Dec 28,2019 Open Forum

Chinese Economic Coercion during the THAAD Dispute

While the US-China trade war has dominated geoeconomic discussions in 2019, great power rivalry is far from the only domain in which economic instruments are being used in the pursuit of political or strategic objectives. Barely a week seems to go by now without reporting of Chinese economic coercion—the threat or imposition of economic costs […]

Darren J. Lim
economic coercion , Economic Interdependence , exit costs , geoeconomics , Lotte , Made in China 2025 , THAAD , Three noes
Dec 20,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: China (December 2019)

In late 2019, Chinese analysts advocated for a Chinese conception of global governance to replace that previously put forward by the United States and the West. They urged China and South Korea to seize the opportunity created by reduced tensions on the Korean peninsula to strengthen their bilateral security cooperation. They also tried to make […]

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
"Belt and Road" Initiative , community of common destiny , New Southern Policy , Socialism with Chinese Characteristics , THAAD , US-North Korean talks
Nov 27,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 7, No. 6

Against the shadow of impeachment hearings, the DC think tank community waited on three big developments in the Indo-Pacific region. The Sino-US trade talks riveted the international community with an outcome originally expected in November before the APEC summit was cancelled but still looming. The South Korea-Japan breakdown faced a November 22 deadline when Seoul […]

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , America First , China-South Korea-Japan summit , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , RCEP , THAAD , Trans-Pacific Partnership , US-China trade war
Nov 19,2019 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (December 2019)

On August 24 after Abe surpassed Sato Eisaku as the longest-serving postwar prime minister, Mainichi compared the foreign policies of the two. Sato secured the return of Okinawa and was able to normalize relations with South Korea, while Abe spoke of resolving Japan’s unfinished diplomatic business; yet, on the Northern Territories and North Korea, he […]

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , RCEP , SCO , THAAD , Trans-Pacific Partnership , US-China trade war
Oct 31,2019 Open Forum

Asian Missiles on the March

In his Asian tour in August, US defense secretary Mark Esper said that he would like to deploy new ground-launched, intermediate-range missiles in Asia as soon as possible. That same month, the Pentagon conducted its first test of such a missile since the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, banning such weapons, expired in August. […]

Richard Weitz
anti-access/area denial , GSOMIA , INF Treaty , New START Treaty , No First Use policy , THAAD
Oct 23,2019 Open Forum

Synopsis: DC Exchanges on US-ROK Relations

The US-ROK relationship is overshadowing other interests in Washington regarding foreign policy in East Asia. The ongoing US-China trade war may appear more urgent, but in the absence of Chinese visitors defending Chinese position or US officials eager to explain the US position when Trump is prone to change it on short notice, exchanges have […]

Editorial Staff
“small deal” , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , inter-Korean summit , THAAD , Trump-Kim summit , US-China trade war
Aug 28,2019 Special Forum

Moon’s Failed Balancing Act

The mood was decidedly upbeat in South Korea around this time last year: following the “historic summit” between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore, many praised Moon Jae-in as the “master mediator.”1 When Trump contracted cold feet just two weeks before his meeting with Kim, Moon staged a surprise inter-Korean summit to dispel their […]

Eun A Jo
“No Japan” movement , G20 summit , GSOMIA , Korea Passing , nuclear diplomacy , Panmunjom handshake , THAAD , US-China trade war
Jul 29,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 7, No. 4

Donald Trump keeps seizing the initiative, overshadowing Abe Shinzo at the G20 meetings, changing the narrative at will in diplomacy with Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un, and, on every occasion, relegating human rights and democratization to the sidelines. Just as he sets the agenda on the world stage, he drives the discussion at DC think […]

Editorial Staff
“small deal” , 5G , G20 , Huawei , KORUS FTA , Quad , THAAD , US-China trade war
Jul 01,2019 Open Forum

China and the Korean Peninsula after the Hanoi Summit

The Hanoi summit between President Trump and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un had been expected to deliver concrete results on the nuclear negotiations and/or US-North Korea bilateral relations. Widely speculated outcomes had included partial denuclearization by North Korea in exchange for partial easing of US economic sanctions on the country; a declaration of the […]

Yun Sun
byungjin , G20 , Hanoi summit , Osaka Summit , THAAD , trade war , Xi-Kim summit
Jun 17,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 7, No. 3

Trade overshadows security with human rights and democratization left on the sidelines in DC gatherings in the spring of 2019. The Hanoi summit left US-North Korean ties in limbo, reducing their salience in discussions as few new details emerged and the next steps remained difficult to fathom. In the Trump-Abe summits (two in the spring […]

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , 5G , free and open Indo-Pacific , G20 , Hanoi summit , Huawei , THAAD , trilateralism , US-Japan alliance