Nov 15,2018 Open Forum

Washington Insights Vol. 6, No. 6

North Korea had slipped into the background, US-Japan ties had lost some significance, and China loomed ever larger as the fall began in DC. Concern was raised that as trade and security tensions escalated, a wholesale evaluation would occur on both sides, leading to a cold war. What had been engagement laced with hedging was […]

Editorial Staff
Abe-Xi Summit , BRI , free and open Indo-Pacific , maximum pressure , Sharp power , TPP , Trump-Kim summit
Nov 08,2018 National Commentaries

A View from Japan

While the United States and China have fallen into a phase of confrontation, Abe Shinzo made the first official visit to China by a Japanese prime minister in seven years. Rows of Japanese national flags displayed in Tiananmen Square symbolized the rapprochement between Japan and China. Although Abe only stayed in Beijing for a little […]

Takahara Akio*
BRI , free and open Indo-Pacific , Peace and Friendship Treaty , Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands , Tiananmen Square , TPP
Nov 08,2018 National Commentaries

A View from the United States

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo had hoped to improve ties with Beijing ever since returning to office in 2012, and finally, as China’s relations with the United States were at their worst in decades, Abe was invited to a summit with President Xi Jinping. The visit was cordial, with both Xi and Abe emphasizing their shared […]

Sheila A. Smith
BRI , East China Sea , free and open Indo-Pacific , Hu-Fukuda agreement , Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands
Nov 08,2018 National Commentaries

A View from China

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s Beijing tour in October of 2018 went well. It is not just the first time a Japanese prime minister has returned to Beijing in 8 years. The significance is that after years of lingering tensions over the Diaoyu/Senkaku territorial fracture, the two sides are ultimately and realistically seeking a new phase […]

Zhu Feng*
BRI , China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship , Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands , free and open Indo-Pacific , RCEP , TPP
Oct 24,2018 Special Forum

The Mediating Role of National Identity in Democratization and Lessons from Post-Cold War Foreign Policy in Northeast Asia

Trade wars and security clashes are in the forefront across greater Asia, but we would be remiss to overlook the intensifying struggle over democratization as a factor in international relations. On the one side is China backed by Russia, both intent on foiling not only “color revolutions,” but also democratic processes in general. On the […]

Gilbert Rozman
color revolutions , Confucianism , free and open Indo-Pacific , Primorskii Krai , Russocentrism , Sinocentrism
Oct 08,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (October 2018)

Setting aside the rush of publications on China and North Korea—from Abe’s October visit to China to Japan’s response to plans for a new Trump-Kim summit—this report covers Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and India. The time span is the summer of 2018. Late in this period, Abe saw Putin surprise him with an […]

Editorial Staff
AIIB , ARF , BRI , BRICS , comfort women , EEF , free and open Indo-Pacific , Sharp power , the Quad , US-China trade war
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 29,2018 Special Forum

US-Japan Relations

In the aftermath of the June 8-9 G7 summit in Charlevoix, Canada, which collapsed under the weight of President Donald Trump’s tariff tantrum, a photograph circulated—courtesy of German chancellor Angela Merkel’s twitter account—that captured the mood of the meeting.1 In the picture, Trump is seated, arms crossed, gazing placidly ahead, as European leaders, Merkel most […]

Brad Glosserman
CPTPP , free and open Indo-Pacific , Japan passing , Singapore Statement , Trump-Kim summit , US-Japan alliance
Jun 11,2018 Open Forum

An Exchange with Alexander Lukin on Russo-Chinese Relations: The New Rapprochement

Below is a dialogue consisting of questions asked by Gilbert Rozman after reading the new book and responses by Alexander Lukin clarifying the arguments of the book. First are some comments to set the stage, considering that Russian thinking about East Asia is important in the 2018 context of intense diplomacy over North Korea, rising […]

Gilbert Rozman , Alexander Lukin
BRI , democratism , EAEU , free and open Indo-Pacific , SCO , THAAD