Monthly Archives: January 2021

‘Global Britain’ takes aim at China in South China Sea

Fresh off a hard-fought Brexit deal with Brussels, the United Kingdom has immediately plunged itself into the center of Asian geopolitics and on a maritime collision course with China. Touting itself as “a global power with truly global interest”, the UK has announced the successful initial test of the newly-launched aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, […]

US-China ‘grey zone’ rivalry in South China Sea may be about to intensify

The United States has announced a strategy to integrate its maritime forces, including its coastguard, to counter China’s growing presence in the contested South China Sea. In the new American maritime warfare strategy for the next decade, the US Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard have jointly pledged to build an “integrated all-domain naval power” […]

Japan, US to boost defense ties with Europe in Indo-Pacific

Japan and the United States have welcomed planned naval deployments this year by major European countries to Indo-Pacific waters, as China’s rapid military modernization and maritime and territorial ambitions prompt moves to increase deterrence. With Beijing demonstrating increasing assertiveness in the East and South China seas and on the India-China border, Britain will deploy the […]

China’s rapid military development outpaces even the US

Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping is shaping to make the People’s Liberation Army his primary vehicle for driving the party’s strategic aims this year. The end of last year has brought remarkable policy and propaganda shifts in Beijing, mostly unreported in the democracies, that consolidate the CCP’s control of the military and make […]

Has China Decided That ‘Moderately Prosperous’ Is Good Enough?

As China’s growth model sputters and Xi Jinping prioritizes repression over reform, China looks unlikely to join the ranks of developed countries. China has a new set of economic goals—and they’re far less ambitious than those of past decades. In October, when the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) met to endorse President […]