I participated in a Task Force on U.S.-China Policy, whose report was published in February 2017. The group met over the past year and a half to develop broad-based recommendations for the relationship, from the starting point of how to best uphold U.S. interests. Read the Executive Summary and the Full Report.
China’s Seizure of a U.S. Navy Drone
For the Maritime Awareness Project, I wrote a short piece analyzing the location of China’s seizure of an underwater unmanned vehicle, a drone. Most importantly, the drone was seized outsized the nine-dashed line depicted on Chinese maps and widely believed to represent China’s maritime claims in the region. Read the piece here.
The Strategic Implications of the Tribunal’s Award
For The National Interest, I assess the strategic implications of the tribunal’s award. I stress three implications:
Why China Cares About the South China Sea
For The Washington Post, I examine why China cares so much about its territorial claims in the South China Sea. I do so by comparing briefly why China was able to settle so many of its land boundary disputes but so few of its offshore island disputes. The reasons are:
My Take on the Tribunal’s Award
I wrote the following for ChinaFile: My initial reaction is that the tribunal’s award overwhelmingly favors the Philippines—a huge win for Manila.
China’s Historic Rights Claims
For the Maritime Awareness Project, I examine how three recent fishing disputes between China and Indonesia prompted China to clarify its claims to historic rights.
How China Will Respond to the Tribunal
I have written a short piece for the South China Morning Post, which outlines how China may react to the arbitral tribunal’s award next week. I make three points:
Andrew Carnegie Fellowship
I was awarded an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship from the Carnegie Corporation for research in the social science and humanities. Read the official announcement here and the MIT News story here.
Maritime Awareness Project
A new website that I’ve helped to develop, the Maritime Awareness Project, launched yesterday. The main feature is an interactive map that allows users to depict different dimensions of the dispute. The goal is to illuminate the complexity and consequences of maritime disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea.
China’s Nuclear Strategy
In a new article in International Security, Fiona Cunningham and I examine whether China will abandon its long-standing nuclear strategy of assured retaliation for a first-use posture. We reach three conclusions: