East Asia
He is the author and editor of numerous studies of the new Confucian movement in East Asia.
This article argues that Japan would not only be concerned about the creation of a united Korea, which could be a serious economic and political rival in her own backyard, but would actively fear the prospect of the extension of Chinese or Russian military influence to the Straits of Tsushima through a Korean regime that leaned towards either of these powers. For the U.S., too, while there might be...
This article examines the role of Japan in relation to China’s security interests in the post-Cold War era. The first section assesses Japan as a potential security threat to China at a time when Japan appears to be re-emerging as a great power. It analyzes the possible rise of nationalism in Japan today, including discussion of China’s dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands. The second section...
This article first appeared in Chinese inShehui kexue (Social Science) 9 (September 1996), pp. 19–24.
To shed light on conflicting views of the regional readjustment under way, this article views Northeast Asia from various geographical angles. It compares local strategies for regionalism, identifying the perspectives of six border cities, two each in China, Japan, and Russia. Problems of regionalism are treated in light of the poor fit among local strategies. The past five years have produced more...
This article examines Japan’s search for a more active international role in the Korean peninsula after the Cold War. It argues that Japanese foreign policy toward the Korean peninsula after the Cold War has continued to exhibit a reactive posture due to several important constraints. The United States has remained an important factor in shaping the Japanese foreign policy agenda in the post-Cold...
The United States has adopted a high-profile approach to pressure Asian governments to improve human rights and move toward democracy. Japan, in contrast, has avoided confronting its Asian neighbors over human rights while balancing between Asia and the West. Japan’s reluctance, in supporting the U.S., except in the multilateral context, has strengthened the position of Asian nations sanctioned by the West. Japan’s approach is explained by its lack of interests and convictions about promoting human rights in Asia, its past aggression in the region, the absence of explicit United States pressure on Japan and the deterrent effect of strong Asian opposition to foreign intervention on human rights....
Like many realist works written during the 1920s and 1930s, Lu Xun's True Story of Ah Q has been read as a satire of Chinese national characteristics. The problem with interpreting the work as a social satire is that it tends to perpetuate the set of essentialist cultural myths that many Chinese authors used for self-representation. Upon close examination, Lu Xun's story, an attempt to indict Chinese...
Before the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong from Britain to the People's Republic of China, many people of Hong Kong and observers were pessimistic regarding freedom of the press in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). After July 1, 1997, however, press freedom in the HKSAR appears to persist and it seems as if the optimistic scenario of media autonomy has been neglected by many Hong Kong residents and observers. Nevertheless, media autonomy in the HKSAR is dependent on a number of factors. This article suggests that a contingency perspective can be adopted to comprehend the dynamics of media autonomy in the HKSAR....
The Asianization of East Asian security has been unfolding in the forms of the emergence of a genuinely regional security complex, the Asian initiative of security dialogue, and the assertion of an Asian way of diplomacy. Ironically, the uncertainties surrounding the United States' role are a key factor driving regionalization and, at the same time, a critical security issue in the emerging regional security complex. The essentiality of the U.S. role provides Washington with key leverage to ensure a role commensurate with its centrality in East Asian security. In light of the danger and opportunities regionalization presents for U.S. policy, it is vital to distinguish rhetoric from reality and to discern paradoxical developments in the Asianization movement. By its continued commitment to working with other regional powers, and its activism in promoting security multilateralism through ASEAN-Regional Forum (ARF), the U.S. can ensure that regionalization leads to an Asia-Pacific security complex that contains threats wherever they arise....
In over forty years of relations with the United States, South Korean decision-makers have had plenty of time to estimate the costs and benefits of acquiring nuclear weapons. The puzzle becomes why South Korea did not develop an operational nuclear capability, given the North Korea threat, the weakening of the U.S. guarantee, a vibrant economy, and an advanced nuclear manufacturing base. This case...
Views of China in today's Russia are characterized by great diversity. There are those who stand for strengthening ties with China to counterbalance the West; those who prefer Russia balancing between various power centers; and those who fear China as a growing geopolitical rival with a potential of expanding at the expense of Russian territory. Russia's government for the foreseeable future can be expected to advocate closer ties with China. However, the real question now is not whether a future Russian leadership will advocate a more hostile or more friendly course toward China, but if it will be able to support its wishes (whatever they may be) with the real resources necessary to pursue any consistent policy...
India’s nuclear tests in May 1998 caused a major setback for the Sino-Indian relationship. This article attempts to answer why the relationship was turned around so quickly and what the strategic fallouts are of the Indian nuclear tests for future Sino-Indian relations. The author argues that despite measurable improvements in Sino-Indian relations in recent years, the two nations still view each other as geostrategic rivals. The major motivation for New Delhi's bomb decision is that it has felt increasingly uncomfortable with the power asymmetry between India and China, and it wants to sit as an equal to China at the table of world powers by declaring itself a nuclear weapons state...
He has degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia, and is a graduate of the Department of State's Senior Seminar in Foreign Policy. His experience includes postings at U.S. embassies in Europe and Southeast Asia. Since retirement, he has been a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, senior researcher at the RAND Corporation, and since 1992, at the Center for Naval Analyses in...