Asia

The G7 Meeting: New Roles for a Venerable Organization

The annual meeting of the world’s seven most economically prosperous democratic countries—plus the European Union—that comprise the G7 always generates a good deal of anticipation. That was especially the case this year, given Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Originally founded...

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Sustaining the Chinese Navy’s Operations at Sea: Bigger Fists, Growing Legs

In April 2023, a Chinese aircraft carrier battle group, led by the Shandong (China’s second aircraft carrier and the first that it built from the keel up), sailed through the Bashi Channel to an area about 400 kilometers east...

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Tsai’s Visit, China’s Response, and the Troubled State of U.S.-China Relations

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s trip to the United States occurred at a troubled and volatile time in U.S.-China relations, which are routinely described as the worst they have been in fifty years.  Tsai’s visit and Beijing’s reaction threaten another...

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China’s and India’s Relations with Russia after the War in Ukraine: A Dangerous Deviation?

When Russian assault troops landed at Hostomel Airport near Kiev in February 2022, few could have anticipated how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would alter geopolitics in Europe. Yet it has the potential to do the same in Asia. Moscow’s...

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Beyond the First Battle: Winning the Long War Over Taiwan

Editor’s Note: This article expands upon ideas discussed in Lonnie Henley’s recent research report, Beyond the First Battle: Overcoming a Protracted Blockade of Taiwan. To read that report, please visit the website for the U.S. Naval War College’s China...

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China’s National People’s Congress Reveals New Initiatives and Ominous Warnings

Barely a week into March, nearly 3,000 delegates gathered at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing for the opening of the Fourteenth National People’s Congress and, separately the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Though the National People’s...

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The Middle Corridor through Central Asia: Trade and Influence Ambitions

The “Middle Corridor”—a loosely defined trade route that spans the Central Asian steppe, the Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus mountains—has both engendered excitement and disappointment for almost two decades. Also known as the China-Central Asia-West Asia Corridor, it links...

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Japan’s Bigger Defense Budget: Getting to Effective Deterrence

“We have to prepare for realistic possibilities to protect our people,” counseled Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a political debate in October 2021. To do so, he argued Japan must not only strengthen its Self-Defense Forces (SDF), as...

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Mr. Kishida Goes to Washington, And What it Means for the United States

Kishida Is Warmly Welcomed in Washington Japanese Prime Minister Kishida’s visit to the United States—on the less than auspicious day of Friday the 13th—was a triumph for the prime minister, whose favorability ratings had slumped due to the financial...

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On the Horns of a Dilemma: Will Corruption Bring Down the Chinese Communist Party?

  Executive Summary When the People’s Republic of China’s president and Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he publicly acknowledged that the Party faced an existential crisis from pervasive corruption at all levels of...

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