9 Items

Photo of military delegates wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus leaving the Great Hall of the People after attending an event commemorating the 110th anniversary of Xinhai Revolution in Beijing, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021.

(AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Affairs

Can the U.S. and Chinese Militaries Get Back on Speaking Terms?

| Oct. 15, 2021

Nearly nine months into the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, Washington’s relationship with Beijing has sunk to a historic low. After a high-level diplomatic meeting in March that devolved into an ugly exchange of insults, fruitless visits to China by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, and virtual climate talks that failed to produce clear deliverables, the world’s two great powers have reached a dangerous impasse. 

...If the Biden administration hopes to manage the competition and prevent it from turning into catastrophe, it must take urgent action to establish and maintain open channels of communication between the Pentagon and China’s armed forces.

Marines with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command (SPMAGTF-CR-CC) guide evacuees on to a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan

U.S. Marine Corps via AP

Analysis & Opinions - The National Interest

Afghanistan Today Is Not Taiwan Tomorrow

| Aug. 23, 2021

The Biden Administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan has sparked renewed debate about the credibility of U.S. engagement in other parts of the world. But comparisons between U.S. policies toward Afghanistan and those toward Taiwan are more wrong than right. In short, U.S. commitments abroad are multifaceted across region and country—taking into account the unique geopolitical landscape and a complex hierarchy of national interests. At their core, Afghanistan and Taiwan hold fundamentally different degrees of strategic value to the United States—and face materially different challenges. 

Photo of Chinese People's Liberation Army cadets taking part in a bayonet drills at the PLA's Armoured Forces Engineering Academy Base, in the outskirt of Beijing, China Tuesday, July 22, 2014. 

(AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Analysis & Opinions - The Wire China

Joe Dunford on the Military Dimension of the China Competition

| Apr. 11, 2021

The military dimension of the U.S.-China relationship "is only one dimension,  and by far a supporting dimension to the broader objectives that are both political and economic," General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. (retired) said in an interview with Belfer Center Fellow Chris Li, writing for The Wire China.

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Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Affairs

Pathogens Have the World’s Attention: The United States Should Lead a New Push Against Bioweapons

| Mar. 16, 2021

U.S. President Joe Biden has spoken frequently of restoring the United States’ credibility as a global leader. That task, which comes at a moment of global crisis, will require the United States to recommit to multilateral diplomacy, even while managing a dangerously deteriorating relationship with China. By acting on biosecurity—a neglected priority hiding in plain sight—Biden can make progress on all of these goals. Washington has an opportunity to lead in an era of heightened great-power competition, address the need for arms control measures that reduce the risk of biological weapons, and potentially even push China to cooperate to that end.  

Photo of people wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus in Taipei, Taiwan, Saturday, May 30, 2020.

(AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Analysis & Opinions - The Diplomat

What Taipei Can Teach Local Leaders Elsewhere About Democratic Governance

| June 10, 2020

In recent months, Americans have witnessed the extraordinary leadership of state and local leaders—despite the lack of one synchronized national strategy. Debates over re-opening drag on, and tensions between the Trump administration and governors simmer. Meanwhile, the death toll has passed 100,000, and confirmed cases exceed 2 million.

In contrast, Taiwan has succeeded, not in flattening the curve—but completely suppressing it. A vibrant democracy with the population of Massachusetts, Virginia, and Indiana combined, Taiwan has reported a mere 443 cases and 7 deaths and has since stepped up to help globally. As U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pronounced, “Taiwan’s openness and generosity in the battle against COVID-19 is a model for the world.”

President Donald Trump, left, poses for a photo with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Saturday, June 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Analysis & Opinions - The National Interest

In War Against Coronavirus: Is China Foe—or Friend?

| Mar. 27, 2020

For America to defeat the coronavirus and return to a version of life as it was before this nightmare, should we identify China as an adversary against whom to mobilize? Or alternatively, must we recognize it as a partner whose cooperation is essential for our own victory? While the consensus in Washington has moved sharply toward defining China as part of the problem, the fact is that we cannot succeed in this war against coronavirus without making China part of the solution.