East Asia

Following the failure of his nomination of Susan Rice to head the Defense Department, President Obama has nominated Chuck Hagel, 66, a former Republican senator and Vietnam veteran as the next Secretary of Defense. Hagel was awarded two Purple Hearts for wounds he received serving as an infantry squad leader in Vietnam, then entered the […]

The year 2012 was for Beijing a year to display its dragon-like qualities of authority, dignity, and honor. The dragon is also the symbol of the emperor, so it may have been auspicious for a new leader to be chosen during November’s meeting of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. While […]

“Much of the future of the world in the 21st Century will depend on how well China and the United States sustain growth in our own economies, manage our relationship with one another, and together address challenges facing the global economy.” These words were spoken last week by Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and […]

Two moves by Chinese authorities over the past few weeks have raised concerns amongst China’s neighbors. In late November, China issued a new passport that includes a nine-dashed line incorporating most of the South China Sea — the same lines that are depicted on many official Chinese maps. This move has drawn strong condemnation from […]

Today marks the start of the East Asia Summit, an annual forum where the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their counterparts from eight other nations, including China and the U.S., meet to discuss security and economic concerns. One issue which may take center stage concerns conflicting claims over the […]

Reminiscent of the carefully-choreographed 2008 Beijing Olympics, China’s unveiling on Thursday of the lineup of the new Politburo Standing Committee, its highest leadership body, took every precaution to ensure an orderly transfer of power. Security in Beijing was tightened, shops were ordered to remove fruit knives from their shelves, hotels opened and inspected all stored […]

The once-in-a-decade leadership transition in China that starts November 8 will see a new slate of top leaders installed by next spring, all eager to influence a new vision of a changing China. But the most prominent leaders to be replaced, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, are no lame ducks. Both are still […]

The Foreign Policy Association has just released preliminarily results of its 2012 National Opinion Survey and there are some interesting tidbits in there regarding the Asia-Pacific. However, for all the dynamics that are unfolding in the region there is not a lot of debate in this survey on the importance of Asia to U.S. interests, […]

In the spring of 1966, a small group of students attending the Tsinghua University Middle School named themselves “Chairman Mao’s Red Guards” after signing two big-character posters criticizing the controversial play Hai Rui Dismissed from Office.  The students interpreted the play as an allegory for Peng Dehuai’s criticism of Mao’s Great Leap Forward during the […]

The late theologian and political analyst Reinhold Niebuhr in his essay entitled “Optimism, Pessimism, and Religious Faith” wrote the following about Soviet Marxism: “But after many five-year plans have come and gone and it is discovered that strong men still tend to exploit the weak, and that shrewd men still take advantage of the simple, […]

U.S President Barack Obama made no mention of the Asia-Pacific in his address to the UN General Assembly on September 25, rather the focus centered on the continuing turmoil within the Middle East, including serious concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the humanitarian crisis in Syria. U.S. foreign policy remains global, and it has to. […]

Last week, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited a group of rocks that feebly boasts only two occupants. And yet, this visit prompted a rising in tensions between the two Northeast Asian economic powers that turned heads worldwide. What is it about these rocks that is so important and why are U.S. experts calling the […]