AUKUS’ short- and long-term implications for Taiwan

Fu S. Mei, for Pacific Forum

More than a mere pact over submarines, the Australia-United Kingdom-United States trilateral (AUKUS) signifies the crossing of a strategic threshold by Washington and its partners, past robust competition and toward outright confrontation. This, naturally, has significant implications for Taiwan’s…

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The India–Russia strategic partnership is key to Indo-Pacific stability

Joshy M Paul, CAPS, for East Asia Forum

India and Russia held their first ever 2+2 dialogue in New Delhi during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brief visit to India on 6 December. Both countries decided to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation and boost the Vladivostok–Chennai energy corridor, a gateway for Russia into the…

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The Growing Crisis of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing

Peter Oleson, for East Asia Forum

A recent conference, in which Pacific Forum joined the Navy League’s Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Exchange (IMSE), the East-West Center, and the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, focused on the problems of IUU fishing and potential solutions to counter its recent dramatic…

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Beijing’s Creative Compliance and Non-compliance in the South China Sea

Sourabh Gupta, ICAS, for East Asia Forum

The landmark Philippines v China ruling marked its fifth anniversary on 12 July 2021. In its decision, the arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) made four key observations.

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Japan and South Korea’s Battle over Dokdo/Takeshima at the Olympics

Joseph Egidio, University of Adelaide, for East Asia Forum

The landmark Philippines v China ruling marked its fifth anniversary on 12 July 2021. In its decision, the arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) made four key observations.

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Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security Should be a US-Japan Alliance Agenda

John Bradford, for Pacific Forum

Unfortunately, state and non-state actors in this region exploit weak governance to undermine the security and well-being of those who make legal use of the sea. State-level contests over sovereignty and administrative control of key waters dominate maritime security policy discourse, while…

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Managing the Vietnam-Indonesia North Natuna Sea Dispute

Xuan Dung Phan, RSIS, for East Asia Forum

Overlapping exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claims in the waters surrounding the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea have been an irritant in Vietnam–Indonesia bilateral relations for decades.

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Protecting the Taiwan Strait in the 21st Century

Brian C Chao, University of Pennsylvania, for East Asia Forum

In September, Richard Haass and David Sacks argued for a change in US policy from strategic ambiguity to clarity: a clear US commitment to defend Taiwan to prevent China from miscalculating US resolve and inadvertently raising the risk of a great-power war. Others maintain that ambiguity works and…

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Australia’s Middle Power Role in Combating Illegal Fishing

Xuan Dung Phan, Tokyo International University, for East Asia Forum

In September, Richard Haass and David Sacks argued for a change in US policy from strategic ambiguity to clarity: a clear US commitment to defend Taiwan to prevent China from miscalculating US resolve and inadvertently raising the risk of a great-power war. Others maintain that ambiguity works and…

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