Jonathan Pollack: North Korea, South China Sea & Sino-US relations (EN)

02/29/16 • 10 min

29 February 2016As the UN Security Council negotiates a resolution that would impose new sanctions on North Korea following Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test earlier this year, pressure is mounting on China to act more assertively towards its neighbour and ally. “China must be prepared to be much tougher on North Korea than it has been so far”, says Jonathan Pollack of the Brookings Institution. He discusses North Korea, the South China Sea and Sino-US relations in the new Merics Experts Podcast.

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#05 Akio Takahara: China’s foreign policy & the difficult relations with Japan (EN)

1 February 2016After years of economic growth, China is claiming more influence on the international stage. Behind President Xi Jinping’s efforts to enhance China’s status as a nation lie domestic motives, says Akio Takahara in this podcast. Xi wants to maintain the power of the Communist Party, stability and economic growth of the country. Takahara, professor for contemporary Chinese politics at the university of Tokyo and visiting academic fellow at MERICS, analyses China’s ambitious foreign policy from a Japanese angle. He gives keen insights into the ups and downs in the relationship between Beijing and Tokyo, and describes the worries of the neighboring countries over China’s growing assertiveness in territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

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#07 Kenneth Lieberthal: China under President Xi Jinping (EN)

1 March 2016President Xi Jinping is the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. He has centralised power and has cracked down hard on dissent. But, argues Kenneth Lieberthal of the Brookings Institution in Washington, Xi’s tight grip on power doesn’t necessarily make him a more efficient leader.