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 | Daily News Brief May 30, 2014 |
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East Asian Nations Meet for Security Dialogue
Regional defense officials are meeting Friday
at the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, where Japanese prime
minister Shinzo Abe, who will deliver the keynote speech, is expected to promote Japan (Japan Times)
as a counterbalance to China and push for a greater role in Asian
security. Abe will also explain Japan's reasons for reviewing legal
constraints imposed by its pacifist constitution amid the changing
security landscape, which has seen sharply escalating tensions (BBC)
in the South and East China Seas. U.S. defense secretary Chuck Hagel
will also attend the event. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force deployed two
advanced surveillance drones (AP)
to a base in northern Japan in a bid to enhance its ability to monitor
Chinese naval operations and nuclear activities in North Korea.
Analysis
"Beijing has started to show its tough-guy stance by,
among other things, claiming ownership of islands lying between it and
Japan and by enforcing its massive—and utterly ridiculous—claims to
almost the entire South China Sea. But unlike ten years ago, many of
Beijing's angry neighbors are no longer weaklings," writes CFR's Joshua
Kurlantzick.
"China is seeking to prove to its neighbours that containment cannot work and that the US cannot be relied upon
to defend them. If it can do so, they and Washington will have to
acknowledge that the status quo is untenable. It is a dangerous
strategy. It is also a clever one," writes David Pilling for the Financial Times.
"Over
the years, the world has witnessed not only the rise of China, but also
of many other Asian countries, which, in turn, has led to the global economic center of gravity moving from West to East.
Given that governments in most of these nations maintain their grip on
power based on their ability to provide jobs and the promise that they
can defend national territory, no leader can actually afford to be seen
as taking a laid-back minimalist approach to territorial disputes," says
William Choong in a Deutsche Welle interview.
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