16 Jan, 2024
The Taiwan Elections
The Taiwan Elections by Mel Gurtov 491 words The Election Results In normal times, a presidential election in Taiwan is...
16 Jan, 2024
17 Nov, 2023
Biden and Xi Seek Coexistence
Biden and Xi Seek Coexistence by Mel Gurtov 1020 words The first face-to-face meeting in a year between Presidents Joe...
5 Jun, 2023
The Taiwan Imbroglio
The Taiwan Imbroglio by Mel Gurtov 1142 words What’s Going On? I’ve reported on the worrying signs of a large...
3 May, 2023
Killing Our Way to the Truth
Killing Our Way to the Truth by Robert C. Koehler 848 words Hey China, quit threatening us! We’ll kick your...
14 Apr, 2023
France’s Diplomatic Disaster in China
France’s Diplomatic Disaster in China by Mel Gurtov 844 words “Strategic Autonomy,” French Style French President Emmanuel Macron and European...
26 Jan, 2023
Risky Business: Japan Steps Out
Risky Business: Japan Steps Out by Mel Gurtov 1040 words Background to a Changing Strategic Perspective Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida...
14 Jan, 2023
Poetic Nonviolent Victory over War
War is a language of lies. Cold and callous, it emanates from dull, technocratic minds, draining life of color.
22 Nov, 2022
The Biden-Xi summit in Bali
Some Reasons for Optimism The much-ballyhooed first in-person summit between Pres. Biden and Xi Jinping on November 14 went off pretty well.
19 Sep, 2022
Avoiding a War without a Winner: How we Could Ease the Deadly US-China Dispute
In a world haunted by the specter of nuclear war, needlessly aggressive competition among nations could lead to an apocalyptic catastrophe.
24 Aug, 2022
Another missed opportunity in US-China relations
The Washington Post reports that Xi Jinping personally asked President Biden to find a way to put off House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.
3 Aug, 2022
Beyond the mulish, look to the stars
Nancy Pelosi’s stopover in Taiwan may be brave or foolhardy, but the Chinese reaction so far (lots of live-fire weapons drills close to the island nation, along with acts of cyber-sabotage) suggests how threatened the government of the Peoples’ Republic of China feels.
29 Jul, 2022
Five reasons why Nancy Pelosi should postpone a trip to Taiwan
House Leader Nancy Pelosi seems intent on visiting Taiwan. That might not seem like a big deal to Americans, but these are dangerous times in US-China relations. That makes a Taiwan trip very risky. Here’s why:
28 May, 2022
Biden, Taiwan, and strategic ambiguity
At a stopover in Tokyo during his Asia trip, President Biden was asked whether the US would “defend Taiwan” if it were attacked. He said yes, because “that’s the commitment we made.” Actually, there is no formal “commitment,”...
20 Mar, 2022
An engagement moment for the US and China
One of the more interesting developments in Putin’s war on Ukraine is the retreat of China from full-fledged support of Russia.
28 Jan, 2022
Let’s not allow the great powers to destroy the world
The vast destruction wrought by the atomic bombing of Japan in August 1945 should have been enough to convince national governments that the game of war was over...