SECURITY

What Happened: Ten years ago this week, the J-20 took its maiden flight. The public appearance of China’s fifth generation fighter confirmed years’ worth of rumors and speculation, thus adding new credibility to the Chinese defense watching community.

Our Focus: “It is not an exaggeration to say that since the J-20, the predictions and anticipation for various big ticket PLA projects that have emerged, as well as various projects to emerge in the near future, would not have been taken seriously had the years of lead up to J-20 not so accurately predicted aspects of the aircraft, from configuration to role to expected arrival period,” writes Rick Joe, a long-time follower of China’s military developments.

What Comes Next: 10 years since its maiden flight, the J-20 has made remarkable progress, and it still has milestones left to meet. Look for the rollout of J-20 aircraft with the new, more advanced WS-15 engine and possibly a twin-seat variant in the coming years.

INTERVIEW

Edward Schatz, author of “Slow Anti-Americanism: Social Movements and Symbolic Politics in Central Asia,” on what he calls “hegemony from a distance”: “Because the U.S. stands as a symbol — a complex one with many facets — U.S. power can inadvertently shift politics even in regions like Central Asia where the United States is remote.”

Northeast Asia

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft was supposed to visit Taiwan from January 13 to 15, but her trip was abruptly cancelled the night before. The about-face comes just days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced he was lifting decades-old restrictions on exchanges with Taiwan. Analysts see the move as an attempt to cement the Trump era approach to Taiwan in the final days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

South Asia

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party members have forcefully spoken out against social media giants Facebook and Twitter after they banned U.S. President Donald Trump following the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6. While the BJP has, in the past, expressed its support for Trump and his politics, its position this time around reveals deep seated anxiety about social media, which it deftly leverages for electoral gains and to shield Prime Minister Narendra Modi from criticism. In the past, Facebook has been accused of fueling Hindu-Muslim tensions in India.

Southeast Asia

This week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is embarking on a four-nation tour of Southeast Asia. The trip, which will take him to Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Brunei, is aimed at shoring up vital relationships in the region amid a period of crisis in the United States and the looming inauguration of President-election Joe Biden on January 20.

Central Asia

Kyrgyzstan’s presidential election yielded the expect result, catapulting Sadyr Japarov into the presidency proper. Kyrgyz also voted to shift to a presidential system, giving up parliamentarism, which will hand Japarov more power but guarantee greater focus on him.

DIPLOMACY

The African countries visited by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (in red) and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu (in blue) in late December 2020 and early January 2021.

POLITICS

Pereobutʹsya, a Russian word meaning “changing shoes,” has been taken up by Kyrgyz to refer to politicians changing parties as easily as one would change their shoes.