"What is Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui up to?" That remains the burning question, following Lee’s reported abandonment of the long-standing "One China" policy that previously was the one important common denominator underwriting cross-straits relations and Sino-U.S. and Sino-Japanese relations vis-a-vis Taiwan. Lee has asserted that future cross-strait interaction should be based on the premise of […]

Is The Agreed Framework Between the United States of America and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea still viable? If so, is it sufficient to achieve its stated objectives? Are North Korea missile tests a violation?

The Clinton Administration’s much touted "strategic partnership" between the United States and China appears to a growing number of thoughtful Americans to have been hopelessly naïve from the outset. Are they right? Have recent events and revelations proven the critics of "engagement" to have been correct all along? In the wake of the tenth anniversary […]

It appears superfluous to talk about energy security in a time of present low oil prices and oil glut in the world market, but it is not an unwarranted anxiety that the world could be faced with the real challenge of an oil supply shortage in the future.

ASEAN-10 was born on the day Cambodia was officially admitted as a full member of this regional grouping. Therefore, April 30, 1999 should be remembered as a historic day for ASEAN. It took almost 32 years to complete the ASEAN-10. The road has not always been smooth, nor has it been without challenges. But those […]

In spite of the regime’s claim of no change in the Tiananmen verdict, the tragedy in 1989 has been revisited often over the last ten years by Chinese people in private and informal deliberations. People have not forgotten, though their perception of the event and its implication has changed over time. Today, the Chinese public […]

The just-concluded 13th annual Asia-Pacific Roundtable in Kuala Lumpur began with a session on "Perceptions: The Five Greatest Challenges to Asia-Pacific Security." Six speakers representing a broad range of professional disciplines and geographic regions shared their views on the greatest challenges as we approach the 21st Century.

Clear strategic thinking is the bedrock upon which effective foreign policy and security policy must be built. But today, U.S. foreign policy toward Southeast Asia is being made in something disturbingly — even dangerously — close to a strategic vacuum. Responding to the financial/economic crisis that has afflicted the region has become the near sum […]

The accidental U.S. cruise missile attack against the PRC embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia will have long-term negative consequences for Sino-U.S. relations, especially if both sides continue to mishandle the tragic affair. Ten days of talking with Chinese scholars, students, officials, and ordinary citizens in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing have convinced me that their shared sense […]

In recent months, South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung and Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi have separately called for the creation of a formal, governmental Northeast Asia Security Forum, to bring key regional states together to discuss common security interests and concerns. President Yeltsin has echoed these calls — Moscow has long been offended at being […]