Lessons of an Imbalanced Dream

Like the original creation of the American Dream, the Chinese Dream has been utilized institutionally to show that anything is possible for the average individual, with the right amount of drive and hard work. Over time, the American Dream has become driven more by the material signifiers of a house and car. China must nurture a more balanced dream to avoid the emphasis on materialism.



Zheng Wang & Leigha Wentz from Center for Peace and Conflict Studies via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1DJ5SDq

Reefer Madness: Why Is China on a Building Spree in the South China Sea?

China’s frantic construction activity on a series of disputed reefs in the South China Sea has set off alarm bells across the Pacific and in Washington, raising fears that Beijing is putting steel in the ground to back up its contentious claims to a big swath of one of the […]



Foreign Policy via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1EyPXEF

Trouble Ahead? Chinese-Korean Disputes May Intensify

The Christmas release of The Interview, however coarse in depiction, underscores the Korean peninsula’s tremendous geostrategic importance and potential for disruptive change. Brookings scholar Jonathan Pollack aptly terms it “the East Asian pivot.” Historically, it has been an important battleground—the latest major instance being the still-unresolved Korean War (1950-53). The […]



The National Interest via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/17jZ6Gp

Fighting Fast Track: Is It Really China or Us?

Is it really China or us? If we don’t set the rules, China will, President Obama warned in his State of the Union Address, which was otherwise mostly a welcome call to action against economic inequality. President Obama stressed that Trade Promotion Authority, or Fast Track, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership […]



Huffington Post via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1Eec1GT

Are China’s THAAD Fears Justified?

The U.S. has been giving out ambiguous signals on whether it intends to deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries to South Korea. For its part, China has repeatedly expressed serious concerns and deep unhappiness about the prospect. From a South Korean perspective, this is regarded as a political […]



The Diplomat via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/17jZ6Gj

China vs. the US: Who Blinked?

Recently I had a visit from a friend of mine who works at a U.S. embassy. I hadn’t heard from him for a while – he said that he had been inspired to catch up with his old friend after reading my piece “Why Read Xi Jinping’s Book?” on The […]



The Diplomat via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1Eec1GH

China’s ‘One Belt, One Road to Where’?

The celebrated revival of the Silk Road would seem to herald the return of China’s charm offensive, winning over neighbors and other countries in the region through increased trade incentives and transport connectivity. If developing a sound soft power strategy is the mark of a rising world power, does this […]



The Diplomat via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1vTAtMf