Kim Jong-Il’s China Visit, Cheonan, Future of SPT and China’s Role
The Cheonan incident came at a very inopportune time for North Korea, irrespective of the fact whether Pyongyang had any hand in it or not.
- Rajaram Panda
- May 11, 2010
The East Asia Centre is dedicated to study and research the domestic and foreign policies of individual countries of the region as well as India’s multifaceted relationships with these countries. With respect to China, the Centre’s research foci are its foreign policy (particularly towards the US, Russia, Central Asia and Asia Pacific), domestic politics, economy, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and India’s relationship with China in all its dimensions. The Centre’s research also focuses on Taiwan, its domestic politics, Sino-Taiwanese relationship and Indo-Taiwanese relationship, Hong Kong and India-Hong Kong relations. Japan and Korea are the other major focus of the Centre, with its research focused on their domestic politics, foreign policy and comprehensive bilateral relationships with India. The geopolitics of the Asia Pacific and the Korean peninsula are also studied in the Centre.
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The Cheonan incident came at a very inopportune time for North Korea, irrespective of the fact whether Pyongyang had any hand in it or not.
The central question is whether democracy or semi-democracy should be subordinated to the personal ambitions of a few leaders like Thaksin or should the rule of law prevail.
If freedom of expression was the issue then other American internet service companies like Microsoft and Yahoo! should have also exited China along with Google.
While China has shown eagerness for the Dalai Lama’s return to China, it has categorically refused to take back the exiled Tibetan population based in India.
The disclosure of this agreement is aimed at scoring political points as well as addressing the discontent among the nuclear allergic Japanese who want adherence to the non-nuclear principles in letter and sprit.
Notwithstanding revelations about the secret nuclear pact, the Japan-US alliance is likely to remain strong and the East Asian security order will continue to be determined by the American presence
China has to accept that the long term solution to Tibetan discontent lies in granting greater autonomy to Tibetans instead of pursuing assimilation oriented policies.
Contradictions in India-China relations provide the rationale for greater engagement exactly like it has done in the case of US-China relations.
With Hatoyama’s determination to wrest policymaking power from bureaucrats in full swing, Japan is likely to witness an intense battle between the political masters and the powerful bureaucrats for supremacy.
With APEC accounting for half the world’s global economic output and 44 per cent of its trade value, Japan’s role in creating a region wide free-trade zone and developing a strategy for economic growth of the Asia Pacific is expected to be decisive for the world economy.