China in Mind, Obama Pledges Military Aid to Allies in Southeast Asia

MICHAEL D. SHEAR
New York Times
“My visit here underscores our shared commitment to the security of the waters of this region and to the freedom of navigation.”

Leaders of Taiwan and China Hold Historic Meeting

Economist
It was a brief encounter—an hour of discussions followed by a low-key dinner—but one of great historical resonance.

Vietnam Talks Trust With China, Invites Japanese Warship

MARTIN PETTY AND BEN BLANCHARD
Reuters
Vietnam agreed to build a "truly trustworthy" relationship with China on Friday during a visit to Hanoi by its President Xi Jinping.

Conversation

11.05.15

The China-Taiwan Summit

Richard Bernstein, Andrew J. Nathan & more
This Saturday, for the first time since 1949, the leaders of China and Taiwan will meet face to face. Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou will meet in Singapore, not as Presidents, but—to sidestep one of many lingering areas of conflict since the Chinese...

China Sends Armed Jets Over Disputed Waters In Response to U.S. Naval Presence

Nash Jenkins
Time
“It’s a signal China sent to the US that it is serious about its claims.”

White House Moves to Reassure Allies With South China Sea Patrol, but Quietly

HELENE COOPER and JANE PERLEZ
New York Times
Lawmakers and national security hawks have urged President Obama to stand up to China’s land reclamation of disputed islands.

Conversation

10.28.15

Making Waves in the South China Sea

Peter Dutton, Jessica Chen Weiss & more
Challenging China’s newly assertive behavior in the South China Sea, this week the U.S. Navy sailed some of its biggest ships inside the nine-dash line, exercising its claim to freedom of movement in international waters plied by billions in trade...

Media

10.28.15

‘Stop Boasting and Fight’

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
On October 27, the high-stakes maritime game of chicken that has been playing out in the South China Sea came to a head. In a long-discussed freedom of navigation patrol, the United States sailed the USS Lassen, a guided missile destroyer, within 12...

China Says It Warned and Tracked U.S. Warship in South China Sea

Jim Sciutto and Katie Hunt
CNN
Chinese government: Don't push us

Beijing Says Won't Give up Position that Taiwan's Part of China

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
Chinese people have a "sacred mission" to ensure Taiwan is always considered part of China.

Space: China Plays the Russia Card?

Kent Johnson
Diplomat
Russian engines could offer China a fast track for its ICBM capability building.

China Suggests Joint South China Sea Drills With Asean

BBC
China's Defence Minister Chang Wanquan has suggested drills for "maritime rescues and disaster relief".

Chinese Admiral Visits Iran, Wants Closer Defense Cooperation

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
China wants to deepen military ties with Iran.

China Says Not Planning to Send Military Ships to Syria

Megha Rajagopalan and Ben Blanchard
Reuters
China said it had no plans to send military ships to Syria to fight with Russian forces.

Japan May Halt Funds for UNESCO Over Nanjing Row With China

KIYOSHI TAKENAKA
Reuters
Japan's military aggression before and during World War Two still haunts ties between Asia's two biggest economies.

Top China Paper Says U.S., Russia Playing Cold War Game in Syria

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
The United States and Russia seemed to be using Syria as a proxy for diplomatic and military competition, as during the Cold War.

China Will Not Allow Violations of Its Territorial Waters

Adam Rose
Reuters
China said it would not stand for violations of its territorial waters in the name of freedom of navigation.

China Turns Firepower to Soft Power to Try to Win Tiny Taiwan-held Island

YIMOU LEE AND FAITH HUNG
Reuters
"In Kinmen, we can do what Taiwan can't, what Taiwan doesn't dare do."

U.S. to Sail Warships Near Disputed South China Sea Islands

Adam Rose
Reuters
U.S. ships would sail within 12-nautical-mile zones, that China claims as territory around islands it has built in the Spratly chain, within the next two weeks.

U.S. Warns Against 'Egregious' Restrictions in Contested South China Seas

Lincoln Feast
Reuters
The U.S. and China have blamed each other for dangerous moves during recent incidents involving aircraft and ships.

China’s 3,000-Acre Aircraft Carriers Could Change the Balance of Power in the Pacific

JAMES STAVRIDIS
Foreign Policy
That’s why the United States needs to act now.

Media

10.01.15

U.S. Presidential Candidates on China

Our Presidential Quotes tracker keeps you up to date on what the candidates are saying about China, and where and when they say it.

China Navy Calls for United States to Reduce Risk of Misunderstandings

Reuters
China hopes the United States can scale back activities that run the risk of misunderstandings, and respect China's core interests.

China Says Arrests Two Japanese for Spying

Linda Sieg and Kaori Kaneko
Reuters
Japan's Asahi newspaper said one man was taken into custody in China's northeast province of Liaoning near the border with North Korea and the other in the eastern province of Zhejiang near a military facility.

The Thucydides Trap: Are the U.S. and China Headed for War?

GRAHAM ALLISON
Atlantic
In 12 of 16 past cases in which a rising power has confronted a ruling power, the result has been bloodshed.

Hybrid Warfare With Chinese Characteristics

Benjamin David Baker
Diplomat
From Sun Tzu to Xi Jinping: Russia isn’t the only one who knows hybrid warfare.

Conflict Flavors Obama’s Meeting With Chinese Leader

David Sanger and Julie Hirschfeld Davis
New York Times
This week’s meeting between President Obama and Mr. Xi is fraught with points of conflict, and its unspoken subtext is whether the president will confront the Chinese directly, deliberately causing friction in the relationship in hopes of drawing...

Conversation

09.22.15

Can the U.S. & China Make Peace in Cyberspace?

Charlie Smith, Rogier Creemers & more
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in the United States today on his first state visit. Xi will address a group of American business leadersin Seattle. High on their list of concerns about trade with China is cyber hacking, cyber espionage and...

Two Way Street

09.21.15

New Chinese Book Says the U.S.-China ‘Feast on Power’ is Winding Down

Yanmei Xie from Two Way Street
At a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and China, it comes as little surprise that a new and important book on the bilateral relations, published by a think tank affiliated with the Chinese Foreign Ministry, should have the foreboding...

U.S. and China Seek Arms Deal for Cyberspace

David E. Sanger
New York Times
The United States and China are secretly negotiating what could become the first arms control accord for cyberspace, embracing a commitment by each country that it will not be the first to use cyberweapons to cripple the other’s...

Japan's 'Profound' New American Military Ties Are All About China: Q&A

Robert Marquand
Christian Science Monitor
Japan's parliament passes the most sweeping changes to Japan's defense policy since World War II.

China Trying to Undercut Germany on Submarine Offer to Egypt

SIVA GOVINDASAMY AND AHMED MOHAMED...
Reuters
Beijing looks to expand weapons exports beyond its traditional customer base in Asia.

China Teaching Troops Folk Dances to Make Friends in Xinjiang

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
China's military tries to improve relations with the minority people who live there.

Satellite Images Suggest China 'Building Third Airstrip' in South China Sea

Katie Hunt
CNN
China appears to building a third airstrip in disputed waters in the South China Sea.

China Plans Meeting in Bid to Revive Stalled North Korea Nuclear Talks

Megha Rajagopalan
Reuters
A Chinese think-tank will host a forum with officials from six countries on North Korea's banned nuclear weapons programme.

Sinica Podcast

09.14.15

Parading Around China’s Military Legacy

Kaiser Kuo, David Moser & more from Sinica Podcast
The interpretation of history is an inherently political act in China, and the struggle for control of the narrative of the War of Resistance Against Japan—World War II—has heated up during the approach to the September 3 parade commemorating the...

China to Hold Live-fire Drills in Taiwan Strait

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
The Chinese military will hold three days of live-fire drills in the sensitive Taiwan Strait starting from Friday, the government said in a notice issued to warn shipping away from the area.

Seoul to Begin Discussions with Beijing on Unification

Kang Seung-woo
Korea Times
Park Gyun-hye said that Kim Jong-un is expected to take provocative actions in the future and it is important to deter them.

Viewpoint

09.04.15

Flying Tiger: Why I Turned Down an Invitation to China’s Victory Parade

Jack Edelman
I was invited to attend the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-fascist War and the Chinese People’s Anti-Japanese war this September, as a guest of a government that wanted me to represent friendship with the U.S...

Media

09.03.15

Who Is Xi Jinping? Introducing the Asia Society Podcast

Eric Fish from Asia Blog
Three years after Xi Jinping took control of China’s Communist Party and assumed the country’s leadership, he has emerged as one of the world’s most powerful people. But his tenure has also raised uncomfortable questions. Is he a reformer bent on...

China to Trim Military by 300,000

Charles Hutzler
Wall Street Journal
One of the world's largest militaries undergoes reforms to make it more effective.

Viewpoint

09.03.15

The U.S. Was the True Mainstay in the Fight Against Japan in World War II

Han Lianchao from China Change
“When the Chinese people and the Chinese nation were in peril, the United States came to the rescue and asked for nothing in return. The U.S. never occupied a single inch of Chinese territory, never reaped any particular reward.”IAt 9:00 a.m. on...

Five Chinese Navy Ships Are Operating in Bering Sea Off Alaska Coast

Jeremy Page in Beijing and Gordon Lubold
Wall Street Journal
Chinese naval presence off Alaskan coast appears to be a first.

Features

09.02.15

Parading the People’s Republic

Geremie R. Barmé from China Heritage Quarterly
In light of the September 3, 2015, mega military parade held at Tiananmen Square in Beijing both to mark the seventieth anniversary of the end of Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945 and to acclaim the achievements of Xi Jinping, China’s Chairman of...

Conversation

09.02.15

What Is China’s Big Parade All About?

Pamela Kyle Crossley, Richard Bernstein & more
On September 3, China will mark the 70th anniversary of its World War II victory over Japan with a massive parade involving thousands of Chinese troops and an arsenal of tanks, planes, and missiles in a tightly choreographed march across Tiananmen...

As Economy Falters, Military Parade Offers Chance to Burnish China’s Image

Andrew Jacobs
New York Times
China celebrates a new national holiday to honor the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Media

08.31.15

Netanyahu, Shanghai, and the Communist Party’s Forbidden History

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
On August 26, the Israeli Embassy in China posted a one-minute video to its official account on Weibo, China’s huge microblogging platform, thanking the coastal Chinese city of Shanghai for its role sheltering roughly 20,000 Jews fleeing persecution...

U.S., China Stress Positives Ahead of Xi Trip

Megha Rajagopalan
Reuters
The world's two largest economies have mutual interests, like trying to rein in North Korea's nuclear program, sevear deep disagreements exist.

How My Presidency Would Deal With China

Marco Rubio
Wall Street Journal
Approaching Beijing on the basis of strength and example, not weakness and appeasement.

Japan Refuses to Take Part in China’s ‘Victory Day’ Event to Mark End of War

Justin McCurry in Tokyo and Tom...
Guardian
Shinzo Abe has decided against visiting Beijing for the event, partly to protest against China’s regional military build-up.

China Says More than 10 Countries to Join Unprecedented WW II Military Parade

Megha Rajagopalan
Reuters
Russia and Kazakhstan are among those countries joining a parade in Beijing in September to commemorate China's WWII victory over Japan.

Conversation

08.18.15

How Should the U.S. Conduct the Xi Jinping State Visit?

Evan A. Feigenbaum, Arthur Waldron & more
As tensions increase between China and the United States over the value of the yuan, human rights violations, alleged cyber attacks, and disputed maritime territories, among other issues, how should the Obama administration conduct the upcoming...

Obama Administration Warns Beijing About Covert Agents Operating in U.S.

Mark Mazetti, Dan Levin
New York Times
The warning reflects escalating anger in Washington about intimidation tactics used by the agents.

China Hits Back at U.S. Criticism over South China Sea ‘Restrictions’

Megha Rajagopalan
Reuters
Free overflights and navigation doesn't equal foreign warships and jets to violate sovereignty and security, Beijing said.

China Read Emails of Top U.S. Officials

Robert Windrem
NBC News
First codenamed "Dancing Panda" by U.S. officials was detected in April 2010, according to a top secret NSA briefing from 2014.

Excerpts

08.10.15

What Happened to the Settlers the Japanese Army Abandoned in China

Michael Meyer
Seventy years ago today, thousands of Japanese settlers—mostly women and children—found themselves trapped in an area then known as Manchuria, or Manchukuo, the name of the puppet state the Japanese military established in 1931. Abandoned by their...

Two Way Street

08.01.15

China’s Foreign Policy Isn’t Transparent? You’ve Got to Be Kidding

Chu Yin from Two Way Street
In her recent article, “What China’s Lack of Transparency Means for U.S. Policy,” U.S.-China relations expert Susan Shirk caused a stir when she argued that China’s “lack of transparency” around public policy making, defense, national security, and...

Media

07.28.15

Clickbait Nationalism

On July 16, the lower house of the Japanese Parliament passed a set of new security legislation that would grant Japan limited power to engage in foreign conflicts for the first time since its defeat in World War II. Despite domestic public...

Palace Intrigue: Chinese Soldiers Storm Replica of Taiwan Presidential Office

Chun Han Wong
Wall Street Journal
Is Beijing doubling down on its longstanding threat to reclaim Taiwan by force?