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December 15 , 2017
  • TIME：China Is Still Building on Disputed Islands in the South China Sea
    TIME reports: "Tensions over China's island-building in the South China Sea may have eased in the past year, but Beijing has kept busy. New satellite imagery shows China has built infrastructure covering 72 acres in the Spratly and Paracel islands during 2017 to equip its larger outposts to be air and naval bases. The Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative closely tracks developments in the South China Sea, where China and several Asian governments have conflicting territorial claims. It said Thursday there has been construction of hangars, underground storage, missile shelters, radar arrays and other facilities. The activity comes as China joins what are likely to be protracted negotiations with Southeast Asian nations on a 'code of conduct' for South China Sea. Tensions with the U.S. on the issue have also eased, despite Washington's criticism of Beijing's conduct. The construction is the follow-up phase to a campaign of land reclamation that was completed by early 2016 in the Spratlys, an island chain where Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei also have claims... The U.S. and others have accused Beijing of further militarizing the region and altering geography to bolster its sweeping claims across the South China Sea. China says the man-made islands in the Spratlys, which are equipped with airstrips and military installations, are mainly for civilian purposes and to boost safety for fishing and maritime trade."
  • The New York Times：Communist Parties' Victory in Nepal May Signal Closer China Ties
    The New York Times reports: "Communist parties in Nepal with closer ties to neighboring China have emerged victorious in the country's largest democratic exercise ever. A powerful political coalition of two communist parties led by former prime ministers, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and K. P. Sharma Oli, won a majority of the contested seats in two legislative bodies, the Parliament and the Provincial Assembly. Vote counting began shortly after polls closed on Dec. 7, but the results did not become clear until this week. On Friday, a spokesman for Nepal's election commission said his office had to tally up only a small number of votes. The defeat of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's governing Nepali Congress party is likely to have significant foreign policy implications for Nepal, a landlocked country squeezed between India and China. Mr. Deuba's government recently oversaw the cancellation of an award granted by a Chinese company to develop a large hydropower project in Nepal. Politicians say that decisions like that could be reversed under the leadership of politicians like Mr. Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal, who took a harder line against India when he served as prime minister."
  • CNN：How US and Asian democracies can counter China
    CNN comments: "America is reaffirming its commitment to securing a free and open Indo-Pacific region amid North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, China's increasingly assertive rise and other challenges. India and Japan, two of our key partners, have increased their security cooperation in response to regional challenges. But Washington must do more to support them and expand the involvement of Australia and other Asian democracies.Much of the 21st century's history will be written in Asia. The region makes upnearly 60% of the world's population and roughly 40% of global GDP. Home to large and capable militaries, Asia accounts for the majority of the world's eight declared nuclear-armed nations, including North Korea.Marco RubioUnder President Xi Jinping, China is attempting to author its own version of the Indo-Pacific region's history. The People's Liberation Army is expanding and modernizing its military conventional and unconventional capabilities, including its vast arsenal of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. It is also forcefully asserting Beijing's claims in territorial disputes with neighbors, including in the South China Sea and in the Doklam plateau at the Indo-Chinese border. Furthermore, China is using its economic might to extend the long arm of its geopolitical influence, access and control, especially through its "Belt and Road Initiative" -- aggressively promoting infrastructure projects throughout Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. It also recently established a naval base in Djibouti to enhance Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean and expeditionary capabilities. To ensure the arc of history bends toward a free and open Indo-Pacific, regional democracies will have to cooperate more."


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