
Latest Articles about China and the Asia-Pacific

Taiwan’s Reform Bills Indicate Volatility
Executive Summary: Taiwan’s Executive Yuan has returned inflammatory legislation to the Legislative Yuan over concerns that it violates democratic principles, procedural justice, and the country’s constitution. The legislation is also likely to face judicial challenges. Contentious provisions could force testimony by military officials and others... MORE

Georgia’s Anaklia Deep-Water Port Becomes Chinese Geopolitical Project
Executive Summary: The Georgian Dream government has announced that a Chinese-Singaporean consortium dominated by the Chinese state won the tender for the construction and management of the strategic Anaklia deep-sea port. The port could drastically change the geoeconomic and geopolitical situation in the region, providing... MORE

Belarus’s Economic Plight Opens Opportunity to Pressure Minsk For Release of Political Prisoners
Executive Summary: Western efforts to trigger the release of at least 1,559 political prisoners in Belarus, who are forced to endure inhumane conditions and extreme repressions, have flagged since 2020. Belarus’s economic needs in the current geopolitical environment are opening windows to pressure Minsk to... MORE

Chinese Plans for Moscow Region Threaten to Spark Protests Near Kremlin
Executive Summary: Chinese plans to develop mines in Moscow oblast undercut the Kremlin’s longstanding efforts to keep such projects and the protests they provoke far away from the capital, lest they lead to political demonstrations near the Kremlin. This transformation of environmental issues into political... MORE

Brief: U.S.–Malaysia Disagreements Over Hamas Unlikely to Drive Change in Relationship
Executive Summary: Malaysia has maintained an ambiguously warm relationship toward Hamas, even following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is known to be a vocal defender of the group, and the country is home to Aman Palestin, a charity that... MORE

TTP’s Killing of Chinese Citizens in Pakistan Presents Afghan Taliban with Dangerous Dilemma
Executive Summary: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or “Pakistani Taliban,” likely are responsible for a suicide attack that killed five Chinese engineers in Pakistan’s north on March 26. China may use the incident to push Afghanistan to disavow the TTP, but such a maneuver would force... MORE

Half a Year On, Myanmar’s Junta Appears to Have Survived Threat Posed by ‘Operation 1027’
Executive Summary: Six months after three of Myanmar’s largest anti-junta militias launched a joint operation against the Tatmadaw, they have succeeded in seizing large swathes of territory—albeit at a high price. These successes have not brought down the ruling regime, however, and Myanmar’s ethnic militias... MORE

PRC Manipulation of Information Gatekeepers in the Kyrgyz Republic
Executive Summary: Beijing aims to enforce censorship outside its borders by targeting the gatekeepers of information and manipulating narratives that it does not currently monopolize. Over the past two hundred years, groups like the Uyghurs, Dungans, and ethnic Kyrgyz have fled China for the territory... MORE

Russia Attempts New Anti-Peace Offensive
Executive Summary: The Kremlin has released a series of “leaks” implying that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to freeze hostilities in his war against Ukraine. The release likely occurred now as an attempt to derail preparations for the coming Ukraine peace summit this summer... MORE

Bao Youxiang: Warlord of Largest, Pro-Junta Ethnic Militia in Myanmar Continues to Run Wa State at 75
Executive Summary: Bao Youxiang is the architect of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the armed wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP). Bao has led the group since 1995 and has successfully modernized both the local economy and the ethnic Wa militia—the largest... MORE