East Asia

Amphibious combat capabilities are vital to the U.S. military. This is no more so than in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mitt Romney has spent more time articulating a substantive outline for his China policy than his rivals. Economics is central, but he’ll need to offer more if he gets the Republican nod.

North Korea looms over ties between China and South Korea. Indeed, the future of the North Korean regime goes to the very heart of longstanding tensions.

Last year was a tough one for Chinese dissidents. With the Communist Party keen for stability as the leadership transition unfolds, 2012 could well be worse.

Despite the warnings from China, the Pentagon’s Defense Strategic Guidance offers few surprises. Change has been coming for a while.

China will likely manage a soft landing in 2012. But economic imbalances in the Year of the Dragon will challenge the Chinese Communist Party.

Kim Jong-nam’s vocal criticism of his brother’s ascension to power in North Korea poses an early challenge to the new leader – and puts China in a tricky position.

The Chinese Communist Party’s placement of regime security over national security interests is typical of autocracies. It’s also very dangerous.

The Diplomat’s Assistant Editor Harry Kazianis sits down with Roger Cliff of the Rand Corporation to discuss China’s much talked about anti-ship missile, the DF-21D.

China’s rise will see the end of Western domination. But contrary to the suggestion of some alarmist commentators, this doesn’t mean the Western world is finished.

China’s economic growth has been meteoric. But a tough global environment in 2012 could herald several years of severe economic turbulence in China.

Pretending nothing is wrong in North Korea is a mistake. But if great power conflict is to be avoided, there are a few things that the U.S., China and South Korea must not do.