A few curated security and defense reads from around the Internet to ring in the weekend:
China really wants to see a concluded final Iran deal later this month. To that end, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi counseled that the P5+1 and Iran should stick to the terms of the framework that was agreed to in early April in Lausanne, Switzerland, and refrain from making any new demands. Wang also suggested that all sides should respect the “legitimate concerns” of the negotiating parties.
Speaking of China, there’s buzz that the latest cyber attack against the U.S. government—a security breach at the Office of Personnel Management—was a state-sponsored cyber attack by China. Shannon Tiezzi rounded that up for The Diplomat here. The verdict on China’s involvement remains under dispute though. Over at the Washington Free Beacon, Bill Gertz has some government official quotes substantiating Chinese government involvement. Other commentators remain skeptical that the Chinese government would back this sort of an attack at this time.
You read a lot about how the U.S. Navy and Air Force are handling the rebalance to Asia, but what about the U.S. Army? Well, here’s a piece over at War on the Rocks that lays out the U.S. Army’s role in Asia pretty comprehensively.
Here’s a thoughtful reflection on strategy that takes aim the reductionist claim that China’s approach to strategic thought is for, whatever reason, impenetrable for the West because of things like “The West plays chess, and China plays wei qi or go.” In fact, none other than Henry Kissinger makes that claim in his famed tome: “On China.” The author reminds us that “the Chinese play chess too.”
As always, do listen to our latest podcast where I speak with Greg Austin and Franz-Stefan Gady about the 2015 Shangri-La Dialogue (Greg was in attendance), recent developments in the South China Sea, and how the United States and China can avoid a dangerous escalatory spiral into kinetic conflict someday. During the podcast, we discuss Michael D. Swaine’s recent National Interest piece where he cautions leaders in both the United States and China to refrain from throwing away a productive bilateral partnership between great powers over a few measly reefs and rocks in the South China Sea.
Finally, stay tuned for a new Diplomat feature that should kick off sometime this month. To build up some anticipation, all that I’ll say is that it’ll help you, our readers, live up to our motto: “Know the Asia-Pacific.”