East Asia

The Arab Spring has offered some useful pointers for countries such as China about what works in suppressing dissent — and what is counterproductive.

Asian nations need to be grappling with the lessons of the Libyan civil war. How will they respond if conflict erupts in their backyard?

The US is wrong if it assumes it can always be business as usual after arms sales to Taiwan. As China rises, the temptation to push back grows.

A sex slave scandal, a gutter oil factory, beatings and murders – its been a bad few weeks for the city of Luoyang in China. But not for the Chinese media’s image.

Chinese policymakers are often assumed to be the archetypal practitioners of realpolitik. But their coddling of dictators is counter-productive.

At a time of uncertainty, the Asia-Pacific should stick with the security guarantees that have brought it relative peace and prosperity. It’s too soon to count the US out.

Deterring North Korea is a tough job, but someone has to do it. A better earth penetrating nuclear weapon might help.

The Obama administration’s decision to offer upgrades to Taiwan’s aging F-16 fighter fleet will annoy Beijing and unsettle Taiwan.

The Chinese government’s ‘vacuum cleaner’ approach to espionage is worrying foreign governments, companies and overseas dissidents. They’re right to be concerned.

China sees US missile defence plans as a threat, while the US worries about Chinese ballistic missiles. Who’s right to be worried?

Kim Jong-Il’s regime doesn’t make it easy to help his country’s starving population. But in the long run, offering aid is the lesser of two evils.

The Communist Party’s crackdown on ‘toxic’ Internet rumours is misguided. The tighter it squeezes freedom, the more credibility slips through its hands.