CNN (October 25)
“Donald Trump’s unconventional diplomacy is pushing China and Japan closer together…. Still, despite the US hostility” moving the countries “closer together, the two countries’ long and fractious history makes an easy and lasting rapprochement difficult.”
Tags: China, Diplomacy, Hostility. History, Japan, Rapprochement, Trump, Unconventional, US
Business Times (March 28)
Kim Jong Un’s visit to Beijing “is only the latest sign of moving geopolitical plates over the Korean stand-off. Following spiralling tensions in the peninsula in 2017 over the North’s nuclear weapons and missile programmes, 2018 has brought unexpected, and what could yet prove remarkable, diplomatic respite that has seen a mini-rapprochement between North and South.”
Tags: Beijing, Diplomatic, Geopolitical, Kim, Korea, Missiles, Nuclear weapons, Rapprochement, Stand-off, Tensions
Financial Times (December 30)
“Faced with the choice between the romantic nationalism close to his heart, and the recognition that only bold economic and diplomatic measures can restore his country to prosperity, Mr Abe appears to have listened to his head and chosen the latter.”In reaching a final “comfort women” agreement, “both South Korea and Japan have showed courage, pragmatism and the willingness to risk a domestic backlash. The benefits of this rapprochement should not be underestimated, at a moment when east Asia confronts both opportunity and peril.”
Tags: Abe, Bold measures, Comfort women, Courage, Domestic backlash, Japan, Nationalism, Pragmatism, Prosperity, Rapprochement, Recognition, South Korea
Financial Times (October 15)
The relationship between Tokyo and Seoul is “on the rocks.” The two countries made tremendous progress in recent years. But now the territorial spat over the Takeshima islands threatens “to undermine a recent improvement in relations between Japan and its former colony.” The rift between the two U.S. allies also risks undercutting the Obama administration’s shift toward Asia. With elections approaching in both countries, there is a possibility that new leaders could reset the relationship, “but a true rapprochement remains distant.”
Tags: Japan, Korea, Rapprochement, Takeshima, U.S.
