Behind Beijing’s high stakes sovereignty disputes in S. China Sea: Trouble at home

By on    BB Inside China, China, Exclusives, Intel Brief, NE Asia, Top Stories  

Behind Beijing’s high stakes sovereignty disputes in S. China Sea: Trouble at home

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com The Xi Jinping leadership may have overplayed its hand when it moved a deep-sea oil rig into waters near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea that are also claimed by Vietnam. This assertive act has provoked a series of anti-Chinese developments the vehemence of which has […]

Beijing exploits Obama’s absence with diplomatic offensive targeting Southeast Asia

By on    BB Inside China, China, Exclusives, Intel Brief, NE Asia, Top Stories  

Beijing exploits Obama’s absence with diplomatic offensive targeting Southeast Asia

Special to WorldTribune.com Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com The Chinese leadership has stepped up its “smile diplomacy” vis-à-vis Southeast Asia even as President Barack Obama has been forced to stay home to handle the government-shutdown crisis. Immediately after President Xi Jinping’s high-profile appearance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Bali, Indonesia last week, Premier Li […]

Sapped by its major ally China, Burma reaches out to the West and Japan

By on    China, Columnists, COMMENTARY, Exclusives, Japan, John Metzler, NE Asia, United Nations, World Links  

Sapped by its major ally China, Burma reaches out to the West and Japan

John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — In a world beset by war, ethnic conflict and humanitarian disasters, Burma seems one of those rare places where diplomats can say they are making a positive difference. Maybe that’s precisely because this Southeast Asian land, was until recently a pariah state, suffering from the self- inflicted wounds of […]

Beijing tones down its rhetoric in aftermath of Obama’s Asia tour pronouncements

By on    China, Exclusives, Intel Brief, NE Asia  

Beijing tones down its rhetoric in aftermath of Obama’s Asia tour pronouncements

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com The Chinese Communist Party leadership has toned down its aggressive rhetoric regarding the South China Sea in an apparent effort to blunt the growth of Washington’s “anti-China containment policy.” During his recent tour of Hawaii, Australia and Indonesia, President Barack Obama gave indirect support to the claims of […]