The Japanese media’s incessant focus on the links between civil servants and Shinzo Abe takes away attention from far more important issues facing the Prime Minister. As always for a leader of modern Japan, it is the relationships with China and the United States which are the most crucial political matters—not the activities […]
Former United States President Barrack Obama referred to himself as “America’s first Pacific president.” At the same time, China has made its own more tangible pivot of sorts toward Southeast Asia. Since the announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in late 2013, Beijing has emphasized the importance of neighborhood diplomacy. From […]
Great power games are in full swing in Northeast Asia, as exhibited by the sudden and steep increase of intense geopolitical activity surrounding North Korea. This round began when the sequestered North Korean leader Kim Jong-un began his ‘outreach program’ with the first-ever declared foreign visit to Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in March 2018. […]
Beginning with the Japan-United States Summit on April 17, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is about to embark on a series of summit meetings. The aim is to prevent North Korea from escaping containment, as it has begun testing the boundaries with recent attempts to engage with the international community. As the flag-bearer […]
Tracking the debate over China policy in Washington shows remarkable hardening over the past two years. There are now routine calls for a United States pushback and toughening against expansionist and predatory Chinese practices carried out by an increasingly assertive and challenging Communist party-led dictatorship. Those arguing for continuing constructive engagement are on […]
South Korea has fallen for North Korea’s charm offensive at the PyeongChang Olympics. One wonders whether South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his chief presidential secretary, Im Jong-seok, now think that the existence of North Korea is more legitimate than that of South Korea. The foundation of South Korea has clearly been eroded […]
Cryptocurrency is often criticized as camouflage for terrorist funding or a financial bubble waiting to burst. But these criticisms mask its true nature, which is a free, cross-border currency. At the other end of the spectrum is the currency of the Chinese Communist Party, the renminbi. Now the Xi Jinping regime is scheming […]
The international situation surrounding North Korea is changing rapidly, and recent developments could present the perfect opening to resolve the abduction issue. It goes without saying that complete resolution entails the return of all abductees, and such an opportunity must not be missed. An Inter-Korean summit meeting is set to take place on […]
China’s leaders sent two clear messages from this month’s National People’s Congress in Beijing. The first was that President Xi Jinping is centralizing power based on an uncompromising Communist ideology by which the party leads everything. The other is that Mr. Xi wants to build up China’s military, maintaining its position as the […]
The latest China Security Report published by Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS) in February aims to analyze China’s military and security affairs from a mid- to long-term perspective. It assesses the development of China’s foreign and security policy towards the United States and vice versa, and the overall China-US relationship in East Asia. […]
Military expansion is on the rise in China amid Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power in a personal dictatorship. Not a few quarters are concerned about the threat it poses to the security of Japan and the Asia-Pacific region. During the National People’s Congress (NPC) on March 5, it was announced that the national […]
Chinese New Year arrived on February 16, along with many messages from my Chinese friends wishing me peace and safety in the Year of Yi Chang, otherwise known as the Year of the Abnormal. The sexagenary cycle, sometimes called Stems-and-Branches, is a calendar consisting of 60 types of combinations that originated in Ancient […]
