In a radio interview airing Nov. 17 on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Zhang Junsai, China’s ambassador to Canada, told radio host Evan Solomon that Chinese firms are not involved in foreign espionage, “I can assure you that our companies working in other countries are strictly doing business according to the local laws.” Zhang blamed the […]
Presidential politics in China are pretty predictable. About once a decade its Communist Party votes for a new leader, who becomes the new president. The process is shrouded in secrecy, and not much is known about the new boss until he (and it’s always been a “he”) takes office. There’s also always some debate and […]
“One Vision, One Identity, One Community.” That is the motto of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Very utopian. Some might say naïve. And yet this regional organization has, up until this year, always spoken in one voice with member states that always seemed to prize cooperation. But this quixotic approach to regional relations is […]
While foreign policy had a brief moment in the sun during this past election cycle, Americans are still clearly, and rightly, preoccupied with the challenges we face here at home. A CBS poll taken just before President Barack Obama was re-elected found that just 5 percent of Americans said foreign policy was an “issue of […]
Two and a half years after the Treaty of Lisbon, the EU showed up with a new human rights face for its external relations. The often repeated words of Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stating that human rights have to be a “silver thread” that runs […]
Today marks the start of the East Asia Summit, an annual forum where the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their counterparts from eight other nations, including China and the U.S., meet to discuss security and economic concerns. One issue which may take center stage concerns conflicting claims over the […]
Reminiscent of the carefully-choreographed 2008 Beijing Olympics, China’s unveiling on Thursday of the lineup of the new Politburo Standing Committee, its highest leadership body, took every precaution to ensure an orderly transfer of power. Security in Beijing was tightened, shops were ordered to remove fruit knives from their shelves, hotels opened and inspected all stored […]
A few quick updates are in order for a regular theme in this blog: Amid a torrent of extravagant prophesying about how China is poised to conquer the world, technological innovations and private entrepreneurs are actually rejuvenating America’s strategic prospects. As previous posts (here and here) have outlined, the marked surge in U.S. oil and […]
When two of the world’s largest superpowers undergo political transitions at the same time, contrasts are inevitable. One of the best comparisons comes from the above cartoon, which contrasts the bombardment of information from the American press with the deafening silence from China’s new leadership. While many Americans are sick and tired of the relentless […]
Honoring the vitality of America’s private sector The docket of whoever wins today’s presidential election will quickly fill up with unsolicited advice, so I’ll get mine in preemptively: When the White House decides on the next set of recipients for the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation’s highest civilian award – George P. Mitchell* […]
As with many Americans, my attention is divided between the election and the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. As fellow New Yorkers and others on the Eastern seaboard work to regain electricity, find transportation, resume their daily routines, and in some cases, cope with devastating losses, election officials are trying to ensure that everyone can access […]
The once-in-a-decade leadership transition in China that starts November 8 will see a new slate of top leaders installed by next spring, all eager to influence a new vision of a changing China. But the most prominent leaders to be replaced, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, are no lame ducks. Both are still […]
Chinese construction companies are behind many of the new buildings going up in Yangon While in Yangon, Myanmar last month, I had a chance to talk with several Myanmarese who naturally asked me where I lived. When I told them I lived in China, what struck me most with their response was their anxiety over […]
In the spring of 1966, a small group of students attending the Tsinghua University Middle School named themselves “Chairman Mao’s Red Guards” after signing two big-character posters criticizing the controversial play Hai Rui Dismissed from Office. The students interpreted the play as an allegory for Peng Dehuai’s criticism of Mao’s Great Leap Forward during the […]
I’m looking forward to the upcoming presidential debate on foreign policy. This will be the final debate before election day and will be held in Florida on Monday night at 9pm ET and hosted by Bob Schieffer of CBS News. According to the Commission on Presidential Debates we can expect the debate to cover […]