Asia-Pacific Archive

In advance of President Barack Obama’s visit to India next month, the administration is sending signals about great and wondrous changes ahead in the Indo-American relationship. But in reading Lalit K. Jha’s dispatch from Washington, a term I have come to dread in foreign policy rhetoric made its predictable appearance: Obama’s visit is supposed to herald the establishment of a “true strategic partnership.” “Strategic partnership” entered the U.S. diplomatic lexicon as a way to find a halfway house between those countries that are formal American allies — especially those for whom this status is a matter of treaty and Congressional […]

Judy Dempsey offers a typically insightful piece on the challenges facing the EU at the U.N. these days. Ironically, Dempsey pivots off of Germany’s election as a non-permanent member of the council, whereas the real news of this year’s batch of non-permanent members is the presence of India and South Africa. With Brazil already there from last year, that means the council will now include all the member states of IBSA and BRIC, with Turkey thrown in for good measure. We already got a taste this spring of what an alternative emerging powers line at the UNSC could look like […]

BEIJING — Urban legend tells of an American businessman who, visiting a factory in China’s Guangdong Province, witnesses working conditions forbidden by Chinese law. When he inquires about them, the factory owner replies sharply, “Laws made in Beijing mean nothing in Guangdong.” Though apocryphal, the story reflects the localism and institutional inconsistency that are core aspects of the modern Chinese economy. Mao Zedong’s attempts to bring centralization and uniformity to an economic system of continental proportions resulted in paralysis. In the reform era, previously suppressed network connections have regenerated quickly, resulting in increasing heterogeneity and even fragmentation within the economic […]

Few would have expected it to be possible a few months ago, but Kyrgyzstan managed to hold a free, fair, and surprisingly non-violent and trouble-free parliamentary election this weekend. In an assessment widely shared by regional experts, David Trilling, writing at EurasiaNet, concluded, “Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary elections couldn’t have gone better.” Turnout exceeded 50 percent of the country’s 2.8 million eligible voters and produced sharply divided results that will force political leaders to compromise to form a coalition government. Five political parties, out of the 29 that participated, overcame the 5 percent threshold required to receive seats in the 120-member parliament. […]

After having cooperated to an unprecedented degree — on stimulus spending and new bank rules, for instance — to avoid a global meltdown these past two years, the world’s major economies now appear ready to turn on one another with truly self-destructive vengeance. Poorly informed Americans are increasingly convinced that free trade pacts — and not our uniquely high corporate tax rates — are responsible for sending jobs overseas, and they want to see China punished with tariffs on its imports for its undervalued currency. With China’s neighbors intervening heavily to keep their own currencies from rising too high in […]

Reports surfaced this week that the Quetta Shura of the Afghan Taliban has agreed to commence negotiations with the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an effort to reach a political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan. The development, reportedly the result of intensive lobbying by Saudi Arabia, raises the question of whether any sort of workable Afghan power-sharing deal is possible. Some opinion polling data from Pashtun-dominated provinces in Afghanistan suggest that there is popular support for reaching such an arrangement. But could the United States accept a negotiated end to the fighting that includes some degree of […]

I think it’s premature to compare China’s assurances that it will buy Greek government-issued bonds when they return to the market to the Marshall Plan, as Véronique Salz-Lozac’h does. But I agree that the Chinese commitment to Greece is very significant, for two reasons. First, it represents a bridgehead for China to develop closer bilateral ties on a win-win basis with EU member states. Given the tenor of EU-China relations at the moment, as well as the size advantage that China sacrifices when dealing with the bloc as a whole, that works to China’s benefit. Keep in mind, too, that […]

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defense Minister A.K. Antony in New Delhi last month while Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi visited Poland around the same time to meet with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. In an e-mail interview, Patryk Kugiel, an analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, explains the context for recent developments in Poland-South Asia relations. WPR: What have Poland’s ties with Asia in general and South Asia in particular been historically? Patryk Kugiel: Poland’s first links with South Asia date back to the 16th century, but significant […]

Recent rumors that China had effectively banned rare metal exports to Japan over a thorny territorial dispute have thrust the issue of rare earth elements to the fore. With demand rising and Beijing continuing to tighten its stranglehold over the dwindling supply of rare earths, other countries are now scrambling to secure their own access to the key strategic resource. The 17 varieties of rare earth elements, which are scattered across the Earth’s crust, are essential components in important technology products ranging from televisions and cell phones, to precision-guided missiles and hybrid cars. Approximately 130,000 tons of rare earths are […]

Ajai Shukla builds a strong case for why an immediate American withdrawal from Afghanistan would serve India’s interests, despite concerns in New Delhi to the contrary. The case rests on three major arguments. First, the vacuum created by the U.S. withdrawal would splinter the insurgent factions, and set them at odds not only with each other but also with their Pakistani handlers. Second, the epicenter of terrorist safe havens is no longer Afghanistan, but Pakistan, and a U.S. withdrawal would free Washington’s hands to target them by removing its dependence on Pakistani supply routes for the war effort. And finally, […]

After decades of peace and growing prosperity, the strategic environment in Asia is increasingly marked by tension and rivalry. China’s rise as an economic and military power has forced its neighbors to reassess their relative standing. Some, like India, have pushed back directly against growing Chinese influence where they can. Others, like Vietnam, have set aside historical enmity to seek closer ties with the United States. Meanwhile, a region-wide arms race is gathering steam, especially in naval capabilities. World Politics Review takes this opportunity to review the strategic environment in Asia through recently published articles on the Balance of Power […]

BEIJING — The news that China has overtaken Japan as the world’s second-largest economy was seen by many as further evidence of the Sleeping Dragon’s unstoppable geopolitical re-awakening. Equally significant, however, is the recent standoff between the two countries over the disputed Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands, which serves as a stark reminder of the regional difficulties China faces. The incident demonstrates the volatility that characterizes international relations in Asia as it experiences rapid and fundamental changes to its constellations of power and influence. To achieve global superpower status, China will first have to become not only a dominant, but also a […]

According to Sourabh Gupta, we’ve all been a bit quick to label China the neighborhood bully when it comes to the recent standoff over a Chinese trawler captain that Japan detained for fishing in coastal waters of the disputed Senkaku Island chain. The reason? The two countries already have in place coastal fisheries agreements that explicitly and wisely decouple fisheries disputes from any larger territorial disputes, for the express purpose of preventing them from triggering the kind of diplomatic incident that ultimately took place. And those agreements clearly give legal jurisdiction over any infractions off of the Senkaku Islands to […]

Reports last week suggested that China is considering investing in a large, 1,000-megawatt reactor in Pakistan, in addition to the two small reactors recently agreed upon by the two countries. If validated, the reports indicate that Chinese policymakers have given the go-ahead to a nuclear development plan prioritizing early export of indigenous large reactors, while simultaneously underlining Beijing’s willingness and ability to pursue a policy of nuclear exceptionalism in the subcontinent. The backstory on the reported deal dates back to 2004, when the smaller State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) won a momentous decision from Chinese planners to proceed with […]

America’s top African diplomat recently signaled Washington’s desire to establish more official contacts with the autonomous region of Somaliland, which sits within the internationally recognized borders of the failed state known as Somalia. Meanwhile, both our Agency for International Development and the Pentagon’s recently established Africa Command worry about Sudan’s upcoming vote on formally splitting the country in two. For a country that has sworn off nation-building, it’s interesting to see just how hard it is for America to remain on the sidelines while globalization remaps so much of the developing world. Not that globalization causes changes that otherwise would […]

Citing a Der Spiegel interview with Condoleezza Rice on the first Bush administration’s insistence that a reunified Germany remain a full NATO member, Greg Scoblete makes a good point about the enduring rationale of the alliance: Whatever other rationales are offered up for why NATO remains relevant, it’s central, animating purpose is to keep America immersed in the affairs of Europe. Seen in this light, Europe’s collective decision to continue to sacrifice defense budgets on the altar of austerity is a feature, not a bug. The logic at the time of the fall of the Soviet Union, in both Washington […]

For almost 20 years, Indian development has been guided by the “Look East” policy, based on the premise that Asia holds the key to India’s economic and strategic future. The recent state visits by Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil to Laos and Cambodia, which yielded Indian offers of trade initiatives and cash loans, have demonstrated that, for New Delhi, an eastern orientation is still promising. Shifting its gaze northward, however, tends to leave India blinking uncomfortably in China’s reflected light. Admired but also feared, emulated but also repudiated, China can spoil the appeal of Asia’s opportunities for India. Economic ties […]