Japan’s Snap Elections and U.S. and European Competition With China |
Noda Yoshihiko, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), bows in front of a board with names of CDPJ party candidates indicating results of the general election, at the party’s headquarters in Tokyo on October 27, 2024. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)
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In this month’s newsletter, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) experts examine Japan’s snap elections, U.S. and European competition with China, and China’s age of counterreform, among other issues. |
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On October 27, Japan held parliamentary snap elections called by Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru where Japan’s ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner Komeito suffered a clear defeat. John E. Merow Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Studies Sheila A. Smith explains whether the LDP can build a new coalition government, and the implications of the election results for Ishiba, in Asia Unbound.
Read her analysis |
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U.S. and European Competition With China |
The 2020s are the “decisive decade” for U.S. competition with China, argues C.V. Starr Senior Fellow for Asia Studies and Director of the China Strategy Initiative Rush Doshi. In the New York Times, Doshi argues that if Trump is reelected, he could lose this decisive decade for the United States by undermining the bipartisan U.S. consensus on how to effectively compete with China and alienating U.S. allies. Get his take
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The European Commission is planning to raise tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in order to stem a flood of subsidized cars that threaten European automakers. But those planned tariffs miss the bigger threat: Beijing could turn smart cars into weapons of cyberwarfare, argues Liza Tobin, senior director for economy at the Special Competitive Studies Project, in the blog Asia Unbound. Read the blog
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On September 24, 2024, Doshi testified at a U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs hearing. In his testimony, he detailed how China’s geopolitical ambitions and leverage over U.S. companies in China create conflicts of interest, and offered recommendations for U.S. policy to help firms avoid such conflicts and resist Chinese pressure. Read his testimony
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Structural Issues in China |
Economically, China is slowing down; ideologically, it is closing to outside influence; politically, it is pivoting back toward personalistic one-man rule. Far from paving the way for China’s twenty-first-century rise, the country’s counterreforms are exacerbating its structural problems, weakening the nation, and undermining its stability, argues Senior Fellow for China Studies Carl Minzner in this article for Journal of Democracy. Read his analysis
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Biased insurance coverage, unchecked hospital expansion, and flawed payment reforms have created a perfect storm of over-hospitalization in China. Without comprehensive reforms, the sustainability of China’s health-care system remains at risk, compromising its ability to meet the genuine medical needs of its population, writes Senior Fellow for Global Health Yanzhong Huang in Asia Unbound. Get his take
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The Funan Techo Canal is the latest in a string of flashy Chinese investments in Cambodia, although whether it will bear fruit remains unclear. In Asia Unbound, Maurice R. Greenberg Senior Fellow for China Studies Zongyuan Zoe Liu and Research Associate for International Political Economy Nadia Clark analyze how Cambodia, a lower-middle-income nation of 17.5 million people, became a focal point of Chinese foreign policy and investment. Read more
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Historically, Southeast Asian countries have tried not to side clearly with either of the two regional giants, the United States or China. However, signs are increasing that the United States is losing influence to China in the region. Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia and South Asia Joshua Kurlantzick analyzes that shift in Asia Unbound. Learn more
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The Failure of Leadership in Indonesia |
In 2014, Joko Widodo assumed office as Indonesian president, promising to push needed reforms, protect democracy, fight for the poor and middle classes, and not fall prey to the lure of establishing a political dynasty. He did boost incomes and cut poverty—but in other ways, his record suggests that he has failed the country, writes Kurlantzick in Asia Unbound. Read more
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Security in the Indo-Pacific |
As Donald Trump’s foreign policy convictions reflect both the growing isolationism and deepening skepticism of free trade in the United States, Taiwan needs to contend not just with the prospect of a second Trump presidency but with a broader U.S. shift toward weaker regional engagement, argues Fellow for Asia Studies David Sacks in this article for the East Asia Forum. Get his take
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On The President’s Inbox, Oriana Skylar Mastro, a center fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and Sacks sit down with Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy and Director of Fellowship Affairs James M. Lindsay to discuss U.S. policy toward Taiwan in light of talk that China could seek to force the island’s reunification with the mainland. Listen to the discussion
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As China, North Korea, and Russia move into closer alignment, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are concluding that European and Indo-Pacific security are not divisible. Sacks argues that, although NATO will not expand to include countries from the Indo-Pacific as members, NATO can still contribute to Indo-Pacific security in this blog post for Asia Unbound. Get his take
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CFR is now accepting applications for the 2025–26 International Affairs Fellowship (IAF) programs and the Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship |
The six IAF programs offer transformational opportunities for mid-career professionals who have a demonstrated commitment to a career in foreign policy. Awardees gain experience working in a new environment in the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe, India, Indonesia, or at an international organization.
The Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship offers younger scholars studying nuclear security issues the opportunity to spend twelve months at CFR conducting policy-relevant issues. Applicants must be U.S. citizens. Applications are open now through November 1 for six IAF programs and through December 2 for the Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship.
Visit cfr.org/fellowships or email fellowships@cfr.org for more information. |
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The Asia Unbound blog examines political, economic, and social developments in Asia and the region’s central importance in global affairs. |
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