August 30, 2023

In what has become a common occurrence in both the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, Russian Il-38 information-gathering aircraft were found flying too close to Japan for Tokyo’s comfort, who scrambled fighter jets last week to intercept them. This came just hours after both Russian and Chinese vessels were crossing waters close to the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako. Incidents like these are common, particularly after notable events. For example, in May, when Japan hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the summit of G-7 in Hiroshima, the same Russian Il-38 maritime aircraft was spotted along the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Japan.


China  / Italy  / Japan
Growing Japan-Italy Ties Emphasize Tokyo’s Pressing Need for Assistance
August 14, 2023

In May, Italy’s Chief of Defense Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone gave a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. in which he warned of the inevitable rise of militaries in Asia and their newfound ability to project force beyond their normal spheres of influence. China, Dragone noted, was now capable of flying from its East Asian home to the Balkans to hand-deliver surface-to-air missiles. While not mentioning Japan by name, Dragone warned that defense sectors in many countries were struggling to adapt to rapidly changing security conditions. Last week, several Italian Air Force aircraft arrived in Japan for exercises with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), which are designed to improve joint tactical skills.


China  / India  / South Asia  / Sri Lanka
India’s Foreign Policy Progress in Sri Lanka is a Strategic Setback for China
July 31, 2023

It was only a year ago that Sri Lanka dominated international headlines, as its worst economic crisis in more than 70 years contributed to severe domestic strife, including deadly riots, and severe shortages of fuel, food and critical medicine. The crisis was created by a confluence of domestic policy blunders under the Rajapaksa clan, on whose watch Sri Lanka’s burden of foreign debt had grown to nearly insurmountable levels, a significant proportion of it owed to Chinese creditors. Sri Lanka’s economic troubles had been known for some time, but the Rajapaksas were unwilling to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).


China  / Myanmar  / Southeast Asia  / United Nations
Heyzer’s Exit Marks a Low Point for the UN’s Envoys to Myanmar
June 27, 2023

Noeleen Heyzer, the special envoy of the United Nations secretary-general to Myanmar, has departed her position after what appeared like no time at all. It appeared that way because, since her appointment in October 2021, little of substance has been accomplished. Heyzer came into the job with high-ranking credentials, having served as the executive director of UNIFEM, the predecessor to U.N. Women, and for seven years as the executive secretary of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).


Australia  / China  / Indo-Pacific  / Singapore  / United States
Defense Posturing Has Crippled Legitimate Dialogue in Singapore
June 6, 2023

The tenor of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), Asia’s premier security conference, has changed dramatically for the worse. Its 20th iteration, held in Singapore over the weekend, was partly a culmination of growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific between rival hegemonic powers, the United States and China. It began early, when Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu rejected a face-to-face meeting with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin, until the U.S. “corrected its mistaken actions,” with speculation that it was because of prior incidents, including former U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and incidents involving Chinese spy balloons in February.


China  / East Asia  / India  / Indo-Pacific
In turbulent Indo-Pacific, Quad must hold firm – and act fast
June 2, 2023

At a recent meeting of the four members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in Hiroshima, namely the United States, Japan, India, and Australia, leaders outlined a series of critical issue areas that continue to impact stability in the Indo-Pacific region. These included the vulnerability of undersea Internet cables, the protection of vital sea lines of communication (SLOCs), and the broader preservation of a rules-based international order. As the Group of Seven has provided the world’s richest countries the opportunity to talk tough on “economic coercion” on the part of China, so too should the Quad send an equally strong message about China’s territorial and maritime ambitions.


China  / India  / Indo-Pacific  / Papua New Guinea  / United States
India’s Modi Makes the Most of the Moment in Papua New Guinea
May 25, 2023

In a rare display of affection and respect, Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape touched the feet of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he stepped on to the island’s soil ahead of the Third Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) on May 22. Marape literally rolled out the red carpet for Modi, making an exception to a local rule of not welcoming visitors after sunset. India’s engagement with the 14 Pacific Island countries (PICs) is critical. FIPIC members include Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu as well as this year’s host, Papua New Guinea


China  / East Asia  / Europe  / India  / Indo-Pacific  / South Asia  / United States
G7 Provides Common Statement on China, but Challenges Remain
May 24, 2023

At the gathering of G7 countries in Hiroshima over the weekend, the assembled leaders of the world’s richest countries managed to put together a collective, yet veiled response to Chinese “economic coercion” and aggressive posturing in the Indo-Pacific. While not forgetting the ever-present war in Ukraine, evidenced by the presence of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, regional concerns dominated the weekend. It was a clear message to Chinese President Xi Jinping that changes in the geopolitical status quo would not be tolerated, or worse that the G7 would act with the same determination in Taiwan as it has in Ukraine.


China  / Southeast Asia  / Thailand
Thailand’s Troubling History With the Uyghurs
November 2, 2022

Recent reports of Uyghur Muslims, wilting away in Thai detention facilities, bring back memories – and not good ones, as they serve as reminders of Thailand’s past mistakes of kowtowing to China. The ethnic minority, originating from China’s western region of Xinjiang, has been the subject of many reports by human rights organizations, most recently the long-awaited and much-delayed report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR), which detailed violations of grave abuses, from torture and forced labor to mass arbitrary detention in internment camps. For years, many of China’s Uyghurs fled the Xinjiang region to escape persecution, with many crossing into mainland Southeast Asia.