Country Report: Japan (December 2021)

The autumn of 2021 was a time of transition in leadership without indication of any shift in foreign policy. The relationship with China had turned colder in 2020 […]

Washington Forum (September-October 2021)

In the late summer and early fall 2021 the number of webinars increased. China was, of course, on people’s minds, but most attention centered on the southern tier […]

The Japanese Government’s Shifting Rhetoric about Taiwan and Its Significance

As Kishida Fumio assumes the leadership of the LDP and the position of prime minister, one of the most pressing questions about the veteran foreign minister’s thinking toward […]

Japan’s New Security Posture and Its Implications for Taiwan

In 2021 talk of conflict over Taiwan has grown to an unprecedented level, both in Japan and the United States. Bilateral plans for responding to Chinese coercion have […]

Country Report: China (June 2021)

In mid-2021, a Chinese analysis assessed the long-lasting impact of former Prime Minister Abe on Sino–Japanese relations. The author lamented the deterioration of Sino–Japanese relations in April, especially […]

Country Report: Japan (June 2021)

The late spring of 2021 saw Japan solidify its alliance with the United States in a summit between Suga Yoshihide and Joe Biden and in the multilateral G7 […]

The US-Japan-ROK Trilateral in the Indo-Pacific Era: Strategic Alignment or Still in Flux?

After hitting rock bottom in the final years of the 2010s, prospects for the trilateral of the US-Japan-ROK have looked up in 2021, despite serious, lingering barriers. Four […]

A US perspective

The undisputed evaluation of the summit is that it was a bilateral success. US media and think tanks alike acknowledged that each side gave the other enough to […]

A South Korean perspective

The summit between President Moon Jae-in and President Joe Biden on May 21 was critical for Moon and the South Korean public in two key ways: 1) it […]

A Japanese perspective

For the Japanese government, the US-ROK relationship after the establishment of the Biden administration is a difficult puzzle. The guiding principle was presumed to be the unfolding of […]