The sporadic confrontations that punctuated the past two years in the China seas subsided for a time. Senior U.S. military officials depicted the lull as a temporary, tactical retreat from the assertive stance Beijing assumed on such controversies as conflicting maritime territorial claims, foreign naval... MORE

The nuclear crises at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in neighboring Japan that began with the March 11 earthquake and tsunami has induced the Chinese government to pause and perhaps moderate its civilian nuclear buildup. Describing safety as its top priority, the State Council... MORE

China has the largest labor force in the world. In recent years, new strains have emerged in China’s labor supply that raise concerns about the country's economic growth mode. The shortage of migrant workers that gripped the Pearl River Delta region and the coastal areas... MORE

The protests and revolutions that are sweeping across North Africa since the beginning of 2011 pose a serious test for Chinese diplomacy. The circumstances forced Chinese diplomats to adapt quickly to the unfolding situation, a measure Beijing has been adept at doing elsewhere in Africa... MORE

Against the backdrop of an uptick in high-profile cases involving military secrets that include startling revelations by Taiwan’s intelligence chief of China’s growing arsenal of strategic weapons, Beijing is beefing up its secrecy regulations to better safeguard its classified information. On April 1, Chinese President... MORE

Reputed Jema’ah Islamiya leader Abu Bakr Ba’asyir told the Jamestown Foundation in 2005 that “the highest deed in Islam is jihad” (see Spotlight on Terror, December 16, 2005). After being arrested in August 2010, the Indonesian cleric is now on trial, facing charges under Indonesia’s... MORE

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is the Philippines’ largest Islamic secessionist and insurgent movement and is led by a man named al-Haj Murad Ebrahim. For the last eight years Ebrahim has been at the forefront of negotiating with the Philippine government for greater autonomy for... MORE

China’s theory of space deterrence may be a work in progress, but Beijing is already developing an impressive array of counter-space systems. Indeed, the capabilities that China is working on go beyond the direct ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon, successfully tested in January 2007. The test... MORE

China’s rise on the international stage has been accompanied by an increase in its military's presence. Beijing's expanding ambition is prompting calls on the country's leaders to be more proactive in protecting its national interests. These calls by Chinese analysts have raised concerns about the... MORE

An assessment based on a Chinese government white paper and recent report published by a leading think tank on China’s external security environment suggest that Beijing perceives that it is facing unprecedented external challenges.  On January 11, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (hereafter MFA) revealed—exclusively... MORE