August 04,2020 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 8, No. 4

In mid-2020, US policy took a decidedly more negative turn toward China, driven by leaders whose foreign policy judgment was highly suspect. While there was bipartisan consensus on what was objectionable in Chinese foreign and domestic policies and on the necessity of a more robust pushback by the US and its allies, the specifics and tone of top officials’ statements were often viewed..

Editorial Staff
"Belt and Road" Initiative , COVID-19 , free and open Indo-Pacific , GSOMIA , Hong Kong , the Quad , US-China rivalry , US-Japan alliance , US-ROK alliance , Wolf Warrior Diplomacy
July 29,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: Russia (July 2020)

In the late spring and early summer of 2020, Russians were pondering the meaning of the Sino-US downward spiral. Was it good for their country? Was bipolarity replacing their long-claimed framework of multipolarity? If bipolarity was ascendant, can Russia avoid entanglement and keep considerable autonomy strategically and as a civilization? How should the impact of the pandemic be assessed?..

Editorial Staff (with the assistance of Olga Puzanova)
Bipolarity , COVID-19 , Greater Eurasia , Hong Kong , Sinophobia , Xinjiang
July 29,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (August 2020)

Japanese were asking in the late spring and early summer what the collapse of Sino-US ties means for their country and for bilateral relations with both parties. Would Abe’s pursuit of Xi Jinping, awaiting a delayed state visit by the Chinese leader, harm ties to the US? Would a lack of outrage about China’s policies, including the new security law for Hong Kong, leave Japan out..

Editorial Staff
COVID-19 , free and open Indo-Pacific , G7 , Hong Kong , Northern Territories , US-China trade war
July 02,2020 Open Forum

Forecasting Synergies in Chinese and Russia Digital Influence Operations

Amid the global pandemic that has wreaked havoc on countries around the world, China and Russia’s digital influence campaigns are converging. Several accounts of China’s information operations have noted the incorporation of Russian tactics. Yet the full significance of this development cannot be understood without appreciating the broader alignment between Russia and China. In ot..

Kristine Lee , Kendall-Taylor Andrea
color revolutions , COVID-19 , discourse power , Hong Kong , influence operation , information warfare , United Front
July 02,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: South Korea (July 2020)

Foremost on the minds of South Korean media writers was the intensifying competition between the United States and China and its impact on their country. Pressure has been mounting to join in exclusive economic arrangements, to make clear Seoul’s position on the PRC national security law for Hong Kong, to meet with the G7 to address concerns over China, and to coordinate as a US ally to..

Hong Sang Hwa , Kim Seonkyung
comfort women , COVID-19 , Fighters for Free North Korea , G7 , Inter-Korean Cooperation and Exchange Act , Kunsem , US-ROK alliance , Yoon Mi-hyang
June 26,2020 Open Forum

Three Spikes and You Are Out? China-DPRK Relations after the Cold War and the US

Exchanges of visits between Chinese and DPRK leaders and high-level delegations have been relatively rare since the end of the Cold War. However, meetings between leaders saw three abnormal peaks in 1999-2001, 2010-2012, and 2018-2019. If after the Cold War the bilateral relationship cooled, room was left for China’s leaders to respond to changes in the Sino-US relationship, which repea..

Jiang Tianjiao
China-DPRK relations , China-US relations , COVID-19 , Denuclearization , Hanoi summit , Six-Party Talks
June 24,2020 Country Reports

Country Report: China (June 2020)

In the spring of 2020, Chinese analysts began to grapple with the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for the future world order, Sino–US relations, and China’s relations with South Korea and Japan. They also continued to assess China’s global governance approach by examining its relationship to China’s national identity, exploring its connection to China’s overarc..

Danielle F. S. Cohen (assisted by Dong Jiaxin)
"Belt and Road" Initiative , 2008 Financial Crisis , AIIB , COVID-19 , Japan-South Korea relations
June 06,2020 Special Forum

Introduction

From all sides one hears the same refrain: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be as great or greater than that of the end of the Cold War three decades earlier. Globalization will never regain its momentum, the Sino-US relationship is irreparably damaged, and countries cannot be successful straddling these two great powers without being obliged to take sides on a growing list of issue..

Gilbert Rozman
America First , Cold War , COVID-19 , Liberal international order , Wolf Warrior Diplomacy
June 06,2020 Special Forum

Democracies with Preexisting Conditions and the Coronavirus in the Indo-Pacific

Around the globe, democracy is ailing. In the past 15 years or so, an increasing number of democracies worldwide have suffered from gradual erosion and decay. According to the most recent Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) report,1 examples can be found in most regions of the world including the United States and the European Union, where Hungary’s Victor Orbán used the pandemic as an excus..

Aurel Croissant
COVID-19 , democratic backsliding , free and open Indo-Pacific , Varieties of Democracy
June 06,2020 Special Forum

Soft Power and Sharp Power: The View from Australia

Australians of late have been shocked by the unravelling of US soft power globally and China’s offensive use of sharp power targeting their country. At issue is the prospect of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific upheld by the norms and institutions of a liberal rules-based order. This matters because, while Australia is partly dependent on China for its prosperity, and largely dependent on the Uni..

John Fitzgerald
COVID-19 , free and open Indo-Pacific , Sharp power , soft power , the Quad , United Front