BLOG Post #364: China and Europe: Profits versus Principles 22 Feb 202320 Feb 2023 With all the attention on US-China relations, Beijing’s on-again, off-again relations with the European Union (EU) don’t receive the attention they deserve. In the short space of a few decades,…
BLOG Post #363: More on the China Balloon Episode: Much Ado About Very Little 13 Feb 202322 Feb 2023 (The China Balloon Incident has three phases. We have just exited Phase 2. In Phase 1, “Discovery,” the Biden administration went into action mode on finding that a Chinese “spy”…
BLOG Post #362: Risky Business: Japan Steps Out 25 Jan 202325 Jan 2023 (This blog is also available as a podcast at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/86207/67-risky-business-japan-steps-out-h1JT0.mp3) Background to a Changing Strategic Perspective Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has just visited Washington, drawing attention to how Japan…
BLOG Post #360 The Threat Business: China or Russia? 2 Jan 20233 Jan 2023 Dual Enemies For those in charge of US national security, the central challenge is identifying threats and determining how to counter them. The Biden administration has cast China and Russia,…
BLOG Post #357: The Biden-Xi Summit in Bali 22 Nov 202222 Nov 2022 Some Reasons for Optimism The much-ballyhooed first in-person summit between Pres. Biden and Xi on November 14 went off pretty well. Biden clearly communicated the US belief that a…
BLOG Post #350: Two on China: Xi Does Well in Central Asia, Taiwan Fares Well in the US Senate 20 Sep 202219 Sep 2022 The Limits of “No Limits” In the course of his Central Asia tour, Xi Jinping met with Vladimir Putin for what some analysts thought would be a reprise of their…
APB… ANNOUNCEMENT: MY NEW BOOK ON CHINA 8 Sep 202214 Oct 2022 Dear Readers: On October 15, Engaging China: Rebuilding Sino-American Relations will be published by Rowman & Littlefield. As you know from my blogs on US-China relations, I am at once…
BLOG Post #348: Another Missed Opportunity in US-China Relations 24 Aug 202223 Aug 2022 The Washington Post reports that Xi Jinping personally asked President Biden to find a way to put off House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/20/nancy-pelosi-biden-taiwan/) . According to…
BLOG Post #346: Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan Trip: A Needless Provocation 3 Aug 20223 Aug 2022 The audio version of this blog is available at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/66494/55-nancy-pelosis-taiwan-trip-a-needless-provocation.mp3 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was intent on visiting Taiwan, and did so despite President Biden’s misgivings and criticisms from many China…
APB Five Reasons Why Nancy Pelosi Should Postpone a Trip to Taiwan 28 Jul 2022 House Leader Nancy Pelosi seems intent on visiting Taiwan. That might not seem like a big deal to Americans, but these are dangerous times in US-China relations. That makes…
BLOG Post #339: Biden, Taiwan, and Strategic Ambiguity 27 May 202228 May 2022 An audio version of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/60974/47-biden-taiwan-and-strategic-ambiguity.mp3 Defending Taiwan At a stopover in Tokyo during his Asia trip, President Biden was asked whether the US would “defend Taiwan”…
BLOG Post #330: An Engagement Moment for the US and China 20 Mar 202222 Mar 2022 Listen to this blog at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/54894/39-an-engagement-moment-with-china-on-ukraine.mp3 One of the more interesting developments in Putin’s war on Ukraine is the retreat of China from full-fledged support of Russia. When the Russian…
BLOG Post #325: China’s Careful Dance Around the Ukraine Crisis 6 Feb 20225 Feb 2022 The podcast of this blog may be heard at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/50923/34-china-russia-relations-and-the-ukraine-crisis.mp3 Reports out of Washington suggest worry over a Russia-China partnership that would facilitate Vladimir Putin’s presumed ambition to absorb Ukraine…
BLOG Post #323 – Destroying Democracy: China in Hong Kong 11 Jan 202211 Jan 2022 An audio version of this blog is available at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/48006/32-destroying-democracy-china-in-hong-kong.mp3 On July 1, 1997 the United Kingdom formally handed Hong Kong over to China under an agreement that was supposed…
BLOG Post #322: The Battle Over Cobalt 22 Dec 202111 Jan 2022 The audio version of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/46515/30-the-battle-over-cobalt.mp3 Today’s commentary is about a valuable mineral that is the subject of intense international competition. Not a new subject: In past…
BLOG Post #318: Finding Common Ground with China 18 Nov 202117 Nov 2021 Readers note: An audio version of this blog is available at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/44104/26-finding-common-ground-with-china.mp3 “It seems clear to me we need to establish some common-sense guardrails,” President Biden told President Xi Jinping…
BLOG POST #312: The China Initiative, A Flawed and Dysfunctional Policy 22 Sep 2021 President Biden is continuing the disengagement policy toward China that began under Donald Trump, with strong bipartisan support. Many people may not be aware that the opposite policy once…
BLOG Post #301: The Pentagon’s Untouchable Budget 11 Jun 20215 Jul 2021 This post is also available as a podcast at https://www.podserve.fm/dashboard/episode_player_2/33010 Did you really think that electing Joe Biden would mean major reductions in military spending and the shift of Pentagon…
BLOG Post #299: War Over Taiwan? Avoiding a US-China Miscalculation 2 Jun 20211 Jun 2021 This blog is available as a podcast: https://www.podserve.fm/dashboard/episode_player_2/32051 A shorter audio version can be accessed at "Today in Foreign Affairs" on the website. The Increasing US Commitment to Taiwan Taiwan…
BLOG Post #293: The US-China Dialogue of the Deaf in Alaska 30 Mar 202128 Mar 2021 Rules-Based Order? Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he knew, going into the first face-to-face meetings with China’s top two foreign affairs officials on March 17, that “we are fundamentally…
In the Human Interest - Mel Gurtov 