How is China influencing international security—and why do so many analysts get it wrong? Our experts help disentangle the facts from the fiction.
February 11, 2021 11:08 PM EDT
As we begin the Year of the Ox and a new US administration settles into office, China looms large in the US imagination. Many people seem worried about the future of the US relationship with one of the world’s largest countries, where nearly one-fifth of humanity appears to be enjoying a growing economy and improving technology under a communist government. Read More
September 30, 2020 8:47 AM EDT
Earlier this month China sent 18 military aircraft into the skies near Taiwan. This exceptional maneuver came fast on the heels of naval drills near the island and an uptick in Chinese military exercises throughout East Asia.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense issued a stern warning to the United States and Taiwan.
September 21, 2020 9:58 AM EDT
Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, recently called for a major change in US policy towards Taiwan. He wants the United States to provide the island with a guarantee of US military protection from China. He argues it is the best way to keep the peace. He’s wrong.
September 4, 2020 9:34 AM EDT
US President Richard Nixon told Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai the United States recognized Taiwan was a part of China. Nixon made the statement during secret talks conducted during his historic visit to China in 1972. But what Nixon said in secret was intentionally obscured in the joint communiqué the two governments issued after the talks concluded.
This extraordinary act of deception, mistakenly heralded as an act of diplomatic genius, created a long-lived misunderstanding about US policy towards Taiwan that continues to poison US-China relations to this day.
November 4, 2019 6:27 AM EDT
Is Kim Jong-un preparing a dramatic provocation worthy of his predecessors? International analysts of the North Korean nuclear weapons program warn the United States should take his end-of-the-year deadline for negotiations seriously.
The North Korean leadership keeps a careful eye on US domestic politics. They read the presidential polls with the same level of interest as the candidates themselves.
US observers often complain about dramatic shifts in North Korean policy, strategy and tactics, but predicting US policy can be just as difficult. Clinton’s “Agreed Framework” gave way to Bush’s “Axis of Evil.” Obama’s “Strategic Patience” preceded Trump’s “Fire and Fury.” The historic US outreach in Singapore ended with the United States walking out in Hanoi.
Like many Americans, the North Koreans are trying to guess what might come next. Read more >
