
Latest Articles about China and the Asia-Pacific
Informatization Drives Expanded Scope of Public Security
In a recent interview with the Ministry of Public Security’s (MPS) principle newspaper, a municipal police chief stated more than half of the solved cases were resolved because of the integration of technical surveillance data into his public security bureau’s operations (China Police Daily, March... MORE
Royal Army of Sulu Seeks to Restore the Sultanate in Malaysia’s Sabah State
The Royal Army of Sulu (RAS) is a militant organization with an estimated 200 to 400 members that seeks to reinstitute the control of the historic Sultanate of Sulu over Malaysia’s Sabah State, in the northeastern region of the island of Borneo. RAS fighters claim... MORE
Taming the Five Dragons? China Consolidates its Maritime Law Enforcement Agencies
China's new leadership recently announced its intention to reorganize its separate maritime law enforcement agencies under one governing body. State Council Secretary General Ma Kai announced the changes on March 10 at the 12th National People's Congress as part of broad institutional reforms involving the... MORE
Policy Reform Measures Highlight Potential for Transformation
In the next five years, China will implement a series of transformative public sector reforms due to the convergence of several factors over the past year that have made China ripe for change. Most obvious among them is the fact that the party leadership chosen... MORE
Centralized Power Key to Realizing Xi’s “China Dream”
Immediately after Xi Jinping was elected state president at the just-ended First Session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC), he revisited his idea about fulfilling the “China dream.” Xi, who is also general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and commander-in-chief, cited three... MORE
South Sea Fleet Exercises Shine Spotlight on Tensions
Tensions in the South China Sea once again appear to be on the rise as recent Chinese naval activity has attracted the attention of regional actors. On March 26, Hanoi publicly complained that a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy vessel had set a Vietnamese fishing... MORE
Russia, China Pledge Stronger Economic and Security Partnership
During the new Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Moscow, both sides pledged to develop not only energy and trade partnerships, but their defense ties as well. The renewed focus on security cooperation between Russia and China did not remain unnoticed in Japan. Moreover,... MORE
Kazakhstani-Korean Economic Partnership Strives Ahead
Kazakhstan has become South Korea’s (also known as the Republic of Korea—ROK) main economic partner in Central Asia, and powerful complementarities exist between Astana’s desire for foreign capital and technologies, especially in order to develop its infrastructure and new high-technology sectors, and Seoul’s need for... MORE
New South Korean Leader Affirms Strategic Partnership with Kazakhstan
Although the threat of war on the Korean Peninsula has been drawing most international attention, from the perspective of Central Asia, another interesting question is whether the new South Korean government will pursue as vigorous a Central Asian strategy as its predecessor. Under President Lee... MORE
Sino-Indian Defense Dialogue: A Panacea for the Sino-Indian Security Dilemma?
Defense diplomacy may not be an important tool in international relations but the Sino-Indian relations stand exception to it. Beginning with the landmark treaty on maintenance of peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in 1993, defense diplomacy became the “central dynamics... MORE