TOM PLATE WRITES — Perhaps no gloomier assessment of the China-US relationship can be made than to note that, were it to sink yet another notch or two, there would be no relationship at all. Like a Japanese garden so minimalist that removing one stone might vitiate its existence, the…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: GROWING PERIL OF WAR OVER TAIWAN WOULD BE FOOLISH AND COSTLY
TOM PLATE WRITES — The late George Kennan became a diplomatic legend for advocating, while stationed in Moscow, a singular foreign policy idea that famously worked. It was called “containment”. Its steadfast observance by the US and its allies undoubtedly helped lead to the welcome collapse of the Soviet Union.…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: POINTILLISM IS THE WAY TO GO
TOM PLATE WRITES — The truth about the swelling importance of the People’s Republic of China in the Asia-Pacific is that without America’s corresponding help, unintended as it was of course, the reversal of position would not have happened as quickly. Perhaps it all began in 1997, with the collapse…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: BEIJING CAN BE A CONTRIBUTOR TO PEACE AND PROSPERITY
TOM PLATE WRITES — The way it is going now, I might have been wrong. The professor had written a good book but (in my mind) smudged it with an ethically snarky title: Destined for War. A few critics (okay, mainly me) pointed out that the addition of a simple question mark (Destined for…
Full Article INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: DUMPED BY TRUMP?
TOM PLATE WRITES — Australia has a China problem, and it’s not clear that anyone can help it out of the box it’s in. Yes, it’s a China box: The ground underneath the Asia-Pacific is starting to shake, and the incipient foreign-policy shakeout ‘Down Under’ may well tell those of…
Full Article AUSTRALIA AND CHINA: DESTINED TO FIGHT OVER THE ‘LITTLE CHILDREN’ OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC?
TOM PLATE WRITES – How best to make beautiful music? Loud or soft? Fast or slow? How best to compose a new world order – loud or soft? Fast or slow? In orchestral history, in 1962, superstar tensions surfaced at New York’s Carnegie Hall. The egos of rising pianist-powerhouse Glenn…
Full Article HONG KONG: SCMP COLUMNIST MAKES CASE ‘BERNSTEIN-GOULD’ PRECEDENT COULD MAKE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC IN SINO-US RELATIONS
ASIA MEDIA WRITES == ‘New’ PM Mahathir nearly covers the South China Sea waterfront in skillful exclusive interview quite rightly showcased in print and digital by influential SCMP newspaper in Hong Kong – arguably print journalism’s leading Beijing-watcher. See: http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2151451/nothing-fear-china-says-malaysias-mahathir-mohamad-lopsided 0
Full Article HONG KONG: SCMP NAILS SCOOP INTERVIEW WITH MALAYSIAN PM ON CHINA AS OPPORTUNITY VERSUS THREAT