Latest Articles about China and the Asia-Pacific
Briefs
Peru's Shining Path Guerillas Launch New Attacks in Apurimac Valley Jacob Zenn For nearly a decade, Peru’s Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) Marxist militants have been in decline, with the group’s political wing becoming more active than the militant wing (Terrorism Monitor, May 15, 2014). However,... MORE
Terrorist-Turned-Pilot: A Profile of al-Shabab’s Rashid Mwalimu
In March, Kenyan security agencies issued an alert for the arrest of Rashid Mwalimu, an allegedly armed and dangerous pilot linked to al-Shabaab, the Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliate in East Africa. According to the police, Mwalimu was planning terrorist strikes in Kenya as revenge for the... MORE
Moscow and Tehran Dramatically Expanding Economic and Security Cooperation
Among the most important developments since the end of last year’s fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been the dramatic expansion in consultations and cooperation between Russia and Iran. This development reflects their common opposition to border changes, shared concern about the expansion of Turkish... MORE
Moscow Promoting Canal System Linking Turkey and Central Asia Via Russian Territory
In the 1930s, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin considered building a canal between the Black and Caspian seas because the Volga–Don Canal lacked the depth to handle large-capacity ships. But World War II forced him to suspend and then abandon that dream. Now, President Vladimir Putin... MORE
What I Learned From the PLA’s Latest Strategy Textbook
Introduction In August 2020, China’s National Defense University (NDU) released a revised version of its Science of Military Strategy (战略学, zhanlüe xue) (SMS), a core textbook for senior PLA officers on how wars should be planned and conducted at the strategic level. This article compares... MORE
Low Fertility Trap Fears Cloud China’s Release of 2020 Census Data
The results of China’s seventh national census were released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on May 11, after more than a month’s delay. NBS commissioner and deputy leader of the State Council Leading Group for the Seventh National Population Census Ning Jizhe (宁吉喆)... MORE
China’s Bid to Dominate Electrical Connectivity in Latin America
Introduction On March 31, Chilean regulators unconditionally approved the $3 billion sale of Chile’s Compañía General de Electricidad (CGE) to the Chinese state-owned electric utility company State Grid (InfoBae, March 31). The deal follows China Southern Power Grid’s 2018 purchase of a 27.7 percent interest... MORE
Sustaining China’s Sovereignty Claims: The PLA’s Embrace of Unmanned Logistics
Introduction The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has tested the use of unmanned vehicles (UAVs) to perform logistical missions such as transportation and resupply since 2018. In academic explorations of border defense and logistics modernization, PLA logistics officers argue that UAVs can dramatically increase the... MORE
Sino-Australian Relations and the Bumpy Road to the G7 Summit
Introduction The Chinese-born Australian journalist Cheng Lei (成蕾) was formally arrested by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in early February after having been detained for six months in Beijing. Her arrest was confirmed by the PRC on February 8, with Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson... MORE
The ‘Big Game’ Around Georgia’s Deep-Water Ports
Last March, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced that his government would post a new tender for the construction of the Anaklia deep-water port (Report.ge March 31; Netgazeti, March 4). This mega-project, originally envisioned by former president Mikhail Saakashvili (in power 2004–2012), is the most... MORE