Asia-Pacific Archive

Gripped by simmering cross-border tensions, a dysfunctional democracy and collective unease over the health of the monarchy, Thailand has seen its status as a major power in Southeast Asia and its influence in the wider region cast under a harsh light recently. The most recent political shockwaves to roll through the Bangkok establishment emanated from ousted Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra, who having fled a jail term for corruption, continues to goad his enemies from exile — this time by accepting a job offer from the Cambodian government as an economic adviser. At a carefully stage-managed press conference last week, with […]

“This is not a detachable relationship,” Zachary Karabell said, referring to the U.S.-China relationship, at the EastWest Institute yesterday. The visit by the author of “Superfusion: How China and America Became One Economy and Why the World’s Prosperity Depends On It” could not have been better timed, coinciding with President Barack Obama’s trip to the world’s third-largest economy and the largest owner of U.S. debt. “There is an interdependence that has begun to erode the sovereignty of both nations,” Karabell said, outlining the premise of his new book. According to Karabell, after the suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests in […]

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The Afghan helicopter, a brand-new Russian-made Mi-17*, wasn’t clearly his, but U.S. Air Force Maj. Darren Brumfield was still determined to keep it. His unit, the 438th Air Expeditionary Training Group, needs four transport helicopters to perform its mission, and in early November, the group had just three. Assembled in Kandahar in April and tasked with mentoring the local Afghan National Army Air Corps wing, the group “shadows” and advises its Afghan counterparts as the Afghans maintain and fly the helicopters on behalf of the Afghan military. But of the three helicopters the unit did have on […]

President Barack Obama held a town hall meeting with Chinese students in Shanghai on his much anticipated trip to China. Though the conditions of the meeting were dictated byBeijing — students’ questions were pre-approved and the audience was a carefully selected batch of China’s finest,most obedient,youth — Obama managed to infuse some of his own message into the interaction. Throughout the exchangehe carefully broached subjects such as uncensored Internet access, freedom of religion and political participation. However, it was clear that any remarks the Obama administration had prepared for this encounter were calculated todiscuss sensitive topics without oversteppingclearly markedboundaries.

– China and Brazil reach a five-point consensus to strengthen military personnel exchanges, and technology cooperaiton. (Despite the emerging South-emerging East angle, France still makes a better fit for defense partnerships with Brazil.) – Free press vs. free pass: A high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official goes on a state visit to Sudan, and the People’s Daily doesn’t mention the problematic nature of that bilateral relationship once. – Taiwan and China finally signed that MoU on financial regulation. Financial observers exepect a major inflow of Chinese capital to Taiwan when it takes effect two months from now. – In addition to […]

Take it with the usual grain of salt, but the Pakistani daily, the Nation, is reporting that militants in North Waziristan used Israeli, Czech and U.S. weapons against Pakistani security forces during the recent campaign there. Apparently, the weapons, which include Uzis as well as M-4s fitted with grenade launchers and laser sights, are also widely available on the Punjab weapons market. According to the article, the presence of the Israeli weapons is what’s really raising eyebrows in Islamabad. I suppose the American weapons are more easily explained. Things have a habit of falling off of trucks, after all. Especially […]

The NewsHour’s Jim Lehrer speaks with a panel of China experts in light ofPresident Barack Obama’svisit to the nation. Lehrer’spanelistsinclude the Atlantic magazine’s James Fallows, professor ofgovernment and China analyst Minxin Pei, and author and historian NiallFerguson. The panelists discuss the ways in which China can be apartner — albeit a limited one — as well as a contender for theUnited States. In summing up the complexrelationship with China thatspans economic, ethical and military dimensions, Ferguson refers to thedeveloping nation as a “frenemy.”

BEIJING — Although nuclear arms control is not likely to be a major agenda item during President Barack Obama’s visit to China, it should be. One of the obstacles facing the president as he seeks to realize the ambitious goals endorsed by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee is the need to transform the primarily bilateral strategic arms control relationship inherited from the Cold War into one that places greater emphasis on multilateral frameworks. Although Moscow and Washington have made progress in negotiating a replacement for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that expires this December, other nuclear weapons states must […]

– China announces yet another military cooperation upgrade, this time with Thailand. – This article about the followup to the Obama-Hatoyama meeting includes a good rundown of what the U.S.-Japan dispute over the Futenma air base closure is all about. – I mentioned the various competing plans for Asian regional integration earlier today. Here are the broad outlines of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s version. – In the runup to the one-year anniversary of the Mumbai attack, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi issues a call for renewing the Composite Dialogue with India. – Turkey moves forward with its Kurdish […]

President Barack Obama will wrap up his Asia tour in Seoul, sending amessage to North Korea that he is holding firm on the U.S. relationshipwith the South. Talks are expected to focus on the possibility ofopening up free trade between South Korea and the U.S., a sensitivetopic between the two nations in the past. Voice of America’s KurtAchin reports from Seoul.

This NY Times piece, “No Parade for Hans,” is a great illustration of how Afghanistan has remilitarized European militaries, but not European opinion. Apparently, that goes double for Germany. There’s been increasing pressure on Germany to assume a higher military profile globally. This article gives a good idea of what that pressure is up against. The same popular opposition to the Afghanistan war exists here in France, as does the indifference to those serving. But anecdotally, I haven’t sensed any hostility toward French soldiers themselves for their involvement in Afghanistan. Of course, France has a less complex relationship to its […]

Over at the Interpreter, Hugh White writes that despite its (predictable) drawbacks, the F-35 remains the best option for Australia’s air force. White’s argument echoes the major outlines of the Australian defense debate, which Craig Snyder examined in his WPR Strategic Posture Review for Australia. Essentially, that boils down to whether Australia has a vocation to compete with “Asian major powers” (White’s term that I assume refers to China, India and Japan), or just with the lesser powers on its periphery in Southeast Asia. I’m flagging the article not so much to wade into that debate myself, but rather to […]

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn joins the growing chorus of Western voices calling for a stronger Yuan to address unsustainable global trade imbalances. The overvalued Yuan is not the only structural adjustment necessary, of course. Clearly, American consumers (both private and public sector) are going to have to ween themselves off of their dependency on debt. But just as clearly, correcting the Yuan’s valuation is part of anydurable fix to the glaring problems in the global trade order. One way or the other, China is going to have to bite the bullet on the value of its dollar holdings and the […]

President Barack Obama has successfully transformed America’s strategic dialogue with the world for the better in his first year, impressing Europe — or at least eminently sensible Norway — enough to win a Nobel Peace Prize. In relationship after relationship, America now finds itself talking about what really matters, which in most instances means prioritizing economics above terrorism (George W. Bush’s one-note presidency) and climate change (Al Gore’s shrill post-vice-presidency). For those who prefer a diet of constant fear, Obama’s maddeningly calm approach is not nearly as filling as an American foreign policy forever focused on perceived existential threats. The […]

Press freedom advocates are condemning a decision by an Azerbaijani court on Wednesday to convict two bloggers on charges of hooliganism and causing bodily harm, in a case widely viewed as political retribution. “This trial has been a sham from beginning to end and has concluded with outrageous and unjust sentences. The trial was orchestrated solely to censor and punish two politically committed bloggers who dared to criticize the authorities,” Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. In July, Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade were involved in a violent confrontation with two men in a restaurant. When they went to […]

– Interesting, given the climate of anxiety in Washington over China’s military intentions, that in the week before President Barack Obama’s first state visit to the PRC, Beijing announces plans for closer military cooperation with Togo and Khazakhstan, to say nothing of Macedonia yesterday. – Fresh off a successful counterinsurgency campaign, a general quits his command amid rumors of a future in politics. Yet another reason Gen. David Petraeus will be keeping an eye on Sri Lanka. – When all you’ve got is nukes . . . In a leaked internal review, Russia’s military gets low grades on combat readiness. […]

Voice of America’s Ravi Khanna reports on the miscommunication betweenIslamabad and Washington. As Washington is coming closer to adefinitive strategy in Afghanistan, foreign policy experts look at someof the fundamental differences between the Pakistani and United Statesgovernments’ view of their enemy. While the United States sees theirenemy in the Taliban, Pakistan continues to view India as the majorthreat.