With the Beijing Olympics only days away and the Chinese economy continuing its robust expansion, the Chinese people are increasingly optimistic about China’s future and confident about its global image. That is the major finding from Pew’s 2008 Global Attitudes Survey.
Yesterday U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dropped in on an important Asian political conference she has missed in recent years. Ms. Rice's decision to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' Regional Forum in Singapore this week is a welcome if belated sign that the Bush administration has begun to give Asia its due as the new global center of gravity.
For a meeting dubbed the "World Economic Forum" (WEF), Davos isn't nearly cosmopolitan enough. Of the 6,000 or so people who make up the top of the world's power pyramid, about one-third were from Asia, and that number is increasing on an almost daily basis. But, despite tectonic shifts in world markets and politics, Asian attendance at Davos remains disproportionately low.
If the Burmese junta is so "unsophisticated" in the ways of diplomacy, why has it been able to hold onto power for so long?
China’s economic size will match that of the U.S. by 2035 and double it in total GDP by midcentury, concluded Albert Keidel during a panel discussion with leading experts on China’s economy and military. Participants discussed the success and substantiality of China’s economic rise and addressed the U.S. and global implications of China’s long-term economic growth.
China’s ascendency as the preeminent world commercial influence requires U.S. leaders to reassess a broad array of economic and military policies.
The next U.S. administration needs a clear strategic vision for Asia befitting the region’s status as the new global “center of gravity.”
The next U.S. administration needs a clear strategic vision for Asia befitting the region’s status as the new global center of gravity. That will require steps that include continuing the Strategic Economic Dialogue and avoiding coalitions based on democracy and common values.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. reviewed progress made under the U.S.–China Strategic Economic Dialogue.
Douglas Paal appeared on BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight to discuss the political ramifications of China’s massive earthquake—which saw the collapse of numerous buildings with substandard construction, prompting public outrage and calls for investigations of corruption.