US Military/Security Paper on China – Messages for India and APR      

The Pentagon annual report to the US Congress Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, 2011” released to the public in August this year is a lesson how meticulously the Americans study China. Of course, more sensitive issues are not discussed in the open report, but there are pointers that need to be picked up by India and other Asian countries and reflect on them actively on a larger canvas. (The South Asia Analysis Group)

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US-China power play puts heat on ASEAN   
      
AFTER nearly a year of tensions over conflicting territorial claims, East Asian waters have calmed significantly. At last month's Asean meetings, China and South-east Asia agreed on guidelines for implementing the 2002 Declaration of Conduct to govern activities in the South China Sea. (Viet Studies/The Straits Times)

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Multilateral diplomacy indispensable to improve ties with China   
   
Foreign and defense ministers from the U.S. and Japan have held a meeting of the Security Consultative Committee, known as two-plus-two, in Washington and issued a joint statement on their new common strategic objectives based on changes in the security environment in the Asia-Pacific region including China's military buildup. (The Mainichi Daily)

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Did US push China over the edge?  

After a series of aggressive incidents involving Chinese patrol boats and subsequent soothing official statements, many analysts are trying to figure out what’s really going on. More specifically, why are different sections of China’s government giving mixed signals, and choosing, in nearly one fell swoop, to embarrass their own leaders, undermine China’s carefully nurtured and reasonably successful ‘charm offensive’ towards ASEAN, and play right into the US strategy of convincing ASEAN nations that they need its protection from a bullying China? (The Diplomat)

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US-India: Parallel links along China’s southern periphery  

Ups and downs in the US-India bilateral relationship and speculation about China as a factor in the Indo-US "strategic partnership" grab the headlines and dominate policy analysis. Concurrently, little noticed parallels link US and Indian efforts to strengthen their ties with Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore. These states' positive responses are slowly filling a geographic gap between India and Japan. In addition, both the United States and India eye growing Chinese naval capabilities with some concern. (Asia Pacific Bulletin)

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U.S.-China Knotty but necessary ties  
    

China and the United States next week hold their first military-to-military talks since 2009, following on the heels of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington May 9-10. China's foreign and domestic policies have hardened considerably over the past couple of years… (Council on Foreign Relations)

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In growing Chinese dominance, a wake-up call for America  

The world’s two economic superpowers will meet soon for the third installment of their Strategic and Economic Dialogue. Beyond the specifics, the real issue for the United States and the world is China’s looming economic dominance. President Obama’s State of the Union address, after President Hu Jintao’s visit in January, showed the level of anxiety that policymakers feel about China as a potential rival and perhaps a threat, with growing economic, military and political power, including its bankrolling of American debt. But judging from the reaction to the president’s speech, that threat is not viewed as imminent.                   (The Washington Post)

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Is China overtaking America despite political complications, unsustainable economic policies?   
   

Some analysts argue that China aims to challenge America's position as the world's dominant power. Even if this were an accurate assessment of China's intentions (and even Chinese cannot know the views of future generations), it is doubtful that China will have the military capability to make this possible. To be sure, Chinese military expenditures, up more than 12% this year, have been growing even more rapidly than its economy. But China's leaders will have to contend with other countries' reactions, as well as with the constraints implied by the need for external markets and resources in order to meet their economic-growth objectives.  (The Economic Times)

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China-Russia relations and the United States: At a turning point?   
     

Since the end of the Cold War, the improved political and economic relationship between Beijing and Moscow has affected a range of international security issues. China and Russia have expanded their bilateral economic and security cooperation. In addition, they have pursued distinct, yet parallel, policies regarding many global and regional issues.
Yet, Chinese and Russian approaches to a range of significant subjects are still largely uncoordinated and at times in conflict. Economic exchanges between China and Russia remain minimal compared to those found between most friendly countries, let alone allies.         (RIA Novosti)

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Shake-Up Could Affect Tone of U.S. Policy on China   
   

With tensions rising over China’s crackdown on dissent, the Obama administration is about to lose three of its most prominent players on China policy — a shake-up that could reinforce its efforts to cultivate other Asian countries to counterbalance an increasingly assertive Beijing. (The New York Times)

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Want a New Map of Asia? Include the United States   
  

Re-defining Asia is now a common discussion among policy analysts. Evan Feigenbaum, for example, has argued that "[w]ithout a new map of Asia that reflects the ways in which Asians themselves are remaking their continent, US relevance--and influence--will wane in the coming decades." But new maps of Asia are unnecessary to achieve America's objectives. A loose definition of Asia has and will continue to serve American interests by providing flexibility of action and association precisely as Asia integrates--unevenly--within itself and with the globe. (Asia Pacific Bulletin)

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A Step Too Far: Why CPGS is the Wrong Answer to China’s Access Challenge   
    

In March 1996, the waters of the Taiwan Strait were roiled by Chinese live missile firings and massive military exercises. Washington answered Beijing’s blunt demonstration of coercive military diplomacy by promptly dispatching two aircraft carriers to the scene… Fifteen years later, the region’s tactical environment could hardly be more different.  (Asia Pacific Bulletin)

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Cambodia’s Bumpy Development Road: Implications for US interests  
    

When US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Cambodia in late 2010, she told senior Cambodian government officials "this does not look like the country I have been reading about in the press." Most first-time visitors to Phnom Penh would likely react similarly. The city hosts a vibrant society, with traffic-clogged streets, a proliferation of stylish restaurants and boutiques, and buildings under construction everywhere, many of them high-rise apartments and office blocks.                       (Asia Pacific Bulletin)

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Rising China undermines US clout in Latin America   
     

The US$10 billion package agreed with the China Development Bank was another clear sign of China's surging influence in Latin America, transforming the region's economies and undermining US dominance in its traditional "backyard." (The Brunei Times)

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China Challenges US Predominance in Asia-Pacific   
   

Fifteen years ago, when China launched threatening war games off Taiwan on the eve of an election on the self-governing island, the US deployed two aircraft carriers, and China quickly backed down. Things don't seem so one-sided any more. China's military has been on a spending spree at a time that the debt-ridden US government is looking to cut defense costs. On Friday, China announced a 12.7 percent hike for this year, the latest in a string of double-digit increases.                 (The Irrawaddy)

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Will ‘Chindia’ Rule the World in 2050, or America after all?   
   

With a small tweak in assumptions and the inexorable force of compound arithmetic, Citigroup and HSBC have come up with radically different pictures of what the world will look like in 2050. (The Telegraph)

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What Can the United States Learn from Russia’s Relations with ASEAN Countries?      

Neither the current US administration nor US academics recognize Russia as a major Asian power. The 2010 US National Security Strategy invokes Russia as a partner in Eurasia but says nothing about its role in Asia. Indeed, both US and Chinese experts consistently disregard Russia as a significant player in Asia. Russia's role in the on-again, off-again Six-Party Talks regarding North Korea is one example of this disdain. Although Russia faces many obstacles to becoming a credible Asian actor, Moscow is making resolute diplomatic overtures to secure its Asian standing. (Asia Pacific Bulletin)

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Tipping Point in the Indo-Pacific   

The U.S. response to China’s challenge has been cautious and uneven. Both the George W. Bush and Obama Administrations have approached the issue from a position of risk aversion and with a belief that the broader Sino-American political relationship, one increasingly based on economic considerations, is more important than maintaining the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region. In part, this attitude has derived from a longstanding and undeniable American advantage in military strength, but it has also been a default position given the numerous other demands on U.S. foreign and security policy since 9/11.                (The American Interest)

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Hedging the glad hand to China   

The joint statement released during the state visit to the United States by Chinese President Hu Jintao is in some ways strikingly different from a similar joint statement issued in November 2009 during American President Barack Obama's state visit to China.           (The Japan Times)

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Balancing China through Vietnam   

The public display of China’s new J-20 stealth fighter, the expected appearance soon of China’s first aircraft carrier, and Secretary Gates’ troubled visit to the PRC reaffirm the importance for the United States of having good security relations with China’s neighbors. Defense ties with the Republic of Korea remain strong, while those with Japan have recovered from last year’s downturn, thanks partly to China’s confrontational policies regarding the territories in dispute between Beijing and Tokyo. But U.S.-Vietnamese security ties lag somewhat due to the legacy of confrontation and other factors. (Second Line of Defense)

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