Dive into the archives.
- The Economist Still Opposes the Beijing Olympics
From John Micklethwait, Editor in Chief of The Economist:
In 2001 The Economist argued against the Olympic games being given to China, making unkind comparisons to the event in Berlin in 1936. Now that the games are about to begin, many people, not least in China, say we were wrong: the Olympics have helped the world’s [...]
- Trying to pin down the spin
The Daily Mail reports on the Chinese People’s Paramilitary Police and its preparations for the Olympics. During drills pins are placed in the officer’s collars and crosses strapped to their backs to aid in posture-building.
(Para-)Military forces around the world — developed or otherwise — use what civilians think of as “barbaric” practices during training. It [...]
- Can we survive China’s rush to emulate the American way of life?
Readers would not often catch Lord Curzon perusing the pages of Mother Jones, a liberal-progressive commentary magazine. However, a recent article subtitled, “Can the world survive China’s headlong rush to emulate the American way of life?” caught my eye like few other articles have so far in 2008. That question is, I believe, [...]
- Message or Creative Solution
With China’s not so subtle attempt to deter the US from weaponizing space by blowing up a satellite last year, one must view the current “problem” as an opportune moment to answer back:
US Plans to Shoot Down Broken Satellite
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Bush decided to make a first-of-its-kind attempt to use a missile to bring [...]
- 7 years in the making
A historical step in defense relations between China and Japan happened today with the arrival of the Shenzen — a Luhai-class warship — in Tokyo Bay. This is the first time a Chinese warship has made a port of call in Japan since the establishment of the People’s Liberation Army. The ship will be open [...]
- How do you say “peekaboo” in Chinese?
With regards to naval activity in northeast Asia check out this little piece of self-satisfaction that happened on exercise between Japan and Taiwan:
Chinese sub pops up in middle of U.S. Navy exercise, leaving military chiefs red-faced
... American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a [...]
- Ducks in a row
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has followed the examples of Chancellor Merkel and President Bush in angering China by receiving the Dalai Lama at Parliament. The Western powers know that China can’t throw too big a tantrum over these meetings with the 2008 Olympics coming up, so they are getting their kicks in while they [...]
- Chinese nuclear sub-spotting
Via the strategist comes a post by Hans M. Kristensen from FAS who used Google Earth to spot and identify two Chinese nuclear Jin-class submarines. Mr Kristensen was the man who spotted the original Jin earlier this year, though that time he didn’t use Google Earth. Someone went to the yard and took an oblique [...]
- Fanning the Embers: China and Instability in Oceania
Razed buildings in Honiara, Solomon Islands, April 2006.
Much of the debate about China’s rise in Oceania focuses on strategic considerations. Will Oceania become an arena of strategic competition between the US and China? How will China’s rise affect the interests of longstanding Pacific players, such as the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan? But what [...]
- A Long Game: The Rise of China in Oceania
Hooray! It’s Oceania Day once again. This time the strategist gives us some insight into the changing power balance in the South Pacific. – YH
Oceania is often seen as a strategic backwater, isolated from the whirlpool of great power politics. This is far from true. In the 19th century, Western powers carved up Oceania’s islands. [...]
