While it has been established practice for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) administration to lock up intellectuals and NGO activists in the run-up to the anniversary of the June 4, 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square, police action the past month or so has been markedly... MORE

China’s vision for a new “Silk Road economic belt,” as recently announced by Xinhua, is establishing regional integration around China as an attractive economic direction for Central Asian countries. With a series of strategic agreements between Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of central Asian... MORE

If there was any doubt, last week’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore made it clear that China is unhappy with the behavior of the United States in Asia. Following speeches by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that criticized Chinese actions,... MORE

After having abstained from the March 27 United Nations General Assembly resolution vote condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Mongolia has continued its public silence regarding Russian actions in Ukraine. This is despite the fact that Mongolia has been a close partner of the North Atlantic... MORE

In few other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have the strategic objectives of China been as clear as in its relationship with Costa Rica. Yet in few other countries has the PRC experienced so many difficulties compared to the level of effort invested.... MORE

During the roughly six months since China suffered its first-ever car bombing in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on October 31, 2013, China has witnessed a series of other terrorist attacks on its territory. Such attacks included a mass stabbing at a train station in Kunming that... MORE

Over the past few weeks, tensions in the South China Sea have once again bedeviled relations between China and the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). On May 1, China deployed a giant oil rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with... MORE

While tensions in the South China Sea have gone from bad to worse, with riots in Vietnam targeting Chinese businesses and a range of ASEAN states exploring ways to counter Chinese actions (see “Challenged by China, ASEAN States Seek Common Response,” in this issue), Xi’s... MORE

Traditionally, Indian policy toward China has been mostly characterized by continuity. As far as Beijing is concerned, in spite of regime change in the past, India has pursued steady engagement with its northern neighbor. Now that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the nationalist... MORE

A week ago, after the boost of patriotic emotions in the Victory Day celebrations and the blatantly fake quasi-referenda in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (see EDM, May 12, 14), Russia appeared ready to make a decisive move into eastern Ukraine. The procedure of voting... MORE