Asia-Pacific Archive

– Good thing Greece blocked Macedonia’s NATO bid in 2008. Now the Macedonian army chief of staff is in Beijing looking to improve military cooperation with China. – For that China-Taiwan MoU on banking regulation, the signature’s ready, but the title it goes over is holding things up. – After Malaysia, Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Singapore. His way of letting President Barack Obama know just whose neighborhood it is? – Don’t hold your breath on Turkey-Armenia reconciliation. – France and Turkey have reportedly reached an agreement on Turkey’s EU accession: France will continue to oppose it, without blocking continued […]

Here are a few of the week’s highlights from WPR’s video section: As Germany celebrates 20 years since the Berlin Wall crumbled, some vintage footage from PBS’ NewsHour provides a look back to what policymakers and pundits of the day were thinking. From utter shock and surprise to apprehension, then-Sens. Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn, arms negotiator Paul Nitze, former National Security Adviser Walt Rostow, and former ambassador and economist John Galbraith explore what this new East Germany might look like. So, how did they do? In Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s latest dig at Thailand’s current government, Cambodia has […]

Ambassador Robert O. Blake, recently appointed to his new role as assistant secretary for South and Central Asian affairs, spoke to a room teeming with India experts yesterday at the Asia Society in New York. Though Blake has been a career diplomat, spending 2003-2006 as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Mission in New Delhi, his message was clear — the future of U.S.-India relations rests on the shoulders of the private sector. In advance of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s upcoming visit to the White House, Singh’s first state visit since President Barack Obama has been in office, […]

In an interview with Charlie Rose, Secretary of State Hillary RodhamClinton says that nation-building in Afghanistan is not the goal, butrather a possible byproduct of fighting terrorism in the region. Shealso explains, what she feels to be, is the difference betweenappropriate uses for counter-insurgency versus counter-terrorismtactics.

World Politics Review Contributing Editor David Axe provides this footage of U.S. Air Force mentors and Afghan airmen based at Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. The group is flying a mission on AfghanNational Army Air Corps Mi-17 helicopters. The footage provides a look into the mentor programs that are helping to create an independent Afghan military force.

Al-Jazeera interviews South-East Asia Expert Larry Jaga in light of rising tensions between Cambodia and Thailand. Cambodia refuses to extradite former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to Thailand, citing political motives as the reason for extradition. But political reasons, Jaga notes, could be motivation on both the part of Thailand and Cambodia. Jaga believes Thailand would prefer to keep talks bilateral, while he thinks Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen may enjoy the attention of the South East Asian community if talks should become multi-lateral.

– Among the agreements signed during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Malaysia was an MoU on banking regulation. This seems to be an increasing priority for Chinese regional policy. – Count World Bank President Robert Zoeller as the latest believer in the Yuan as an alternative reserve currency. – If China is looking to raise its profile in the Gulf, Qatar makes for a logical partner. – It looks like Japan and the U.S. have agreed to downgrade the Futenma base dispute, in advance of President Barack Obama’s imminent arrival in Tokyo. – China agrees to sell $1.4 billion […]

ISLAMABAD — With Pakistani security forces taking over several Taliban and al-Qaida strongholds in South Waziristan, thousands of militants have apparently fled to other parts of the country — raising fears that militancy will spread and escalate. On Nov. 5, Pakistani military and paramilitary security forces reclaimed Laddah, an important Taliban stronghold in South Waziristan, leaving only Makeen in the hands of the Pakistani Taliban movement called TTP. However, tribal leaders and local observers from South Waziristan have confirmed that thousands of TTP, Arab al-Qaida and other foreign militants — including Uzbeks and Chechens — have escaped to other areas […]

LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan — When the gate opened at the U.S. Army outpost in Baraki Barak district on the morning of Oct. 25, it seemed the Army’s long-planned strategy to win over local farmers might fail. For weeks, Able Troop, an element of 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry, had prepared to provide free veterinary services to potentially hundreds of local farmers — coordinating with the local government, hiring vets, stockpiling medicine, and spreading word of the event. The idea was to win the farmers’ allegiance, and create what 3rd Squadron commander Lt. Col. Thomas Gukeisen called “dislocated envy.” That would, in […]

– Chinese President Hu Jintao kicked off a state visit to Malaysia, pledging to deepen strategic cooperation between the two countries. Hu is the first Chinese head of state to visit the country in 15 years. – China’s Health Ministry will step up regulation and licensing of medical practitioners, after a high-profile case of medical malpractice involving unlicensed medical students. – As part of its independent “space program,” Iran has announced plans to launch a second research satellite in 2011. – Macau, the Las Vegas of Asia, is running out of potable water. The city has 10 days of drinking […]

NewsHour’s Margaret Warner speaks with Hamid Karzai, re-electedpresident of Afghanistan whose opponent Abdullah Abdullah refused torun in the scheduled run-off election last week. Karzai, whose winbrings into question his regime’s involvement in the rigged election,faces serious skepticism from outsiders who question the legitimacy ofhis government. The Afghan leader says that the United States and hisgovernment share a common goal in fighting terrorism and a common enemyin fighting corruption.

No sooner does Jack Lang, the newly appointed French envoy to North Korea, touch down in Pyongyang than all hell breaks loose. I had a feeling this would happen. Good thing President Barack Obama just decided to send his own presidential envoy, Stephen Bosworth, to North Korea to straighten things out. Here’s hoping Bosworth gets a chance to debrief with Richard Holbrooke and George Mitchell before he heads off. I’m sure those guys have useful tips on how this whole special envoy thing is done.

Le Figaro reports that China is now the number one foreign operator in the Iraqi oil sector. I’m struck by the way in which markets we open, whether by war (Iraqi oil, Afghan copper) or diplomacy (Indian and UAE nuclear energy), are exploited by our friendly competitors (China and France, respectively). That explains why no real American empire is possible so long as we remain committed to the liberal market. It also shows how even an ideologically driven interventionism can be compromised by the adherence to the liberal global trade order. If democracy promotion in Iraq results in a net […]

Hugh White argues that the first step to winning the Cold War was losing the Vietnam War. If so, it adds even more significance to the arrival yesterday in Da Nang, Vietnam, of Cmdr. H.B. Le as the commanding officer of the USS Lassen. Le left Vietnam in a fishing boat in 1975, at the age of five. Something to ponder for those who argue that losing isn’t an option. White’s piece, which offers five other thought-provoking observations, is the most insightful thing I’ve read so far on the fall of the Berlin Wall (admittedly not a lot, since I’ve […]

China’s fifth generation of leaders is coming of age at a critical juncture in the history of the People’s Republic of China. Slated to assume power in 2012-2013, they will face both opportunities and challenges. Despite the current global economic and financial crisis, most projections of China’s continuing rise have it assuming the No. 2 spot in the international pecking order by that time, with further enhanced economic and political influence, but also heightened expectations and demands for Beijing to take the lead in global and regional affairs. At the same time, domestic issues, from ethnic unrest to growing income […]

Last month, Republicans bashed President Barack Obama for not meeting with the Dalai Lama during his swing through Washington, portraying the president as caving to pressure from Chinese “tyrants” who hold trillions of dollars in U.S. debt and view the Tibetan spiritual leader as Public Enemy No. 1. “You can bet the Chinese are using their influence in ways we do not even know about,” warned Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, the Republican co-chair of the Congressional Tibet Caucus. “This goes way beyond the Dalai Lama. The U.S. has permitted China to have a one-way free trade policy for decades, and now […]

On Oct. 1, the People’s Republic of China celebrated the 60th anniversary of its founding, most notably with an air show and military parade along Beijing’s Orwellian-sounding Avenue of Eternal Peace. The event showcased China’s arsenal of indigenously made fighter aircraft, tanks and newer-generation Dongfeng missiles, capable of delivering nuclear warheads to targets over 11,000 kilometers away. This was hardly the first time an authoritarian government has used a military review to impress its citizens and outside observers. And China has used non-martial events to display its national pride, confidence and strength. In many ways, last year’s Beijing Olympics served […]