China

Soft Way to Consolidate Hard Power: China’s New ‘Low Profile’ Strategy Orientation

China learnt in 2010 that continued strategic tension with the United States provides less advantage to China’s vital interests. For consolidating a peaceful development environment, China began to reshape its rising strategy of “Low Profile with a new identity of an emerging power”. China might not satisfy the US hegemony profile, however, China is not certain nowadays that it can overcome its strategic limits and diplomatic isolation in East Asia.

‘Cheonan’ Epilogue: Prelude to the Sino-US Incompatibility on the South China Sea Dispute

The 'Cheonan' incident has prodded and expedited the strategic comeback of the US in East Asia. The US offer to mediate the territorial disputes over islands and seabed minerals in the South China Sea at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting in July 2010 has provoked harsh criticism from the Chinese. This US diplomatic move appears to be a premeditated one to substantially diminish the influence of China in the region, to re-secure its own strategic forward military presence and to signal that it is not yet time for China to acquire absolute control over this critical waterway.

‘China in SAARC? To What Effect?’: A Response to the Debate

The responses to the arguments that I forwarded in my initial essay, ‘China in SAARC? To What Effect?’, have introduced interesting dimensions to this debate. While most of the respondents have agreed with my proposition that it is premature to think about China's entry into the South Asian regionalist project and that it would introduce complex challenges that would be difficult to manage, they disagree with some of the reasons that I have cited.