In recent weeks, representatives of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have complained of America’s “Cold War mentality.” The rhetoric is in reaction to President Obama’s recent swing through the Pacific and particularly his announcement in Australia of a sustained rotation of aircraft and up to 2,500 Marines through northern Australia. This rhetoric is nothing new. The Chinese often dismiss America’s system of alliances in Asia as “relics” of the Cold War. They have apparently found it a handy talking point in a region that is as dynamic as East …
In a November 15 op-ed in The Age, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that she would push her Labor Party to overturn its ban on selling uranium to India when the party meets next month. The unexpected announcement is a testament to the growing importance that Australia attaches to ties with India and should lead to a significant deepening of their bilateral partnership. In 2008, Australia’s Labor Party government reversed a decision by its predecessor to end the ban on export of uranium to India on the grounds that …
In an article entitled “China and US on Edge over Vote in Taiwan,” today’s Financial Times (FT) quotes a “senior US official” as saying Taiwan DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen “left us with distinct doubts about whether she is both willing and able to continue the stability in cross-Strait relations the region has enjoyed in recent years.” The article goes on to quote the official as saying that it was “far from clear…that she and her advisers fully appreciate the depth of (Chinese) mistrust of her motives and DPP aspirations.” …
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen will be in the People’s Republic of China for much of the next week to engage in talks with his counterparts from the People’s Liberation Army. His visit comes amidst a thaw in U.S.–Chinese military-to-military relations, capped by the visit of General Chen Bingde, chief of the Chinese general staff. The Chinese have long seen military-to-military contact as a U.S. “ask”—particularly since 1999, when Congress imposed legal restrictions on precisely what sort of information could be shared. Therefore, Admiral Mullen’s …
The U.S. has long held that the U.S.–Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty does not extend to Philippine claims in the South China Sea. There may have been a time when that position was prudent. After all, what interest could the U.S. have had getting involved in a spat among six relatively weak claimants? That time has past. Chinese “fishing patrol boats” and its rapid military modernization have chased it away. There is now one claimant stronger than the others, growing stronger by the day, and feeling it. We need to introduce …
Call it the old “seat at the table” argument. The U.S. Senate should ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the argument goes, in order to give America “a seat at the table” in resolving maritime disputes. It’s an argument that has been made so many times that even its proponents no longer understand it. Recent developments in the South China Sea indicate that at best American support for UNCLOS is irrelevant to managing, let alone resolving, disputes in the Western Pacific.
A couple weeks ago, the House Homeland Security Committee, under the leadership of Rep. Peter King (R-NY), held hearings on radicalization in American Muslim communities. It was hardly the replay of the McCarthy hearings that many on the left had hoped for. And so, aside from Rep Ellison’s tearful testimony, the hearing itself received less extensive press coverage than the lead up. The upside to this is that the Committee had the opportunity to do just as Mr. King suggested: look dispassionately at radicalization – a problem many Muslims themselves …
It’s official: There are now 100 countries that offer Taiwanese citizens visa-free travel. Malaysia has the honor of hitting the century mark—following closely behind Australia and Montenegro, which announced their decisions last week. An EU visa waiver for Taiwan went into effect this past January. The U.S. has still not made it across the finish line. The Obama Administration is lumbering behind, weighted down by bureaucracy, a sclerotic and out-of-date Taiwan policy, and inattention. Taiwan is now under the 3 percent visa refusal rate—an ill-conceived requirement to begin with, but …
Leadership means people are depending on you. Taiwan has only one friend in the world it can truly depend on to safeguard its security: the United States of America. It is a mission that was enshrined in American law in 1979. Honestly, the Bush Administration wasn’t great about living up to its obligations in this regard, but the Obama Administration is worse – because the situation is more dire. Standing still is just not an option. Taiwan’s place in the world and its relationship with China (PRC) continues to evolve. …
In the last few days in Indonesia, inter-communal ugliness has reared its head in way that is major cause for concern. That concern is lighting up mobile phones, Twitter, and Facebook accounts across Indonesia. Indonesians – particularly its middle and professional classes – are outraged to an extent unseen since June 2008 when Islamist militants descended on Jakartans peacefully commemorating Pancasila, Indonesia’s democratic, non-sectarian state creed. The most recent incidents themselves are terrible. In Banten on Sunday, a mob numbering as many as 1,500 attacked an Ahmadi congregation, resulting in …
