Conversation
12.16.22
How Well Is China Advancing Its Interests in Southeast Asia?
Xi Jinping traveled to Southeast Asia last month to attend the G20 summit in Bali before moving on to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ meeting in Bangkok. The meetings came on the heels of Premier Li Keqiang’s...
Conversation
12.28.21
Three Questions for China’s Neighbors
“China was, is, and will always be a good neighbor,” China’s leader Xi Jinping told ASEAN representatives in a November 2021 virtual meeting, after a series of conflicts over Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea had raised tensions...
Viewpoint
02.22.19
‘We’re Very Sexy People’: How the U.S. Miscalculated Its Allure to China
The Sino-Vietnamese War is rarely remembered or discussed today. But 40 years ago, the war appeared to herald a tectonic shift in regional and global politics and helped forge a close, more trusting relationship between the leader of the free world...
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03.07.18China Unhappy with US Aircraft Carrier’s Visit to Vietnam, State Media Says
South China Morning Post
Beijing is unhappy with the visit of a US aircraft carrier to a Vietnamese port, the first by such a vessel since the Vietnam war, and is monitoring developments, according to a state newspaper report on Wednesday.
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02.08.18An Indian-Russian Supersonic Missile Could Be a Problem for China
CNBC
BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India and Russia, has developed what it calls the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile. The namesake rocket may now be exported globally — a potentially concerning development for the world’s second-...
Media
12.07.17
Could Truman Have Worked With Mao?
In the early months of 1949, it became increasingly clear that Mao Zedong’s Communists would win the Chinese civil war. This presented U.S. President Harry S. Truman with an unappetizing set of choices. He could either acknowledge the Communist...
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11.14.17China or the U.S.? Asian Nations' Answer: Neither
Wall Street Journal
It’s a neat narrative: America’s inevitable decline means the inexorable rise of China. But Asian countries have more to say.
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11.08.17Philippines, Seeking to Appease Beijing, Halts Construction in South China Sea
New York Times
President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has ordered military officials to stop construction work on a sandbar in a disputed area of the South China Sea after Beijing complained, the country’s defense chief said on Wednesday.
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09.25.17Touching on History, a Chinese Film May Have Been Burned by It
New York Times
One of China’s most popular directors, Feng Xiaogang, was determined to triumph at the box office with the release of his new film “Youth” during the weeklong National Day holiday. But then Mr. Feng’s premiere was abruptly canceled.
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09.06.17China Brushes off Vietnam Protests over South China Sea Drills
Reuters
China on Wednesday dismissed Vietnamese condemnation of its military live-fire exercises in the disputed South China Sea, saying it was acting within its sovereign rights.
Sinica Podcast
05.26.17
Chinese Power in the Age of Donald Trump
from Sinica Podcast
When Joseph Nye, Jr., first used the phrase “soft power” in his 1990 book Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power, China did not factor much into his calculus of world order: It had relatively little military and economic power, and...
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05.15.17China, Philippines to Start South China Sea Talks: Ambassador
China and the Philippines will start bilateral consultations on the disputed South China Sea this week, the Philippine ambassador to Beijing said, as Manila looks to ease tensions with Asia’s top economic power.
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04.06.17South China Sea: Duterte Orders Philippines Military to Occupy Islands
CNN
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he has ordered military personnel to occupy all Philippines-claimed islands in the disputed South China Sea.
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01.31.17Asia Pacific Nations Are Tilting Closer toward China as Trump Declares ‘America First’
CNBC
There are strong signs that countries in Asia and the Pacific region are turning away from the United States and tilting toward China as the Trump administration emphasizes “America First.”
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12.16.16When China Bullies Its Neighbors, India Gets More Muscular
Quartz
China’s increasingly rough-handed and assertive foreign policy towards its neighbors is raising India’s diplomatic and economic clout in the region
The China Africa Project
12.09.16
Does One Man in China Control the Fate of Africa’s Elephants?
In the powerful new Netflix documentary The Ivory Game, Elephant Action League Executive Director Andrea Crosta ominously warned that the entire fate of Africa’s elephants is in the hands of a single man, Chinese President Xi Jinping. Only President...
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12.08.16Risking Beijing’s Ire, Vietnam Begins Dredging on South China Sea Reef
Reuters
Activity visible on Ladd Reef in the Spratly Islands could anger Beijing, which claims sovereignty over the group and most of the resource-rich sea
Conversation
11.15.16
Should China’s Neighbors Rely on the U.S. for Protection?
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a platform of neo-isolationism that could see many traditional U.S. allies in Asia left without Washington’s support in the newly roiled waters of the South- and East China Seas. What will the governments...
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01.07.16China Lands More Civilian Planes on Fiery Cross Reef
BBC
China has landed two civilian planes on an island built in the disputed South China Sea, days after an earlier landing there prompted international concern.
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01.05.16S. China Sea Tensions Surge as China Lands Plane on Artificial Island
Reuters
China's increasing military presence in the disputed sea could effectively lead to a Beijing-controlled air defence zone.
Conversation
11.18.15
How Can China’s Neighbors Make Progress at APEC?
Ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit next week, we asked a group of experts from China’s neighboring countries what they thought the main thrust of discussion in Manila should be. If host, the Philippines, under pressure from...
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11.06.15Vietnam Talks Trust With China, Invites Japanese Warship
Reuters
Vietnam agreed to build a "truly trustworthy" relationship with China on Friday during a visit to Hanoi by its President Xi Jinping.
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08.10.15China Hits Back at U.S. Criticism over South China Sea ‘Restrictions’
Reuters
Free overflights and navigation doesn't equal foreign warships and jets to violate sovereignty and security, Beijing said.
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07.01.15Russia Delivers Submarine To Vietnam For Defense Over South China Sea Dispute
International Business Times
The submarines are Vietnam's effort to deter China's military from building up in the South China Sea.
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05.26.15How America Should Respond to China’s Moves in the South China Sea
National Interest
U.S. military superiority is required to keep the Asia-Pacific region from getting out of hand.
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06.09.14State Firms Barred from Vietnam Contract Bids
South China Morning Post
Vietnamese and Chinese ships have been clashing since China set up an oil rig near disputed island in the South China Sea last month. Tensions over the move caused anti-China riots in Vietnam.
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05.27.14Why Vietnam Can’t Count on Its Neighbors to Rally Against China
Businessweek
China knows Vietnam can do little to stop it; while an appeal by Vietnam to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations could make the fight more equal, it’s not likely to be very effective.
Media
05.20.14
Netizens Complain Chinese Government Was Slow to Respond to Violence in Vietnam
On May 18, Hong Lei, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said China “will suspend some of its plans for bilateral exchanges with Vietnam in response to the deadly violence against Chinese nationals in the country,” according to...
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05.12.14China Says Vietnam Efforts to Rope in Others on Spat Will Fail
Reuters
Tensions rose in the resource-rich South China Sea last week after China positioned a giant oil rig in an area also claimed by Vietnam. Each country accused the other of ramming its ships near the disputed Paracel Islands.
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12.16.13Kerry Criticizes China, Announces New Maritime Security Aid to SEAsia
Associated Press
Taking clear aim at China’s growing aggressiveness in territorial disputes with its smaller neighbors, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Monday that the United States will boost maritime security assistance to the countries of Southeast...
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11.20.12Op-Ed: Japan-China Relations at a Crossroads
New York Times
Japan's foreign minister argues that there is no doubt that the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, are a part of Japan.
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11.17.12China Says Does Not Want South China Sea Overshadowing Summit
Reuters
China's claim to a stretch of water off its south coast also claimed by neighbors makes it Asia's biggest potential military hot spot.
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08.07.12The South China Sea: Troubled Waters
Economist
Long a zone of contention among a number of littoral states, the South China Sea is fast becoming the focus of one of the most serious bilateral disputes between America and China. Over the weekend China’s foreign ministry summoned an...
Reports
07.31.12
Torture in the Name of Treatment
Human Rights Watch
More than 350,000 people identified as drug users are held in compulsory drug "treatment" centers in China and Southeast Asia. Detainees are held without due process for periods of months or years and may be subjected to physical and...
Reports
07.24.12
Stirring Up the South China Sea (II)
International Crisis Group
The South China Sea dispute between China and some of its South East Asian neighbours - Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei - has reached an impasse. Increasingly assertive positions among claimants have pushed regional tensions to new...
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06.27.12The South China Sea Oil Card
Diplomat
Over the weekend, the China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) quietly announced that nine new blocks in the South China Sea were now open to foreign oil companies for exploration and development. This move reflects one of the starkest efforts by...
Reports
04.23.12
Stirring up the South China Sea (I)
International Crisis Group
The conflicting mandates and lack of coordination among Chinese government agencies, many of which strive to increase their power and budget, have stoked tensions in the South China Sea. Any future solution to the South China Sea disputes will...
Sinica Podcast
02.24.12
Journey to the West
from Sinica Podcast
This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn are pleased to host Ed Wong from The New York Times, along with Adrienne Mong, whom you’ve seen on NBC News. First up is Xi Jinping’s recent visit to the United States, and a closer look at the...
Environment
08.12.71North Vietnam and China: Reflections on a Visit
Early this year I went to Hanoi by way of China. After spending a week in Peking I went to North Vietnam for just over a month and then returned to China, where I stayed in Changsha and Canton for two weeks. Later I spent three and a half weeks in...
The NYRB China Archive
03.28.68
The Great Wall
from New York Review of Books
China is so distant, big, and complex that each Marco Polo nowadays tells a different tale. The authors of the three books under review—a cool Swedish journalist, a passionate Chinese true-believer, and a philosophical Frenchman—give very different...
The NYRB China Archive
02.17.66
How to Deal with the Chinese Revolution
from New York Review of Books
The Vietnam debate reflects our intellectual unpreparedness. Crisis has arisen on the farthest frontier of public knowledge, and viewpoints diverge widely because we all lack background information. “Vietnam” was not even a label on our horizon...