China & Taiwan

China’s Cyber Playbook for the Indo-Pacific

Cyber operations are now a defining feature of modern warfare, as the war in Ukraine has demonstrated—and China is taking note. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has served as a testing ground for the integration of emerging technologies...

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Partners or Rivals? Areas of Convergence and Divergence of Interests in the Indo-Pacific

Introduction The Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China announced that their friendship had “no limits” and “no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation” in 2022. That summit between President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping...

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Taiwan Relations Act in a New Era of Security Cooperation

For a document intended to carefully outline relations with a key US partner while navigating a region’s complex history and geopolitical realities, eight pages seem brief. Enacted in 1979 in response to the US switch in recognition from the...

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Debt and Development: The Next Chapter of Chinese Investments in Central Asia

China has been a major investor and trade partner in Central Asia for some twenty-five years. For the first half of those years, Beijing was focused on oil and natural gas pipelines and roads and railways to bring energy...

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Beyond Recall: Prospects for Taiwanese Unity after July 26

Introduction If there was ever any doubt, Taiwan’s July 26 “Great Recall” election makes one thing clear: Taiwanese politics are deeply divided. For many in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), a vote to recall one of twenty-four Kuomintang (KMT)...

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Forging India-Taiwan Engagement: Theoretical Foundations, Policy Debates, and Pragmatic Pathways

This report is published in collaboration with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), also available on their website.  Introduction The 2024 Taiwan presidential elections marked a historic third consecutive win for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)—the first time a party...

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President Lai Ching-te on Taiwan’s National Unity and Defense

Earlier this summer, in June 2025, President Lai Ching-te delivered the first of his “Ten Lectures on National Unity,” their goal being “to unite the people, political parties, and the nation as a whole, to advance Taiwan’s progress while...

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Taiwan’s Recall Vote and Its Implications

On July 26, only a year and a half after the most recent general election, Taiwanese voters will once again head to the polls. This time, however, the vote is not part of a standard election cycle. Instead, after...

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The Impacts of Trump’s Tariffs on Taiwan

Three months on, the aftershocks of Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff spree in April 2025 continue to reverberate across East Asia. The United States imposed high tariff rates across the region, including 32 percent on goods from Taiwan, before...

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Countering China’s Expansionism: Japan-India Synergy in Africa Amidst US Aid Retrenchment    

Introduction The Japan-India-Africa Business Forum, held on February 26, 2025, marked a strategic step in strengthening the India-Japan partnership, reflecting a shared commitment to fostering collaboration and promoting economic growth in Africa and beyond. Convened by Japan’s Ministry of...

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