The idea of a return to great-power competition is related, by its proponents, to calls for national renewal, technological innovation, and a change in military posture such as moving forces from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific region, with an “increasingly aggressive” China as the rationale.
Read Here | The National Interest
Forget the poetic flap of a butterfly’s wings in Beijing causing rain in Central Park. Climate issues in Asia-Pacific are measured in superlatives. The world’s biggest population. Two of the three largest carbon dioxide-emitting countries and the largest share of emissions globally. The most exposed to extreme weather events. Some of the smallest and most vulnerable countries. Also, the fastest-growing part of the global economy and many of the leaders in green technology.
Read Here | IMF Blog
Ahead of an all-crucial meeting with high-ranking Chinese officials later this week in Alaska, top Biden administration officials are rallying regional allies for a united front against the Asian powerhouse. In their first foreign trip (March 15-18), the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have embarked on “two plus two” meetings with their counterparts in Japan and South Korea, two treaty allies on the frontline of a brewing Sino-American rivalry.
Read Here | Asia Times
President Joe Biden entered the White House determined to restore the world’s confidence in the United States. That task is particularly important in the Indo-Pacific, a region that has become as central to geopolitics as Europe was during the Cold War. The United States’ presence, influence, and credibility in the region are flagging, and restoring them will require Biden to climb out of a deep hole.
Read Here | Foreign Affairs
One of the oddities of Asian geopolitics is that, if China’s neighbors are fearful of its growing hard power capabilities, there is little evidence of urgency in their responses. As China’s People’s Liberation Army has become more advanced and capable, many neighboring militaries have stagnated. If there is a regional arms race, it has few participants and China has won it before the starting gun has even been fired.
Read Here | Nikkei Asia
The potential benefits notwithstanding, India’s refusal to accede to the agreement was not entirely surprising. For decades, New Delhi has followed a highly protectionist set of economic policies as part of its historic commitment to a strategy of import-substituting industrialization.
Read Here | Foreign Policy
While China’s many contested border areas may appear to have become more inflamed coincident with its rising global ambitions, the reality is that Beijing has long stoked and sustained borderland disputes as a tactic to win concessions on wider issues with its neighbours.
Read Here | Asia Times
The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s biggest trade pact, by 15 Asia-Pacific countries Sunday represents a victory for multilateralism over unilateralism and free trade over protectionism.
Read Here | People’s Daily
Also Read | Welcome To The Might-Is-Right Global Trade Era
The term “disruption” is in and of itself neither a compliment nor a criticism. Disruption can be desirable and even necessary if the status quo is incompatible with one’s interests and there is an alternative that is both advantageous and achievable. But disruption is anything but desirable if the status quo serves one’s interests (or would with only minor adjustments) or the available alternatives are likely to be worse.
India is now rethinking its China policy and looking for ways to build deterrence, especially given the disparity in military and economic power between the two countries. And it now has an opportunity to do this by leading a middle-power response to China in the Asia-Pacific.
