Showing posts tagged CSIS
Xinhua has set up a special web page for North Korea’s nuclear test that links from the top headline on its website.  The main article on the page contains the official statement from the foreign ministry on the test, which reads as follows: ２０１３年２月１２日，朝鲜民主主义人民共和国不顾国际社会普遍反对，再次进行核试验，中国政府对此表示坚决反对。 实现半岛无核化、防止核扩散、维护东北亚和平与稳定，是中方的坚定立场。我们强烈敦促朝方信守无核化承诺，不再采取可能恶化局势的行动。 维护半岛及东北亚和平与稳定符合各方共同利益。中国政府呼吁各方冷静应对，坚持通过对话协商，在六方会谈框架下解决半岛无核化问题。 Key takeaways (this is a somewhat literal translation of the bolded and underlined sections): “North Korea has again carried out a nuclear test in spite of widespread opposition from the international community; the Chinese government expresses its resolute disapproval to this….  We strongly urge the North Korean side to abide by its commitments to denuclearize and not continue to carry out actions that may worsen the situation.”  The statement is more strongly worded than some past ones but is still not as harsh as its response to the 2006 nuclear test, where it denounced North Korea’s actions as “flagrant” or 悍然.  If you’re more interested in the Sino-DPRK relationship, check out CSIS’s recent report, “Reordering Chinese Priorities on the Korean Peninsula,” which (full disclosure) I helped work on while I was interning there this past summer. View high resolution

Xinhua has set up a special web page for North Korea’s nuclear test that links from the top headline on its website.  The main article on the page contains the official statement from the foreign ministry on the test, which reads as follows:

２０１３年２月１２日，朝鲜民主主义人民共和国不顾国际社会普遍反对，再次进行核试验，中国政府对此表示坚决反对。

实现半岛无核化、防止核扩散、维护东北亚和平与稳定，是中方的坚定立场。我们强烈敦促朝方信守无核化承诺，不再采取可能恶化局势的行动。

维护半岛及东北亚和平与稳定符合各方共同利益。中国政府呼吁各方冷静应对，坚持通过对话协商，在六方会谈框架下解决半岛无核化问题。

Key takeaways (this is a somewhat literal translation of the bolded and underlined sections): “North Korea has again carried out a nuclear test in spite of widespread opposition from the international community; the Chinese government expresses its resolute disapproval to this….  We strongly urge the North Korean side to abide by its commitments to denuclearize and not continue to carry out actions that may worsen the situation.”  The statement is more strongly worded than some past ones but is still not as harsh as its response to the 2006 nuclear test, where it denounced North Korea’s actions as “flagrant” or 悍然.  If you’re more interested in the Sino-DPRK relationship, check out CSIS’s recent report, “Reordering Chinese Priorities on the Korean Peninsula,” which (full disclosure) I helped work on while I was interning there this past summer.

"China's new strategies"

The current issue of The Washington Quarterly has a whole feature on China—trade, strategy, military issues—check it out!

"Trouble in the South China Sea"

By Bonnie Glaser, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Chair, CSIS.  She recently testified to Congress about the South China Sea and essentially told them the same thing:

The difficulty of navigating this paradox is clearly evident in the handling of territorial disputes in the South China Sea.  Southeast Asian nations periodically urge Washington to help them stand up to Chinese pressure to accept Beijing’s expansive claims there — but when Washington acts to prevent China from running roughshod over the region, its partners’ concerns about U.S.-China tensions spike and they implore the United States to step back. It is this paradox that makes maintaining a consistent and principled U.S. policy on the South China Sea both challenging and essential.

"Singapore tries to realign with Singaporeans"

Interesting post by Ernie Bower from the Southeast Asia Program at CSIS:

On July 31, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore restructured his government’s ministries and reshuffled his cabinet, revealing important trends to watch as the city-state seeks to evolve its political foundation. Lee made changes in two existing ministries, established a new ministry, and brought new faces into the cabinet, including Grace Fu – only the second woman promoted to the rank of full minister in Singapore’s history.

The moves are part of a process of adjustment following the general elections in May 2011, when the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) received a wake-up call from Singaporean voters who cast a record number of votes for opposition candidates. The changes show that the government is trying to find alignment with Singaporeans as the country strives to maintain its razor sharp competitiveness.

"China's leaders head to the beach"

Photo: A soldier on a private beach reserved for government officials in the resort of Beidaihe. (Courtesy Reuters)

New piece by the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS, Christopher Johnson, on the CCP leaders heading to their summer resort Beidaihe. 

What’s next for U.S.-Myanmar relations?

A March piece from two scholars in CSIS’s Southeast Asia Program called “Lessons Learned in Normalization: The U.S. and Myanmar Can Benefit from Studying Dos and Don’ts from Vietnam” proposes a road map for cooperation between the two countries in the wake of Secretary Clinton’s successful visit to Myanmar this spring.  More recently, the parliamentary elections that saw Aung San Suu Kyi and 42 other members of her National League for Democracy party selected at the ballot box are a promising sign that Myanmar will continue to open up.  Perhaps the multilateral elephant in the room for this improving bilateral relationship is China, which until Naypidaw’s liberalization had provided the a good deal of infrastructure construction (and also benefited from Myanmar’s natural resources) when Myanmar was off-limits for Western companies due to sanctions.  For example, Naypidaw has recently slowed or halted some of its China-led damming projects, which likely has Beijing irked.  But given the recent drama closer to home, China’s probably more focused on its domestic issues and bilateral relation with the U.S. than these relatively less important projects and deals in Myanmar.  Photo from the second link (article from Deutsche Welle).