This week Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan made headlines by controversially describing what he called, “China’s deeply ingrained need for conflict,” in comments made to the Washington Post, part of an ongoing row over islands in the East China Sea. Abe is visiting with President Obama today at the White House, and will be speaking at CSIS. Update: Watch full video of the concluded CSIS event with Prime Minister Abe here . Our cogitASIA contributors including CSIS Japan Chair Mike Green, Japan Chair Senior Fellow Nicholas Szechenyi, and Simon Chair Matthew Goodman offer their analysis of Abe’s economic and foreign policy messages during his U.S. visit.
The U.S. internal struggle with the legality of drone strikes is well documented, but how the U.S. may respond to another country such as China demonstrating that capability is not. Reports that China’s law enforcement and military considered using a drone strike to target a drug cartel leader in a remote part of Myanmar, have brought that day much closer to reality. Chinese officials opted to arrest the individual, but the days of the unique U.S. drone strike capability in Asia are limited.
How will tiny Brunei handle the significant responsibility of hosting the East Asia Summit in 2013 and can it manage the regional tension between (and among) ASEAN states and China over the South China Sea? Sumitro Chair Senior Fellow Murray Hiebert gives his take on what Brunei plans to focus on during its chairmanship this year, and how that meshes with stated U.S. goals in the region.
Cyber attacks are never far from the headlines, but cyber has been seemingly everywhere this week following a report by the cyber security firm Mandiant which documented cyber espionage conducted against U.S. and multinational companies by a computer unit of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. CSIS’s Jim Lewis is providing his thoughts on Asia in the age of cyber challenges for cogitASIA and the Lowy Interpreter of Australia in a series of posts this week.
President Obama’s mention of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) during the State of the Union address last week did not go unnoticed in Asia. Prime Minister Abe may announce Japan’s intention to join negotiations following his trip to U.S., while key global trade partners such as China are watching closely to see what will happen. Following the conclusion of the KORUS FTA with South Korea, Japan’s involvement in TPP would be the next step in regional trade integration.
