October 06,2016 National Commentaries

Seoul’s THAAD decision and its implications for China-ROK relations

On the heels of China’s approval of tougher sanctions on North Korea—following Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test—there was, for a moment, a sense that China’s policy on Korea was changing. Many speculated that Beijing had finally abandoned Pyongyang in favor of warming diplomatic and economic relations with Seoul, which would undermine a strengthened US-Japan-ROK alliance. This […]

Eun A Jo
Ballistic Missiles , China-South Korea relations , Nuclear Test , sanctions , Six-Party Talks , SLBM , THAAD , US-South Korean relations
October 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
October 06,2016 National Commentaries

Can Australia Say “No”?

Growing trade and investment between their highly complementary economies ensures that Australia and China have a common interest in maintaining healthy bilateral relations. To be sure, Canberra and Beijing say “no” to one another every day of the week on consular matters of one kind or another. From time to time Canberra also vetoes Chinese […]

John Fitzgerald
China-Australia relations , Foreign donations , Foreign Investment , Political Institutions , South China Sea
August 03,2016 National Commentaries

Implementing Sanctions against North Korea：A US Perspective

By all accounts, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270 represents a significant and unexpected advance of the authority given to the UN and member states to pursue sanctions against the DPRK. Language referring to North Korean coal, iron ore, and jet fuel was unprecedented, and the demands for member state action were more insistent, […]

James Walsh
Resolution 2270 , South China Sea , THAAD , UN Panel of Experts
August 03,2016 National Commentaries

Implementing Sanctions against North Korea：A South Korean Perspective

North Korea’s latest nuclear and missile tests have compelled the international community to issue the most comprehensive round of sanctions against it. UNSC Resolution 2270 not only strengthens existing measures toward non-proliferation but also includes more effective financial and economic sanctions, and urges stricter enforcement by member states. . Significantly, it targets North Korea’s export […]

Go Myong-hyun*
Agreed Framework , Kaesong Industrial Complex , nuclear policy , Resolution 2270 , THAAD , WMDs
August 03,2016 National Commentaries

Implementing Sanctions against North Korea：A Chinese Perspective

North Korea’s repeated nuclear and missile tests have invited international sanctions, including those by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Since 2006, the UNSC passed six resolutions against it, leaving North Korea and the international community bogged down in a drawn-out confrontation. In defiance, North Korea continues to develop its nuclear and missile programs, and […]

Cheng Xiaohe*
Agreed Framework , China-DPRK bilateral relations , China-DPRK trade , Non-proliferation treaty , Resolution 2270 , Six-Party Talks
June 16,2016 National Commentaries

A View from the United States: Defending Camelot

President Obama’s final G7 summit meeting occurred against the backdrop of a world in which the core values espoused by the G7—democracy, the free-market economy, and respect for international norms of security and human rights—are increasingly under stress. The very fact that this was a G7 rather than a G8 meeting underscored the recent setbacks […]

Frank Jannuzi
Brexit , Consensus-building , International norms , Musudan IRBM , TPP , UNCLOS Tribunal , US nuclear deterrence
June 16,2016 National Commentaries

A View from Germany

The summit in Ise-Shima was already the third G7-meeting without Russia. (Germany had hosted the previous gathering in Elmau in 2015.) Japan, thus, worked particularly closely with Germany in coordinating the substance of this summit. This is evident from the importance given to issues such as global health, climate change, and women’s empowerment and gender […]

Hanns W. Maull
German-Russian cooperation , ITLOS , Leaders' Declaration , Quantitative easing , Three arrows , UN sanctions regime , Wandel durch Annäherung
June 16,2016 National Commentaries

A View from Japan

No other diplomatic event in recent years has benefitted Prime Minister Abe Shinzo more than the G7 Ise-Shima summit held on May 26 and 27. G7 summits held annually since 1975 (transforming into the G8 and back) have rarely been occasions to make historic decisions; they are more often occasions for the leaders of the […]

Tanaka Akihiko*
Consumption tax , G7 Ise-Shima Summit , G8 Okinawa Summit , Global Fund , Health , Hiroshima visit , Infrastructure , Internationalism , Okinawa ID Initiative , Women
April 28,2016 National Commentaries

A View from the United States

Inadvertent escalation or Chinese expansion? Two very different fears compete for attention in the proliferating discourse on the risk-rich imbroglio  of the South China Sea. Some fear an inadvertent escalation that may unnecessarily trigger war. Others fear Chinese expansion that prepares for its hegemony. Only Xi’s China cultivates a priority fear of American expansion. Many […]

Donald K. Emmerson
Nine-dash line , Pax Sinica , South China Sea , sovereignty , UNCLOS