China pledges strong support of Myanmar: Western nations need to open up! Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The nation of Myanmar is on the path of strengthening democracy under the State Counsellor of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi. Yet, after mass propaganda about the crisis in Rakhine, many Western nations have…
Prime Minister Abe of Japan meets President Xi of China: A wary eye remains Sawako Utsumi and Chika Mori Modern Tokyo Times Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan is on a visit to China in the hope of improving relations. This notably applies to the economic approach because Abe, just like President Xi Jinping, is…
US and Japan trade talks set back after fresh tariffs imposed on China: Beijing today, Tokyo tomorrow? Sawako Uchida and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Important trade talks between America and Japan have been delayed a few days after fresh tariffs imposed on China. Hence, scheduled talks planned for September 21, will now be…
Moscow Prepares Vostok 2018 as Sino-Russian Strategic Exercise Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor By: Roger McDermott The Jamestown Foundation The culmination of the combat training year in Russia’s Armed Forces results in an annual operational-strategic military exercise involving air, land and sea elements to test forces in one of four theaters: these are the rotating Kavkaz…
The US condemns China for intimidating neighbors in the South China Sea Sawako Uchida and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The United States Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis, notified China that America is becoming increasingly disillusioned by China’s militarization and overt intimidation of neighboring nations in the South China Sea. Mattis stipulated openly that America…
China must refrain from intrigues in the territorial waters of Japan: The Korean Peninsula Kanako Itamae and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The government of China should refrain from military intrigues and the expression of emboldened statements about territorial waters that belong to Japan. Indeed, with tensions showing positive signs on the Korean Peninsula…
China needs a fresh approach towards Taiwan: Geopolitics of America and Japan Hiroshi Saito and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of China needs to re-evaluate its relationship with Taiwan. After all, in a geopolitical sense, tensions with Taiwan will only embolden Washington’s containment policy of China. Similarly, the changing…
Power Flows Downstream: Sino-Vietnamese Relations and the Lancang-Mekong River Publication: China Brief Volume: 17 Issue: 14 By: Emily Walz The Jamestown Foundation China’s international rivers are becoming a focal point for contests over control of natural resources—and potentially international conflict. China, in its powerful position as headwater nation, continues to actively promote hydropower development domestically…
Trump offers China Economic Inducements if Beijing puts Pressure on North Korea Sawako Uchida and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times It appears that President Donald Trump is offering economic inducements for China to help in the “North Korea question.” However, this seems a far cry from Trump who promised to tackle nations who are…
Russian-Chinese Joint Ventures in Russia’s Far East, Arctic Publication: Eurasia Daily By: John C. K. Daly The Jamestown Foundation Since 2001, Russian-Chinese relations have been largely grounded in security issues, both military and economic. The former is a shared perception of an increasingly aggressive United States and, in the case of Russia, concerns over the…
China Needs to Re-evaluate the Independence of Taiwan: America and Japan Hiroshi Saito and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of China needs to re-evaluate its relationship with Taiwan. After all, in a geopolitical sense, tensions with Taiwan will only embolden Washington’s containment policy of China. Similarly, the changing sands…
China and Saudi Arabia Solidify Strategic Partnership Amid Looming Risks Publication: China Brief Volume: 17 Issue: 3 By: Chris Zambelis The Jamestown Foundation While the wider Middle East remains convulsed by conflict and instability, China’s influence and interests in the region continue to expand in a familiar pattern. As the world’s largest consumer of energy…
China’s Lukewarm Response to Indian Military Modernization Publication: China Brief By: Oriana Skylar Mastro The Jamestown Foundation Between September 14–27, the United States and India conducted a joint military training exercise in Uttarakhand, an area less than 100 km from the Chinese border (Global Times, September 12). This combined exercise, known as Yudh Abhyas, or…
America, China, and Taiwan: Democracy or the Continuation of the one-China Policy? Michiyo Tanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The President-elect of America, Donald Trump, is adamant that he isn’t beholden to a one-China policy under the prevailing conditions. Of course, this currently doesn’t mean that he will alter the current status quo.…
A Crystallizing Russo-Chinese Alliance Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor By: Stephen Blank The Jamestown Foundation Whenever a Russian president travels to Asiatic Russia or the Asia-Pacific region, he traditionally enunciates important precepts of Russian foreign policy in Asia. This was true of both Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin during all three of his presidential terms. Putin’s…
China Quietly Displacing Both Russia and US From Central Asia Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor By: Paul Goble The Jamestown Foundation Since 1991, the influence of the Russian Federation in Central Asia has been on the decline, and many have assumed that the United States would move in to fill the resulting vacuum. US influence has…
Geopolitics in the realm of Art: China and Japan are based on “Catching a Catfish with a Gourd” by Josetsu Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times China and Japan have so much in common based on the richness of Buddhism, Confucianism, the arts, culture, gardens, Zen, and a plethora of areas related to high culture.…
China Dictates Terms for Sino-Japanese Relations During First Japanese Foreign Minister Visit in Four Years Publication: China Brief Volume By: Michael S. Chase, Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga The Jamestown Foundation Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio’s official visit to Beijing from April 29 to May 1, the first trip to China by a Japanese Foreign Minister since November…
Rallies in Hong Kong after Five Booksellers Disappear into China’s One Party Thin Air Shuchun Zhang, Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Rallies in Hong Kong occurred against the government of China based on the disappearance of five booksellers. The political nature is abundantly obvious because all individuals work at the same…
China and Japan through the Artistic Prism of Josetsu: “Catching a Catfish with a Gourd” Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times China and Japan have so much in common based on the richness of Buddhism, Confucianism, the arts, culture, gardens, Zen, and a plethora of areas related to high culture. Yet, relations in recent history…
Josetsu and Art: Relations between China and Japan are based on “Catching a Catfish with a Gourd” Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times China and Japan have so much in common based on the richness of Buddhism, Confucianism, the arts, culture, gardens, Zen, and a plethora of areas related to high culture. Yet, relations in…
